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Creating The Perfect Holiday PR Pitch: Tapping Into The Billion $ Spending Season

Guest post by: Anthony Mora

Article Overview: The holiday season represents a huge opportunity when in comes to selling your product or service. According to the National Retail Federation, “in 2010, holiday sales increased 5.2% to $452.9 billion. And that’s just retail. Just about any business or service can utilize the holidays to boost sales. We generally think of the season boosting sales of clothing, jewelry or electronics, which it does, but those are just the obvious ones. If you’re in the FBI or CIA, you might have some trouble developing a holiday pitch, but generally there is going to be a way that you can pitch your business, product or service during the holiday season.

Creating The Perfect Holiday PR Pitch: Tapping Into The Billion $ Spending Season

The holiday season represents a huge opportunity when in comes to selling your product or service. According to the National Retail Federation, "in 2010, holiday sales increased 5.2% to $452.9 billion, which was a significant improvement from the -0.4% decrease in 2009. On average, holiday sales have increased 2.6% per year for the last 10 years. For some retailers, the holiday season can represent anywhere between 25-40% of annual sales. In 2010, holiday sales represented 19.4% of total retail industry sales."

And that's just retail. Just about any business or service can utilize the holidays to boost sales. We generally think of the season boosting sales of clothing, jewelry or electronics, which is does, but those are just the obvious ones. Think about it, if you're a florist, what better way to make the holidays cheerier. If you're a psychotherapist, there is help for the holiday blues. If hairstylist, cosmetic surgeon or make up artist, you can help create a new look for the new year. If you're a restaurateur you can offer the perfect holiday meal. If you're a marketer or business advisor, there is no better time to prepare for the new year, you get the idea. If you're in the FBI or CIA, the pitch might be a bit more troublesome, but overall, generally there is going to be a way that you can pitch your business, product or service during the holiday season. I realize that you might feel that the commercialization of the holiday season has gone too far (and you're right), still the last quarter of the year presents unique opportunities to get your story out to the media, your customers and your prospects. The holiday season is a time when people loosen their purse strings and spend money. It's a time when people spend on others and themselves. It's also a time when the media is looking for story ideas with holiday themed gift guides and a stories having to do with holiday gifts, gadgets and products.

What you need to do is drill down and develop story ideas that speak to the needs of the various media outlets. Remember during this time you need to tie your media angle and pitch to the holidays and you need to keep the needs of the various media outlets you're pitching in mind. TV is a visual medium, so you want to pitch them a visual hook. If you have a product that you can bring on and show, that helps, or if you do a quick makeover that that could work. Print needs a strong story. If you can tie your product in with a cause, charity or local angle, that can give you a step up.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

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Article Tags: boost sales, business, Entrepreneur, holiday marketing ideas, holiday marketing opportunities, holiday media coverage, holiday sales, holiday season, holidays pr, Marketing, Media, Media Coverage, Media Relations, monthly magazines, pr campaign holidays, pr holidays, press, Public Relations Campaign



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