The key to landing Christmas coverage
Christmas gift guide coverage is a surefire way to get those tills ringing at Christmas. It’s your chance to reach new audiences and build trust by being featured alongside top brands in major publications.
With countless gift guides out there, the opportunity is huge for every brand. knowing how to pitch is key. Here are proven strategies from past PR Dispatch members to cut through the noise and secure Christmas features.
Organisation is key
“Be organised! I felt so much more prepared this year. I had better photography and email templates ready to go and I found it much easier to stay on top of things nearer Christmas.” - Scott, Ooshky
When you have everything ready to roll, pitching feels much easier. If you’re scrambling for photos and typing new emails each time, you’re missing a trick and allowing PR to take up way more time than it needs to. Put the groundwork in and set your brand off on the right foot.
Same time, same place
“Set aside the time to send pitches weekly. It can feel tedious sending lots of pitches but each year I’ve pitched to as many different publications as possible and always secured long lead, short lead and online.” - Georgie, Yogipod
Make it a habit. With the PR Dispatch platform, you can do PR in as little as an hour a week. You get out what you put in but it doesn’t mean you need to be a slave to the laptop for weeks of the year.
Short and sweet
“Short email with embedded cut-out images: lots of white space and link directly to product when possible.” - Sue, Kind2
Editors have a lot on their plate and a lot of emails in their inbox. Keep it short, sweet, and to the point - and give them everything they need.
Keywords are everything
“Write your pitch emails like it's an SEO exercise. Include as many searchable keywords within the subject and body of the email as you can possibly fit, whilst still making sure it sounds natural, the same way you would write a website product description.’ - Georgia, SBRI
Including keywords is a great way to make your emails searchable in a busy inbox.
Words like “gift guide” and specific themes related to the product you’re pitching make sure that your email stands out when editors are compiling their guides. Helping you get noticed at the right time.
Think outside the box
“Niche/specific categories! We launched a personalised foraging bag, and it opened up some new press opportunities as it was a good fit with food, gardener and outdoors gift guides, whereas we haven't had anything relevant for these kinds of publications in previous years.” - Georgia, Man & Bear
Don’t be afraid to pitch outside the box. There are so many categories that crop up each year, so make sure you’re maximising your PR opportunities by going for every possible fit.
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