It’s that time of year again: The weather gets colder, the days get shorter, and the holidays – also known as peak shopping season -- are just around the corner.

That makes the holiday season an excellent time for your brand to get in front of audiences that are engaged and ready to buy. You and your team have probably been planning for the busy holiday season all year, whether it’s introducing a new product or finding new ways to highlight your brand and its services.

But how can you make sure that your product rises above the rest? How can you cut through the noise? We’ve outlined a few of our tried-and-true philosophies to help your brand boost sales, generate coverage, and navigate the ever-changing media landscape this holiday season.

First, Truly Understand Your Audience

The first thing to keep in mind is that your competitors and big-name companies in entirely different industries will also be making a holiday-season marketing push. As a result, your target audiences will be inundated with marketing content and ads through December.

Traditional ad opportunities are harder to come by and higher-priced in Q4, so it’s vital to make real connections with your audiences and treat them as more than just consumers.

Creating those connections requires taking a holistic look at your audience and their buying behaviors. Understanding their challenges and preferences will help your team hone its holiday marketing and communications strategies:

• Who are they?
• What are their pain points?
• What do they care about?
• What motivates them?
• Which channels, platforms, and mediums mean the most to them?

When you put those insights into action, identifying unique channels or platforms that resonate with your audience can turn one-time buyers into loyal customers.

‘Tis the Season to Diversify

A diverse marketing mix is equally important for your marcomm success. The holiday season is the perfect time to start experimenting with new channels and creative brand partnerships.

Brand partnerships and activations help to elevate your holiday marketing above the sale and help to create experiences that connect with your audience and expose your brand to new but like-minded consumers.

Some argue it’s best to go far and wide during the holidays, reaching out to individuals that might fall outside of your target audiences. Instead, we recommend a balance of new channels while going deeper with existing audiences to maintain your customer base.

Get Into Those Gift Guides

Gift guides get your product in front of larger and more diverse audiences, and they may position your product alongside other exciting and innovative brands. These factors can enhance the visibility and credibility of your brand.

When it comes to your PR strategy, it’s essential to start planning and pitching early – ideally in June or July. If you’re getting a late start, there are still opportunities! Your chances of breaking through are greatly increased when you can offer a complete, simple and easy to access press package. Reporters are moving at light speed during the holiday season so it’s essential to make their lives easier and limit back-and-forth questions. These best practices can help you increase the likelihood of gift-guide coverage.

First and foremost, you will need professional product photos in a range of styles: Lifestyle shots, “hero” shots of the product and its key features, and images with a clear background so that they can be easily added to creative layouts.

In today’s media landscape, product photos are the bare minimum. Well-produced product videos are increasingly a necessity. The ROI of a great product video is astronomical as they can be used across a variety of platforms and channels to boost engagement and awareness.

Other often overlooked details that can help you break through include:

• Does your brand have an affiliate program? If so, make sure to include the relevant platforms in your pitch as preference is often given to affiliate friendly products.
• Running Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales? Make sure to include both the original and discounted price. Shoppers want to know how much they are saving and deep discounts, or even rare discounts are a motivator.
• Include a deadline for last-minute shoppers. Proactively share the last day to purchase to ensure delivery in time for the holidays!

After the guide is published, the work of your PR and marketing partner isn’t over: Relationship-building is at the core of all media relations efforts and thanking them for their coverage and keeping the two-way street of communications flowing will help you secure future consideration and coverage.

Garner Legitimacy via Product Reviews

Product reviews and gift-guide consideration are intertwined. When reporters and editors are putting together their gift guides, many look to the products they’ve already reviewed positively, so there are big advantages in having a strong review program throughout the year.

Ultimately, product reviews reinforce your brand credibility and build trust with audiences. Sending product samples to media allows them to share their expert experience with their readers. Any negatives they mention should be a top priority for your product team to address.

A strategic product-review program is an essential part of every successful product launch, and you’ll need to start working on your reviews program long before the holiday season.

The Greatest Gift is an Expert Partner

Ready to jump in? From product videos to press releases to pitching big-name media, let’s talk about how Airfoil can make this holiday season one to remember for your brand.