5 Tips to Land Your Brand on This Year’s Gift Guides
Today, there’s a perfectly curated gift guide for just about everyone on your gift-giving list. Need a gift for the techie who has everything? Easy. How about the fourth-grade teacher who’s making remote teaching look like a breeze? Done. The tireless essential workers in your life? Try this.
For brands, earning a spot on these coveted lists can mean a welcome bump in visibility and sales during the critical holiday shopping period. During these trying times, that’s a big deal.
So, how can a product or service snag a gift guide spot? While media begin working on these lists in late summer or early fall, it’s still possible to snag some last minute mentions into December. Here are a few proven ways the Approach team is helping clients do this right now.
Scoop opportunities in members-only PR groups.
These private groups—often on Facebook—are like the 2.0 version of deskside briefings. They bring together journalists and trusted PR professionals to pitch story ideas and find sources. Gaining membership is no easy feat and sometimes requires a fee, but it’s worth it. Ahead of the holidays these groups are popping with gift guide opportunities. In just the last few weeks we’ve secured gift guide coverage in Scary Mommy, Reader’s Digest, The Inventory and more thanks to our active participation in these groups.Pitch syndicated review sites.
Major news sites like USA Today and MSN are known for their extensive gift-giving guides. What’s lesser known is that these guides are often powered by a new crop of media sites focused solely on product recommendations and retail deals. Reviewed.com and CNN Underscored are just a few examples. If you don’t have an existing relationship with a writer at your target outlet, head to these review sites first. Get to know the writers and editors and what they’re working on, then find the right opening for your brand.Connect with e-commerce contributors.
Media sites that do compile their own gift guides (rather than syndicate) are leaning on a mix of e-commerce reporters and contributors to write these. While it’s easy enough to track down who on staff covers the e-commerce beat, it can be harder to identify the right contributor. That’s because these writers contribute to a multitude of outlets. For this, you’ll want to dig deep on writers’ personal sites, Twitter, LinkedIn and Muck Rack profiles to learn what sites they’re contributing to and the articles they’re working on. Once you’ve done your homework, make a connection!Join an affiliate marketing program.
Affiliate marketing is an effective way for brands to drive awareness and sales (and influencers and publishers to earn extra revenue). Even if there’s not a formal affiliate program in place, we find that reporters prefer to write about brands that are found on Amazon, Walmart and Target over direct-to-consumer and smaller retailers. To land in the gift guides, prioritize these retail spots and links in your pitch.Build your own gift guide.
Don’t forget to share gift giving ideas and inspiration directly with existing customers. Consider publishing a gift guide on your company blog or partner with relevant influencers to curate a guide that features your brand alongside other complimentary products and services. The benefit here is that you can tailor the ideas to meet the interests, needs and wants of your customers. Be sure to share this guide with your customer list, loyalty program members and social fans.
Ready to give it a go? Last step: Get your pitch gift-guide ready. The writers behind these lists are looking for a few things, including:
Authentic lifestyle photography, not just product shots.
Positive customer testimonials and reviews on your website.
Access to the product or service to test it out.
Details about any holiday promotions like dates, links and special codes.
If your brand is considering a gift guide strategy this holiday season, Approach can help. There’s still time, so drop us a line.