360PR Blog

by Victoria Renwick, 360 Public Relations

Make your holiday PR checklist: Hopefully you’ve got your holiday product messaging down from all that long-lead outreach you did this summer. Still, it never hurts to make sure you’ve got the most up-to-date product information. Where will the product be sold? At what price? In what colors? What’s the official URL?

Hello FedEx:  Be prepared to ship product expediently when samples are requested for review and have high-res product images approved and ready for distribution. Product shots on an FTP or client Web site are always a nice option.

Be a resource: If you’re at an agency, chances are multiple teams/clients will be pitching the same gift guides. Why not pool similar products (tech gifts/beauty products/tween interest) into one CONCISE email to an editor? Rather than bombarding him/her with 20 different pitches from the same agency, an editor will appreciate seeing all the items you represent (that are on target for his/her beat of course) in one place.  And your pitch is more likely to stand out – leading to better results for clients.

Know the trends: The beauty of short lead is that we don’t need a crystal ball to understand what the hot trends of the season are. This year, there’s lots of talk about the economy, so plenty of lists will be focused on gifts that fall within a specific price-point (great gifts under $25 for example).

Don’t forget the bloggers: Identifying bloggers that would be interested in your clients’ product is a great avenue to drive immediate, targeted holiday interest. Knowing that bloggers will be swamped with review requests at this time of year, it’s nice to also offer product for contests/giveaways on their blogs – so they have something to give to their readers.  Caveat: Don’t spam bloggers. Know what they cover and if they review products before any outreach!

Leverage print for broadcast: Often times long-lead editors work double duty, wearing both journalist and publicist hats to promote their holiday issues. You’ll frequently see editors from lifestyle glossies called onto shows like TODAY and Regis and Kelly to tout the products their publication has chosen for the top gifts of the year. If you were lucky enough to have a product selected for the December issue, it’s always a good idea to reach out to the editor with whom you worked (or even the publication’s PR department) to see if there are any upcoming broadcast segments for which you can offer product.