PR Planning Case Study - Holiday Gift Guides

The one thing I did discover, is that September 8th is late to start the process of submitting to holiday gift guides. We've already missed the deadlines for many of the longer-lead-time magazines. However, there are still many magazines still available, and most of the newspapers, TV and Radio have deadlines that are still in front of us. I've learned my lesson - start earlier next year!

The advantage of both of the sources that I'll give you is that each of them tells exactly how the editor of each gift guide wishes to receive your information. Most of these sources are looking for some kind of press release (usually via email with attached pictures) or media kits, and in my review so far, most of those who want to see the actual product don't request it until they have a pretty good idea that it will be included, cutting your raw prospecting costs.

I can tell you, however, that this isn't a simple emailing of a press release to tons of people. To get the best success, each of these sources should be handled individually, pitching your product to their specific audience, (using a boating slant for the boating magazine, etc.) and abiding by their specific requests on how they want to receive information and materials.

So plan to do some work. However, I can tell you, this is a great technique, and if you were to pick one of these up today and send out several hundred pitches, you're liable to get a number of good placements.

The Sources:

1. Book Marketing
This first source is focused primarily on those of you who wish to promote a book. However, if your product isn't a book, you can still get value out of this resource (most of the sources are for generic gift guides, not book-specific ones), so I encourage you to at least look at it to determine if it is right for you.

It's produced by Kim Dushinski and Tami DePalma, the people who focus on helping authors get publicity for their books.

This pdf-delivered product contains over 630 different holiday gift guides, compiled through published media calendars. Their contacts focus primarily on newspapers and magazines. Besides the contacts, you also get access to a teleseminar (which will be held September 9th), a sample cover letter, and probably the coolest tool - all of the deadlines in Microsoft Excel format presorted by deadline.

One catch - they're limiting the number they will sell, and they only have 14 of the complete package left (I know, it sounds like a trick, but I just got off the phone with Kim, who told me that this is a real number, so there's scarcity involved.) They plan to offer a lower level of product for the same amount of money after the first batch sells out, but at this point, I can't tell you what that product offering will contain.

This looks like a great tool that you should definitely consider, especially if you are marketing a book. Hurry though...

2. GiftList

It's always good to work with specialists, and creation of the holiday gift guide contact list is one of only two products that Amy Bates Stumpf and her staff does each year. She has a staff of phone researchers who rigorously call every single person on this list on a regular basis, updating their publication plans, checking their contact information, and verifying their preferences on how they want to receive the information. Their database is updated every week from May through September, so you can rest assured that it will be current and accurate.

Amy's product is provided to you in the form of a searchable online database. You can put in keywords, look at categories, check out specific media sources, even dates of last update. One other cool thing is that you can mark your list of targets and record the actions you've taken for each individual contact, which then gets stored in your own personal database (you're the only one with access to that information) so you can keep track of your promotional efforts in the same place where you gather the leads.

Amy spends a great deal of time editing the information, and I found that it's very specific, especially in the area of what the editor wants to receive and how they want to get it.

One cool thing from this product is that it also includes wire services (further increasing your effort / return ratio if you can get in), and top TV and radio stations.

Of course, it's got some areas of improvement. I'd love to see a list of deadlines, and sometimes the searching process doesn't deliver results the way that I think it should, but overall, this is a powerful tool that I definitely recommend to anyone who has a giftable product.

We'll let you know more about how our efforts work in getting into gift guides, plus the other tactics we pursue as we go forward. Plus, if you have any ideas of tactics we should consider, please feel free to drop us a line and we'll pass the best suggestions on (plus a link to your site) in future editions of this newsletter and on our site.

Let me know about your success too!

Tags: Holiday Gift Guides Gift Baskets