How to Prep your PR Strategy for Festive Season
Christmas is almost upon us and here at Flaunter, we’re starting to see brands and agencies ramp up for the silly season.
We’ve seen a significant uptick in the number of brands who have been uploading imagery to their profiles, ready to take advantage of the increased number of gift guides, social media content and editorial that journalists are busy preparing.
Apart from getting your Flaunter profile in tip top shape (not on Flaunter? Get started for free here), what else can brands and agencies be doing to leverage the busiest shopping period of the year to get more PR coverage? Read on…
Be Aware of Key Dates
In recent years, BFCM (Black Friday, Cyber Monday) spending have eclipsed even Christmas and Boxing day shopping, so ensuring you’ve given editors all they need in advance of these dates in key:
Melbourne Cup – Tuesday 5 November 2024
Click Frenzy – Tuesday 12 to Friday 15 November 2024
Black Friday – Friday 29 November 2024
Small Business Saturday – Saturday 30 November 2024
Cyber Monday – Monday 2 December 2024
Free Shipping Day – Saturday 14 December 2024 – the last day shoppers can buy and still be guaranteed delivery for Christmas.
Super Saturday – 21 December 2024
Boxing Day – Monday 26 December 2024
Get your Assets in Order
Having all of the right assets for a journo on a deadline could be the difference between getting great press coverage and having a whole lot of stock left over after the holidays. Make sure all of your images are high resolution (300dpi), and have a range of deep etched and campaign shots available. If you’re sending out samples, make sure you’ve got enough stock to be able to send to multiple editors, and have a really clear idea of when you need stock back in case you need to send it to another publication. Flaunter’s inventory trafficking tools (perfect for samples & gifts) allow you to track exactly where a product is at any given time, meaning you can maximise the coverage you can generate from each piece.
Be Mindful of Deadlines
If you thought editors were busy before… help them out as much as possible by being super timely in your responses, allow them to download your images via Flaunter at any time of the day or night (or minutes before deadline), and have all of your imagery tagged with relevant information like RRP, availability and credits to prevent back and forth on emails when they’ve got pages to file.
Time it Right
Lots of publications will have their staff on holidays from Christmas and throughout January, and the last thing you want to do is have a big box of gifted perishables sitting on someones desk for a month (if at all – read our article here on why editors don’t want your freebies). You don’t have to stop pitching during the Christmas period, but always ask before you gift, and use the opportunity to build relationships with journalists who might be filling in for their colleagues. Usually when a journalist goes on holidays they will set up an auto-reply email message telling you the best person to contact in their place, so take advantage of this opportunity to build up your media list.
Keep your Audience’s Mindset in Mind
After what’s been a pretty hard year, people will be looking forward to relaxing restrictions, opening borders and spending time with friends and family. We’ve all been online a lot more this past year, and it’s hard to know whether we’ll see a mass exodus from social media while everyone’s at the beach, or a continued dependance on online channels when we’re not at our desks. Whatever happens, keep in mind that consumers probably won’t be thinking about heavy subjects until later in the new year.
The best way to make the most of your PR during the silly season? Flaunter, of course! We make it easy for editors to download your content at any time of the day or night, help you track your samples anywhere in the world, and help you build strong relationships with editors. Sign up for your free trial today.