What do you need to pitch to the Christmas gift guide press?
The Saturday Guardian 2022 Christmas gift guide
We know Christmas seems like a long way off, however, the biggest time of the year for eCommerce businesses is just around the corner. The Christmas gift guides are compiled well in advance and some magazines start working on theirs in July. That’s why it’s so important to start thinking about Christmas now.
Keen to pitch to the Christmas gift guides but don’t know what you require or where to start? In this blog post, we run through everything you need to put your best foot forward with Christmas press and maximise your coverage opportunities.
Cut out imagery
First impressions count, so if you’re going to invest in anything, it is your imagery. The most relevant and important images for Christmas press coverage are cut-out images as most gift guides feature individual product shots.
Cut-outs are shot on a completely white or clear background and have to be a minimum of 300 DPI.
Cut-out imagery only needs to be low-res for your initial pitch emails. Only send the high-res ones once they've been requested.
We recommend that you get your product shots taken by a professional photographer. However, if you do not have the budget to get your entire inventory photographed professionally, just choose one or two of your most Christmas press-worthy products instead. The more professional-looking your photos are, the greater the chance of getting your products featured in the Christmas gift guides.
In need of a good photographer? There are plenty of great photographers that offer cut-out imagery such as Yeshen Venema, We Are Studio & Olive & Jennings.
Lifestyle imagery
@thecompletist
@shrimpshouse
Less requested and common than cut-out imagery for gift guides, but you may get asked for lifestyle imagery for certain features, so while it’s not a must it’s great to have a small bank of beautifully shot and high-res lifestyle images ready to send.
By having all the key assets to hand when requested by a journalist you’ll maximise your Christmas coverage opportunities.
A line sheet
@maiklondon
A line sheet is a great way of showcasing your most giftable and relevant items for Christmas and can be attached to your pitch emails. But it’s only needed if you have a bigger product range.
A line sheet should contain cut-out images and retail prices, along with your brand name, email, and social handle. Keep it simple, but nicely designed, and always export it to a PDF. If you can keep it to one page that’s ideal - that way you won’t overwhelm an editor with too many options.
Products available to send
House & Garden 2022 gift guide
For editorial style shoots, editors will request samples to be styled and photographed alongside other products. So for these types of shoots you won’t need to send images, but it’s good to be aware of sample call-ins so that you can set aside some products to be sent to the relevant magazine if you are able to.
Samples should always be returned to you (with a few exceptions such as food/drink products and candles etc), but make sure you include a lending sheet with your samples and double-check the return date to avoid any misunderstandings.
Giftable products
ELLE 2022 Christmas gift guide
@oir
Ensure your products are ‘giftable’ - and by giftable we mean products that will stand out on a gift guide page. A product that normally would be a big hit by ‘normal’ press won’t necessarily work as well for the Christmas gift guides as they tend to look for slightly different items. To give you an idea, products that the Christmas press tend to favour are:
‘Quirkier’ products
Personalised items
Festive-themed gifts
Ready-to-give gifts in beautiful packaging
Colourful and patterned products
Stocking fillers
Gadgets
Food and drink products
By having a very small selection of gift-worthy products you’ll demonstrate that you understand what the press is looking for, grab editors’ attention and maximise your chances of Christmas coverage. Even if you only have 1-2 products that are ideal for gifting can lead to great press.
Want to access more free tips and advice on how to get your business featured in the Christmas gift guides? Head to our downloads page: https://www.prdispatch.com/downloads
Want to get your product-based business featured in the Christmas gift guides?
On the 6th of July, we open our yearly 2023 Christmas gift guide PR membership - but we only have 120 memberships available. Last year we sold out of all our Christmas gift guide memberships in just 67 minutes and we expect the same this year. So make sure you secure your place on the tour, the only way to guarantee a 2023 Christmas gift guide PR membership.
The Christmas Gift Guide PR membership gives you everything you need to pitch your product to the Christmas press and you'll have access to 200+ UK Christmas press contacts for over 150 gift guides between July and December 2023 covering long-lead, short-lead and online magazines and newspapers.