6 things you should be doing now for your Christmas campaigns

While the summer heatwaves have only just broken, in the PR world it’s already time to start thinking about Christmas campaigns. In fact, according to Elinor Tyler – who has more than 20 years of PR experience and is now head of consumer PR at Storm Communications – the best and most effective Christmas campaigns are ones that are already well under way.

From which publications to target when to the importance of AI in modern marketing, Tyler has shared six of her top tips for building impactful Christmas PR campaigns that drive coverage and sales – and what PR professionals should be doing right now to get ready for the busiest season of the year.

PRINT AS PRIORITY

From mid-summer, Tyler says, PR professionals should be targeting their biggest print media contacts to increase the likelihood of their clients’ products being featured in the bumper festive issues.

Tyler notes that print publications operate on a three- to six-month lead time, especially for their Christmas issues, so time is ticking for PRs to have those all-important conversations with their magazine and newspaper contacts.

“If you don’t have the conversations, then you’re going to miss the boat… You’re missing the editorial lead times for those publications,” Tyler said.

For shorter-lead publications such as weekly magazines and national newspaper supplements, the timeline is a little more generous, Tyler says, but PRs should be contacting those journalists by mid-September as they tend to start pulling their issues together around three months out.

DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

For decades now, PRs have been acutely aware of the importance of targeting the digital world, whether that’s online publications or social media.

However, with AI becoming more commonplace in everyday life, Tyler says that it is essential for PRs to make sure their digital coverage is optimised for Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, as consumers are increasingly likely to use such technology to search for products rather than using traditional search engines.

“This is going to be the most AI Christmas we’ve ever had,” she said.

“A lot of people are going to be asking AI what to get people for Christmas – and the gift guides, the festive features, are all going to play into that answer.

“The more in advance you can get your digital footprint online talking about gifts for Christmas, the more likely the AI models are going to pick up on that.

“When you type into ChatGPT, ‘what shall I get my mum?’ or ‘what shall I get my dad?’, you want your product to be coming to the fore.”

Tyler added that it is important, therefore, to be securing placements in high-quality online publications now, so digital footprint is established for when consumers search for gift ideas using LLMs come the end of the year.

RESEARCH YOUR CONTACTS AND KNOW YOUR PROMOTIONS

Tyler says a targeted approach to product pitching is the most fruitful, so close contact with journalists in the run-up to Christmas is essential. PRs should know which journalist is looking after relevant sections at their targeted publication – and understand exactly what they are looking for – in order to prepare the most effective pitch.

“Don’t do slapdash and pray for results,” Tyler said.

“Make sure you know the journalists who are putting the gift guides together. Make sure you know if they’re evergreen, or if they’re going to be new articles.

“Also, make sure you understand if your product is part of an affiliate programme – because a lot of online media heavily lean into products that have those links. If they don’t have them, they won’t feature them.”

DON’T FORGET PRE-SEASON SALES

In addition to affiliate programmes, Tyler said now is the time for PRs to nail down exactly which promotions are happening – and when – for their products. Black Friday lands nearly around a month before Christmas, which is when Christmas shopping behaviour really ramps up as consumers take advantage of discounts on offer, so PRs should not neglect that all-important weekend at the end of November.

“It’s about making sure you are giving the media all your assets well ahead of time, you’re aware of any promotions that are going on and you have your affiliate programmes in place, so you are ready to go on that weekend,” she said.

LEAD WITH INTEREST, NOT JUST PRODUCT

While PRs naturally target product round-ups for the gifting season, Tyler insists a great way to plan ahead and think outside the box is to try and get their clients’ products beyond those product pages.

“Yes, getting on those gift guides or festive round-up pages is great, but actually getting it into the consumer affairs pages or the news pages can be much more valuable,” she said.

PRs should be thinking about the story behind their product, how it ties into trending themes on social media, and pitching it as a story in its own right, rather than simply something to feature on a gifting round-up.

“Find something that’s unique about your product: look into data, look at Google trends, look at TikTok trends – how can you tie your product into that, and create a story that actually has a news value?” Tyler said.

“Package that up and send that into the media, because that gives you many more bites of the cherry.”

THINK LIKE A CONSUMER – AND DON’T BE AFRAID TO PIVOT

Sometimes PR campaigns don’t land as expected, and Tyler says it is essential to keep an eye on the performance of campaigns throughout September and October, so there is still time to pivot before the Christmas rush.

The best way to do this, she says, is to think like a consumer.

“I’m going to type in ‘what to buy my mum’, and if I’ve been pitching my product as a gift for mums, I should be able to find that on the digital footprint. If I can’t, it’s probably not working,” she said.

“Also, look at your pipeline. Have journalists pulled in sample requests? Have they shown an interest in it? If journalists aren’t responding, if your samples aren’t being pulled in, if you’re not getting good engagement, then you need to pivot.

“By October, November, if you’re not getting those bites, it isn’t effective.”

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