10 Tips to Get your Product Covered in Holiday Gift Guides

If yours is a product business, most likely the fourth quarter of the year is absolutely crucial to your bottom line.

And one of the most effective sales and publicity strategies for your product is to be included in Holiday Gift Guides that appear in the media (magazines, TV, newspapers, radio, Internet) in November and December.

These Holiday Guides offer recommendations for gifts people should consider buying. Why is this so important? Because these holidays are the time when readers or viewers are READY TO BUY and eager to see what a media outlet recommends.

Best of all, the media usually includes a Web site and/or telephone number where people can buy the recommended gifts (in many publicity articles this information isn’t included).

But you need to get moving on this now. Many magazines have a lead time of several months in advance.

As you might imagine, getting into a Holiday Gift Guide is not all that easy. There’s a great deal of competition from hundreds, sometimes thousands, of other companies that are also pitching their products. So, here are 10 tips to help you get your products covered in Holiday Gift Guides:

1. Send your pitches at the right time. Timing is critical. Know the deadline for each Holiday Gift Guide. Here are the typical deadlines for sending in submissions:

a. Most magazines (other than News Magazines): Four to six months prior to issue date

b. News magazines: Two to three months prior to issue date

c. Newspapers: One to two months prior to issue date

d. TV: One to two months prior to broadcast date

2. Determine the category of gifts that each media outlet covers. For example, one in-flight magazine may only include technology gifts in their Holiday Gift Guide this year, while another in-flight magazine may only cover upscale items.

3. Pay attention to your packaging and shipping. I‘ve been told many times by media people that products often arrive broken, or with unappealing packaging, and the media people often won’t even consider those products for coverage in the Holiday Gift Guide.

4. Offer inexpensive products. Many media outlets cover gifts under $50, $25 or even lower cost stocking stuffers.

5. Send in your most colorful products. Most media outlets are visual, and color looks better in the pages of a magazine or on TV than drab colors do. If you flip through magazines with Holiday Gift Guides, you’ll notice that most of the items are bright colors. So, make sure that either your product or your packaging has eye-catching color to capture their attention.

6. Donate a portion of your product s sales or profits to charity. Some media outlets ONLY cover products that donate to charity. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it also increases your chances of getting publicity. Be sure to mention this in all of your pitches.

7. Offer something that is brand new to the marketplace. Remember, Gift Guide Editors are just like other media people -- they want something new. If you create a new product, you’ll get the media’s attention.

8. Don’t forget products for pets. Pet Holiday Gift Guides are becoming very popular. I’ve seen them in health and women’s magazines. Remember, there are millions of pet lovers out there who consider pets their family and want to buy holiday presents for them. If you have a unique gift for a pet, you may very well get coverage.

9. Mention any celebrity tie-ins. Some entertainment media outlets will only cover your products if celebrities use them. Other media outlets like to know that celebrities use the product, because readers and viewers are fascinated with celebrities, and want to use the same products. So, if your brother-in-law’s cousin knows someone famous who’s willing to tout your product, go for it.

10. If you can get a major retailer to sell your products, include that information in your pitch. Gift Guide Editors feel more comfortable recommending products sold by major retailers.

So start celebrating the holidays this summer, by pitching your products for media coverage in June. By fourth quarter you’ll be reaping the sales from your summer efforts!