Tying Your PR Into the Holidays

It's that time of year again. You remember from last year: You went to the mall to buy one item. After driving in circles around the mall for over two hours, you found a parking space - except it's for a compact car, and you drive an SUV. No matter . . . you took it anyway.

You got inside the mall, and attempted to part the mass of traffic there. Two map stops, 15 different stores (all of which were out of stock on your item), a Santa picture, a lost child, and Mrs. Fields Cookie later, you finally found a store that had one in the back room... but they were holding it for someone who never came back to pick it up.

So, frustrated, restless, confused, and fuming, you searched across the frozen tundra of the parking lot trying to figure out where you parked. When you finally got there, you found that you had been given a parking ticket, some careless teenager had dented your door, and your right rear tire is flat.

Happy holidays!

So what does this have to do with public relations? Everything! Keep in mind that most of those people who were clogging up the aisles in the mall have money in their pockets, which they are ready and excited to spend.

And even if your product or service isn't a consumer-oriented product, there's a number of other factors, like the end of the tax year, new year's resolutions, and family time off for the holidays that create a potential spurt in sales in many different areas.

Of course, you should keep in mind that almost every big-hit product every year is driven more by the press than through advertising.

So here's the question, how can you tie your product into the holidays?

Here's some hints:

- Be ready for the holidays with several story ideas that you feel the media would find interesting.

- Pitch your stories in two waves - one well before the holiday (for magazines and special interest sections -it's already too late for this holiday season, but remember this for next year) and the other about 2-4 weeks before the holiday. There is also something to be said for pitching one last time at the last minute. Oftentimes, it is difficult for reporters to come up with stories at the last minute that fill those last few inches of space.

- What about contests? Some of the best contests come out during the holidays, not to mention the fact that a contest provides great exposure.

- What about a poll? Last year we got great exposure for one of our holiday web sites with a poll on the hottest holiday gifts for the year, which then sent people to our web site.

-If you can't come up with a good story, find out how you can sponsor something that would have a great story. Then suggest that to the editor.

Have you had success in getting holiday-related publicity in the past? We'd like to hear about it and share it with the rest of the group. Not only will we all get some great ideas from this, but you'll get some publicity with our 6000+ readers. Drop me a note at info@101PublicRelations.com and tell me about what you did, how you did it, and what the results were. Be sure that you include your contact information!

And for more on how to use the media to your advantage during the holidays check out
Special Report #14, How to Piggyback Your Story Ideas Onto Holidays and Anniversaries.

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Tags: PR and Holidays