Traditional PR wisdom discounts holidays. The idea is that no one is around to report, so all your effort to create noise or traction will be a huge waste of time. This is an outdated mode of thinking.
We really need to let go of yester-years mental image of empty media offices and journalists sitting around sipping umbrella-adorned daiquiris in the Bahamas at this time of year.
The rules of the media game have changed. Journalists are working harder than ever, and citizen journalists are picking up where they may have missed thanks to the increase of online, mobile and social media.
In fact, many journalists use the holidays to follow-up on leads or develop fresh new story angles. With so much information available, it offers them an ideal time to catch up, regroup and breathe.
For PR, the holidays may offer an ideal opportunity to reach out to the media when the information pipelines are not so clogged with PR pitches and story ideas. It also becomes an ideal time to catch the attention of working journalists who are starving for fresh news.
But, like your holiday gifts, packaging matters. With the holiday mood in full swing, sizing up the facts and presenting the news like a beautifully gift-wrapped present can grab the attention of the media. Here are some lessons that we have learned:
- Get social. With everyone purchasing presents during the holiday season, the social media channels will be filled with comments (and criticisms). Using a social media listening service, you can uncover valuable comments. Those positive ones can be highlighted to the media, further strengthening your client’s brand equity or starting a WOM viral campaign.
- Go pitch crazy. Journalists need to fill up the pages with editorial content, even on holidays. The same applies to bloggers and influencers. This may be the right time to offer gems of wisdom or key factoids when many PR departments are downshifting for the holidays. Once you get mentioned, you can always publicize it.
- Resolutions work. It’s year-end, so highlighting a corporate wish list or writing on observed trends for the past 12 months will be attractive. This can create discussion and even set the foundations for a bigger expose in the New Year. It also offers an opportunity to highlight how your organization or client is faring.
- Don’t be afraid of eye candy. Instead of writing, packaging the information in infographics or even a video blog will be well received. It allows you to add holiday graphics and elements (to set the mood), while highlighting hard facts that you want the media to pay attention to. It is the only time of the year where such additions will not be seen as “cheesy”.
- Time to give. With greetings and well wishes in the air, now is the time to show how well your organization or client has done in CSR. A strong message of goodwill always works during a time of reflection and gratitude.
And in the same light, we at BroadPR would like to offer you season’s greetings and hope that you will continue to read our rants and observations in the days, weeks and months ahead.
“May your walls know joy, may every room hold laughter, and every window open to great possibility.”
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