5 Tips for Pitching Holiday Gift Guides This Year
Securing coverage of your product or service in a holiday gift guide is a valuable opportunity for businesses at every stage. One or two placements in a print or online publication could get your brand in front of millions of new customers and lead to a nice boost in holiday sales. In addition, gift guide placements can drive traffic to your website or social media channels, improve SEO, and get your brand on the radar with new influencer and brand partners.
Before we dive into our tips, here are a couple of important notes:
When we talk about gift guide placements, we are referring to editorial coverage or “earned media” – meaning there is no monetary exchange between your business and the outlet. Gift Guides are when editors select items they think their readers would love to shop for all the people on their list. From gifts for your mom, husband, or that hard to buy for teenager, a quick Google search will reveal the categories of holiday gift guides are endless!
Holiday gift guides are published by both print publications, digital outlets, and even run on broadcast shows. Editors at print publications work ~4-6 months out, which means they start looking for holiday gift guide products as early as July. Editors at digital outlets begin looking for products in September and continue selecting products throughout the holiday season.
Landing a gift guide placement is competitive, but learning the formula for how to pitch gift guides can set you up for success this holiday season. Read on below for 5 holiday gift guide pitching tips to get you started.
1.) Select Products That Are “Editorial”
Editors are always looking for products that will visually pop from a page or an online product round up, and that is especially true for gift guides. If you have a collection of products, focus on selecting a few items that will stand out to editors – think unique silhouettes, bright colors, interesting shapes, as well as “on trend” items and reasonable price points - most gift guides stick to an “under $100” price point. If you have more than one product, create a mini holiday collection of items that fit this criteria. If you have a high end line of products, focus on pitching luxury publications, like Town & Country, Vogue, and Modern Luxury.
Pro tip: If you’re pitching print publications, be sure to pitch products that will be available starting mid October when holiday issues start to drop.
2.) Position Your Products (or service) to Stand Out This Holiday Season
Holiday gift guides are often organized into fun themes such as “gifts for the gardener” or “gifts for the family chef” or “gifts for the bookworm” and so on. Think of what categories your product or service could fit into and who your target audience is.
When pitching gift guides be sure to highlight what makes your product(s) interesting and relevant and why it is a great gift idea. If you offer a service that can be gifted (a personal styling session, a cooking class, etc.) these can make great gifts too.
Is your product part of a larger trend, like Coastal Grandma or Barbiecore? Do you give a portion of proceeds to a charity? These details can help your products stand out when an editor is sorting through hundreds of pitches.
To learn step by step how to craft a brand story that stands out to media, watch our workshop linked here.
3.) Gather Your Materials in Advance
Being organized and having the right materials is key for all press outreach, especially gift guide pitching.
Here is a quick checklist of materials you should be ready to share with the media:
About page - an overview about your brand either attached as a PDF or linked to your website
Images - High quality images are non-negotiable for securing press coverage. We suggest having these 2 types of photos ready to go for holiday gift guide pitching.
Product images - your product on a while seamless background. While professional images are ideal (especially for print magazines), you can sometimes get away with taking these on an iPhone. Pro tip: Canva has a tool to easily remove backgrounds.
Lifestyle images - photos that show your product styled and in use. These should be professional quality and represent your brand.
Line sheet - 1-2 page PDF showing your holiday product assortment with prices and key details (dimensions, fabric, launch date, colorways, etc.) if applicable
Product samples to gift to editors to try out, or to loan for a photoshoot. Note: you may not get these back so plan for this in advance.
4.) Research, Research, Research
One of the most important steps in securing media coverage for your product is making a well-researched target media list. You can start by making a list of your dream publications as well as doing an audit of publications that have covered similar products or brands you admire.
Most consumer publications have a holiday gift guide and are actively looking for relevant gift ideas for their readers. While we typically suggest starting with a more targeted list, this is the one time of year where you should cast a wide net. Google the top gift guides from last year - everything from New York Magazine, to Garden & Gun, Men’s Health, and the New York Times have pages upon pages dedicated to gift guides and feature products they typically would not cover. For instance a men’s publication could feature a women’s jewelry or fashion brand in a “gifts for your girlfriend” section.
When researching, pay attention to which editor or writer is the best contact to direct your pitch. A good starting point is to see who wrote gift guides last year or who frequently covers product roundups online. If you’re not sure who to reach out to, editorial assistants are usually happy to point you in the right direction. You can find out who the editorial assistants are by Googling a publication’s masthead.
Organize your research into a media list - you can use our free media list template - to help you keep track of your pitching progress.
Pro tip: Most editors have their email addresses online but if you can’t find a specific address, you can figure out the email format of the publisher. For instance Conde Nast emails are typically: first name underscore last name@condenast.com.
5.) Customize Your Pitch
Now that you have done your prep work you are ready to pitch your product to editors. Here are a few best practices for writing your gift guide pitch:
Personalize your outreach and send individual emails. Do not do a bcc blast.
Start by introducing yourself and your business, and ask if they are covering gift guides this year or if there is someone else on their team you should reach out to.
Include images in a Dropbox folder, hyperlink to your website, and social media handles. You want to provide them with all of the necessary information so it makes it easier for them to cover your brand.
Offer to send or gift product — editors sometimes like to try a product or service before featuring it.
When pitching online outlets, share if you are part of an affiliate network. Having an affiliate network in place can be necessary for securing digital product coverage.
These tips are just the starting point for doing your own PR outreach. We dive into how to do your own PR in much more detail in our 1-hour video DIY PR workshop: How to Craft a Unique Brand Story That Stands Out to Media.
