New Year Goals and Valentine Kisses! Here’s what we’re pitching to the press in November
November is a busy month for pretty much everyone working in retail. But while you’re drowning in a (happy) sea of holiday orders, editors are putting their holiday stories to bed and are moving onto the next season of editorial angles. Here’s a sample of angles our publicists are pitching to the press this month.
Last Minute Gift Guides & Holiday Entertaining
We started pitching holidays way back in June. Summer is the ideal time to start a PR campaign for the holiday season if gift guides are the goal because long-lead editors start working on those months in advance. This month we’ll see the fruit of our labors, but we are also still pitching as well. There are still short-lead opportunities out there. Writers get assigned additional surprise gift guides at the last minute, other products fall through, old guides need updating… it is an endless effort. We want to make sure all of our clients remain on the pitch list for holiday gift guides.
In addition to gift guides, this is also a great time to pitch home, food, and beverage products for home entertaining – whether that be the perfect snack for a family holiday classics movie night, or must-have tableware for an elevated holiday party experience.
New Year, New You
January is traditionally a time when people think about how to better themselves, so this is a great catchall pitch angle for late fall. There are plenty of subcategories to pitch here that go beyond lifting weights at the gym: dry January, products for improving mental health & focus, handy helpers for house & home, etc. The key to a successful pitch is making it tie into the seasonal theme without it being a stretch.
Valentine’s Day & Mother’s Day
These holidays might seem far off, but they’ll be here before you know it! And because editors work months in advance, we start pitching these giftable angles in late fall, early winter.
Trade Show Season
Major trade shows happen year round, but there are a few big ones coming up for our clients. The biggest being the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. It is the place for up-and-coming tech entrepreneurs and their products to be seen. Last year, more than 3,000 members of the press attended the show and they created more than 170,000 CES-related stories. It can be tough to stand out, but our publicists do an incredible job every year.
The National Hardware Show, Winter Fancy Foods Show, Natural Products Expo West, and The Inspired Home Show are other examples of big trade shows that our clients often attend for product unveilings, business transactions, and to meet with members of the press.
Spring 2023
I always tell prospective clients to start their PR campaign no less than 2 months prior to the time when they’d like to start seeing published press features. Unless you’re Apple unveiling a surprise new iphone, the press is unlikely to see your story as breaking news. Plus, if you have a new product or something the press hasn’t likely seen or tried before, then we need to pitch with ample time for them to sample the product.
Some publications have a very rigorous review process – like one tech reviewer who told me he literally tears apart every item he receives so that he can see the inside of it and how it works. Another editor told me she publishes her gift guides several months earlier than she did in previous years for SEO purposes (the publications want to already be #1 ranking for seasonal searches before the season officially arrives).
While we may pitch a product in advance, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll hear from the editor with a yes or no on coverage right away. That too may take months or sometimes they cover our pitches and/or add us to their own internal source lists without letting us know.
These are just some examples of angles that we’re pitching to the press this month. Many of these are part of our Pod Tier group pitches. Reach out to our team if you’d like us to craft a personalized press plan for you.