'Tis the Season to be Pitching

Many clients, no matter the industry, typically have some story to tell at the close of the year. Some are focused on sales to end Q4 with a bang, and others are pushing holiday events or offerings, or company announcements finally ready for their public debut. No matter the announcement or pitch angle, below are a few holiday PR tips to keep in mind before you hit send.

1. Break through the clutter – With so much holiday competition, make sure your pitch or angle is sharp enough to cut through the clutter. A soft pitch or deal will not cut it. Convince your client to do something edgy or be more creative with an offer to better their chances of coverage.
2. Start early – To piggy back on my first point, there’s a lot of competition, so the best thing you can do is start reaching out with your holiday angle before the reporter or editor is even thinking about it. This will help you stand out and maybe even get you some good feedback to enhance your pitch. Of course, if you’re trying to do holiday gift guides, early means summer, so start making those editorial calendars before Memorial Day.
3. Add an element of charity – 'Tis the season of giving, which means more than just gifts. So an easy way to enhance a holiday pitch is to add a charitable element that makes your outreach less self-serving. Consider donating a portion of proceeds to a nonprofit or a dollar amount per purchase.
4. Leverage the week after Christmas when most businesses are closed and newsrooms are usually slow – If businesses aren’t closed, many people take off the week between Christmas and New Year’s. And while the media is never off, it’s usually a quiet time for them, which means it might be a little easier to get their attention during this time. So, if you’ve not gotten any hits for your pitch, take a stab after Christmas and see what happens…
5. OR wait for the new year – If your story is more evergreen in nature and not timely, don’t try to make it more than it is. After all, you’re competing with endless companies trying to get their story across. Instead, hold your story for the new year when newsrooms might be a little hungrier for stories as people return from vacations.

As PR pros, we don’t always have control over a client’s offer or story, but we can make suggestions to tweak it to be more enticing for media. So, make sure you don’t just take things at face value. Try and push your clients to help break through the holiday clutter to increase your chances for coverage.