5 Tips on Gaining Media Coverage in the Tricky Pre-Christmas Season
The weeks leading up to Christmas can be an interesting time for business-to-business (B2B) companies seeking to showcase their products and services. Local and regional papers and magazines are full of festive cheer, awards celebrations and heartwarming seasonal stories and it may feel like there’s not much space for much else.
But don’t be fooled, as the hard news stories slow-down in early December, this is the perfect time when we get busy contacting the editors and planning for the year ahead.
Here our PR team gives some top tips on gaining coverage in the pre-Christmas period….
- Start planning for the year ahead
Don’t think to yourself that it’s just not worth pitching in a story during the pre-Christmas season. This time of year provides a great opportunity to build relationships with reporters and editors and secure article placements for the year ahead. Request their features lists, or download them from their websites and don’t just ask about the feature that you wish to target in Q1, but ask about a couple of others, so you can get things forward planned for the rest of the year.
Some trade magazines may double up with a joint Nov/Dec or Dec/Jan issue, so this means getting any pre-Christmas stories to them as soon as you can to have a chance of being covered this year. This can mean editors are under less pressure in December, so it can be a good time to arrange a meeting or call.
- Don’t flog the Christmas angle, unless it’s genuine
There are ways that b2b companies can create relevant Christmas stories. Have you noticed any trends in your industry, specific to Christmas, that you would be able to comment on in some detail? For example, have you seen an influx of people buying heat pumps or are solar panels on the rise? Has your company done anything special in terms of voluntary, community or charity work this Christmas? Has the business seen a pre-Christmas boom for any reason – and would you be prepared to discuss the whys and how you are managing this?
However, if you do not have a relevant Christmas story, then don’t worry. Most magazines’ editors plan their December issues months in advance, so are already working on stories for the new year. Stick to regular news and creative ideas to attract editor interest pre-Christmas.
- New Year predictions can make great business stories
When you return in the new year, you’ll see some predictions from industry experts about what the year ahead holds. It is a good idea to pitch ideas to editors in November about predictions for 2024 and to put forward your Managing Director/Marketing Director as the spokesperson. This type of article is a great way to position your company as the expert. Consider how trends will evolve in the year ahead in your industry and prepare to be interviewed or we can put content together at short notice.
- Be resilient, pitching stories can take time!
It is a good idea to get pre-Christmas pitches to journalists in early as many will start heading off from mid-December to use up annual leave. If your business has an important contract win or announcement, don’t be put off if you don’t get an immediate response from journalists. It’s important to be tenacious at this time and it may take at least a couple of attempts to get hold of anyone by phone or email.
- Have stories ready to go early in the New Year
Reporters want to have stories ready to go when they get back in the new year, so trade magazine editors appreciate fresh contributions of relevant press releases, to bridge the inevitable news gap that they face in the coming weeks.
Prepare a strong business story, such as a contract win, innovative new product or case study and get it approved by all parties well before Christmas, then send it out straightaway in the New Year. This means that when editors return to their desks looking for fresh news, the first one to land in their inbox is your press release, increasing your chance of great coverage.
Dragonfly PR is a South Yorkshire-based PR and digital marketing agency that specialises in b2b marketing, particularly construction and manufacturing. Our results-driven PR service is designed to influence specifiers, developers, self builders, home owners, installers and engineers.
For more help and support with securing media coverage in the run-up to Christmas or in 2024, please contact our PR team via email hello@dragonflypr.co.uk or call 0114 349 5341.