Wind Up, Release, Pray & Follow Up:: Pitching Your Products to Holiday Gift Guides

We are quickly approaching the most critical part of the year for your product-based business; the holiday season! Typically, this time of year can make or break a company’s bottom line for the year. So, how can you take advantage of the hundreds of holiday gift guides that will be floating around in the months to come?

If you subscribe to HARO, you already know queries for holiday gift ideas have been swarming for weeks, maybe even longer. Some publications are already finished putting their guides together, but many are still working on them. Of course, you can hire a public relations firm to help you do the pitching. Or, you can attempt to save a good bit of money and do it yourself.

Here are some tips that will increase your chances of being included: 

1. Timing is everything! If you see a HARO query, you know they are still looking. Otherwise, it’s wise to pitch early. Many magazines work sixth months in advance of printing, newspapers work on average 2 months in advance and TV, Radio and bloggers generally work a month or so ahead.
2. Pay attention. Make sure you aren’t pitching your baby apparel to a technology gift guide. There are gift guides for nearly every segment of the market and many that contain various categories. Be sure you pitch something appropriate or you will just end up looking silly.
3. Dust off your press kit. Now is a perfect time to put that press kit to good use. {We recently talked about how to put one together.} This is the perfect opportunity to showcase your company, your products and what you have to offer. For holiday gift guides, editors will be especially interested in your high resolution images!
4. Make yourself stand out! If you have a celebrity endorsement, or media sighting of them in/with your product, use that in your pitch. If you are donating a portion of holiday sales to charity, mention that! If your products have been picked up by a chain of retail stores, tell them.
5. Don’t forget to follow up. A friendly e-mail reminding them of what you sent could make a big difference. As always, there are no guarantees, but if you present yourself as professional and easy to work with you can’t hurt your chances.

Good luck! I want to hear about the holiday gift guides that you’ve scored placement in!

Holiday Gift Guide pitching is time consuming and can prove difficult. That is why Market Mommy has created our own guide. You can feature your business for as low as $25 and get lots of exposure. Visit our Holiday Gift Guide page for all of the details. Hurry, early bird pricing ends Oct. 1!

Press Kits 101

Do you have a press kit? Do you sell a product or service? If you have a business, big or small, but don’t currently have a press kit, you should seriously consider creating one! No matter its format, it’s one of the most important pieces of your marketing plan. I advise my clients to create one and work to keep it up to date.

Basically your press kit {also called media kit} should be a vehicle to share more information about your company with the media, potential customers or investors. It should be attractive, attention grabbing, and interesting enough to make them want to contact you for additional information.

There are many formats that you can use. There are services that allow you to create an online, web based kit, or you can put everything on a DVD or you can create the tried and true hard copy. Regardless, there are some crucial elements you should always include.

Background Info:: Write a letter introducing your company, yourself and the history of your business. Be thorough but interesting. List out what you’ve included in your kit and tell them why it’s of interest to them.

Product Info:: If you have a catalog, include it. If you have a brochure, include it. Include details about the products and/or services that you have to offer. The more attractive your product info is, the better.

Press Releases:: Include recent news about your company. Be sure to include any press releases that you’ve distributed related to new products or advances at your company. News articles or instances where your release was picked up and published in the media are also great.

Images:: You should always include high resolution images of your products and logo. Media are more likely to use your pitch if it comes with strong visual images. Your changes of attention-grabbing are much better if you can show off your products with high quality, professional artwork.

Miscellaneous:: There are many other things that you may want to include, if you have them available. Order forms, recent press coverage, frequently asked questions, testimonials, samples and upcoming events are always good to include.

Creative Packaging:: Now that you’ve gathered all of your press kit items, it’s time to package them. You are trying to stand out among the hundreds of other press kits arriving on media professionals’ desks daily. So, how do you do it? Think outside the box. Forgo that plain folder for a personalized graphic one. Or, incorporate your sample into the packaging. Sell coffee? Send everything packaged neatly in an oversized mug. Send information about your hair bow business in a package wrapped with one of your handmade creations. The possibilities are limitless, don’t overlook the importance of the first impression your packaging will make!