Ultimate Guide to Holiday Gift Guide Pitching
The holiday season is often the busiest for many product-based businesses. One of the biggest challenges is getting visibility when everyone is trying to grab attention for their own products. A great way to increase visibility beyond your website and social media platforms is to get products featured in holiday gift guides. They can boost sales, visibility, and brand recognition (the trifecta of marketing!). To get those product features, you need to take a strategic approach. Here is everything you need to know about holiday gift guide pitching.
1. Start early – earlier than you think you need to
The holiday season might seem far off, but for editors and influencers, planning starts months in advance. Many major long lead publications will start curating their holiday gift guides as early as July or August. By the time October rolls around, many spots are already filled. If you’re pitching longer lead media (magazines, etc.), start your pitching process at least six months before the holiday season. It’s not too late to start now if you haven’t given it a though yet.
The timing can creep up on you fast, so put it in your calendar as a reminder for next year!
2. Don’t blindly pitch everyone
You can’t pitch everyone – they won’t all be a good fit. Some gift guides focus on luxury items, while others may highlight eco-friendly or budget-friendly products. Take the time to understand the audience and theme of each guide. That way you can also (as you should) tailor your pitch to each one. A great place to start is by looking at their past gift guides to understand their preferences and style. You should also take note of what publications and influencers publish holiday gift guides and keep a list of editors, bloggers, and influencers that might be interested in your product.
3. Craft a Compelling Pitch
Editors and influencers get hundreds of pitches around this time of year and you have to figure out how to stand out in their inboxes. Keep your email pitch short and clear – get to the point.
Make sure you consider the following when crafting your pitch:
Eye-catching subject line: This is the first impression and what will grab attention in the inbox. Make it specific and enticing. Tailor it to the person you are pitching. For example, “Last minute gifting: [Your Product] for Holiday Gift Guides.”
Personalization: Address the recipient by name and mention why your product is a good fit for their guide. Don’t just use a blanket pitch for everyone.
Product overview: Write a BRIEF description of your product, including any unique features and benefits and why it’s a good fit for their holiday gift guides.
Image library: Attach or link to high-resolution images of your product. It’s important to have a mix of options – some gift guides will want product shots with a white background and others prefer more lifestyle shots.
Availability and pricing: Clearly state where and when the product will be available, along with pricing information.
Send a sample: If possible, offer to send a sample for review. Not every outlet will want to receive product.
4. Follow Up (not too much)
With any PR pitching that you do, following up is a big part of outreach. However, you don’t want to follow up TOO much. If you haven’t received a response after a week, you could send a quick follow-up email. Sometimes, depending on the outlet and person I am pitching, I will send the initial pitch and then follow up after a few days. You can wait a shorter amount of time for short lead media.
Remember to keep your follow-up emails short and refer to your initial email. It is best to reply within the same email train rather than write a fresh email so they don’t have to go searching. Let them know you’re interested in working with them and if you have any additional information, this is a great time to include it.
5. Stay ready – even for last minute opportunities
It’s normal for last minute opportunities to come up. It could be that another brand pulled out, the gift guide was approved last minute, or the editor/influencer decided to feature additional products after the initial guide was published. Regardless of why, make sure you are ready to send product, information, and images at a moment’s notice. When it comes to last minute opportunities, time is of the essence.
6. Evaluate the outcomes
Once the holiday push is done, take a minute to identify the positives and negatives about your holiday gift guide outerach. Analyze which pitches were successful and why, and identify areas for improvement. This will help you refine your strategy for the next holiday season (hello Valentine’s Day gift guides!). Note things like:
Number of pitches sent vs. responses received.
Features secured in gift guides.
Impact on sales and website traffic.
Pro tip: Have an amplification strategy
Getting the feature doesn’t mean the job is done. Once the gift guide is published, you need to share your feature in as many places as possible. Consider sharing across social media platforms (make sure you tag the outlet/influencer), do an email blast with your gift guide features, add it to your media section on the website, etc.
Holiday gift guide pitching can help you increase your visibility during a time of year when everyone is competing for attention. Will you launch a holiday gift guide campaign this year? If not, what’s stopping you? Tell us in the comments!