5 Steps To Get Your Products Into Holiday Gift Guides:
LET ME START BY SAYING… if it’s November and you’re just starting to research how to get your physical products into fabulous gift guides… You Are Too Late to benefit from the upcoming Holiday Season. But don’t worry, you’ll have opportunities throughout the year to be in gift guides of all sorts and be more than prepared for the biggest gift guide of all- Christmas!
QUICK TIP:
Compile a list of common gift giving holidays where your products would sell best and repeat all of these steps to create opportunities year round. Start the process at least three months in advance on smaller holidays and plan for more lead time for busier times of the year.
For Example:
Christmas isn’t the only time of year for gift guides; other major shopping holidays include:
Father’s/Mother’s Day
Graduations
Weddings
Summertime Travel
Back To School
This takes planning, research and a strategy. So, let’s dive into when and how you can start this rewarding growth opportunity for your creative product based business.
Have you been dreaming about getting your physical products into magazine holiday gift guides? If so, you are on the right track and focusing your limited time on a great growth opportunity in your business. Gift Guides are one of the best ways to get your products the exposure they need to grow your small business and provide you access to more readers than your current subscribers while still connecting with your ideal customer.
Timing Is Everything!
It’s right to assume that with Holiday Gift Guides greatly benefitting your business that you’re not alone searching to secure a spot on those holiday wish lists, especially with Christmas being the most shopped occasion of the year.
QUICK TIP:
If you want to ensure your place on this year’s lists, you’ll need to pitch the right way, at the right time and to the right person.
Put this on your calendar: June, July and August are the months when most national magazines plan their holiday gift guides. It can take up to four months or more from the time you pitch your product to when it makes it into publication.
You'll want your products to be a part of these holiday gift guides because it can mean a lot of sales over the holiday for your business. It can also increase your credibility among journalists and editors, and once you have made contact with the right people it will become less of a task and more of a collaboration.
If you follow these strategies, you're on your way to getting holiday gift guide coverage for your products.
Here are some simple-yet-effective steps for getting holiday press for your products.
STEP ONE:
Determine the type of NICHE GIFT your product is.
When you’re looking for the perfect physical product business niche, you shouldn’t cast your net too wide.
It seems only natural to go after a product niche with a huge audience, but that also means stiff competition. What you should be aiming for is an under-served niche that has a growing amount of popularity and one that you can infuse your own originality into.
One of the most important parts of building a successful physical product business is honing in on your niche consumers interests. Target these interests, develop the niche into a physical product that speaks to your consumer, and market it properly.
And if you don’t have a product yet and you want to brainstorm some ideas, I’ve got you covered.
This Guide is an Exercise for Creative Thinkers, for Artists, Entrepreneurs, Business People & Anyone Who Wants to Take Their Physical Product Ideas to The Next Level! You'll find hundreds of ideas you may never have thought of that are perfect for your small business growth.
STEP TWO:
Find the most appropriate media/magazine fit for your PRODUCT NICHE.
Start by making a list of the media & magazines your target market reads, listens to and trusts.
Browse the magazine racks at your favorite bookstore.
Research Online by Googling “The Best Gift Guides for ___ your niche product type___”.
Select magazines that speak to your ideal customers.
Your list should include media outlets that have done gift guides with similar products to yours in the past. Only include publications relevant to the type of physical product you sell, which means they need to have your ideal customers attention.
For Example:
If you are promoting a new pet product, a Health & Beauty Magazines wouldn’t be the best fit; however, Animal Wellness or The Washington Post might be.
STEP THREE:
Find the editor or writer at those magazines that cover your particular product niche.
You’ll need to do research to find the right editorial contacts to pitch your product to. You may be lucky enough to find a magazine with a shopping editor or product editor.
To find the right editor, contributor or staff members, look through the 1st few pages of the magazine you are interested in and see if they list the magazine editor of the section of the magazine that best fits your product. Check for journalists who’ve published lists in the previous years or who are already writing about your product niche. If an email address is not provided, call the phone number of the magazine and ask for the editors email address. Or do what I do, hit Google and search for the name of the editor you found listed in the magazine to locate their contact information.
QUICK TIP:
You can also purchase a media list and save yourself a lot of time. When purchasing a media list, make sure that the list is up to date and has the latest contact information.
But I prefer if you go to LinkedIn and look for the Magazine there and see if they have a “Meet the Team” section that lists the editors and their contact information. You can do the same on Twitter and Instagram to locate editors.
STEP FOUR:
Contact the appropriate Holiday Gift Guide Editor at each magazine.
What your email should include when making your pitch concise and to the point:
Write no more than 2 or 3 short paragraphs for your product pitch, with no more than 3 sentences per paragraph.
Include the type of gift guide or consumer your product is best suited for.
If you can’t send every editor you pitch one of your physical products; just be sure to include beautiful professional hi-res images.
Provide a few bullet points mentioning the benefits of your products.
Include any highlights that set you apart from the competition.
Include your media kit in your pitches. List where your products can be purchased, how much they retail, links to your website and social media accounts, downloadable images that editors can use, and a great place to add things like bios and “as seen in” messaging. These are all items that often bulk up pitches with more credibility.
QUICK TIP:
Get Creative!
Make the subject line of your email catch the editors attention. Create an element of curiosity with six of less words and keywords that relate to the editor. A good subject line is usually what makes the difference between someone clicking on or ignoring an email.
For Example:
“The ultimate gift for the French at heart Traveler” or “The Funniest Gifts Coworkers will fight over”
People are more likely to open an email with the second subject line, so make your subject line interesting and relevant with a bit of curiosity for your editor.
STEP FIVE:
Don’t Forget to Follow up.
If you don't hear back within a week, send a follow-up email.
Keep it short
Inquire if they are still looking for holiday gift ideas
If two more weeks pass and you don’t hear back, give it another try with a slightly different gift idea angle.
Quick Tip:
Now it’s time to Leverage Your New Product Placement!
After all that hard work, you landed a product placement in a magazine- GREAT JOB!
Now you’ll want to leverage this accomplishment and make it visible to as many of your customers as possible.
Create a custom graphic showcasing your Holiday Gift Guide Win to share on your social media platforms.
Use that graphic to run targeted ads to the social post for more engagement.
Put together an unboxing experience for the editor.
Add the magazine publication’s logo to the “As Seen In” section of your website for credibility.
GOOD LUCK!
Share your holiday gift guide wins below in the comments.
The Creative Business Owners Coach
Helpful Resources & Tools Related To This Topic:
500 Product Categories Creatives Gravitate Towards
Resource Guide: Brainstorm & Research Your Product Niche
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