I love the holiday news cycle. Every year I look forward to pictures of kittens in silly outfits, outlandish gift guides, intriguing cocktail recipes, and crazy predictions by futurists. When you’re in PR, the holiday season starts early with long-lead publication deadline dates and doesn’t stop until the final “last-minute gift ideas” blog posts are published in late December.
Business Wire takes holidays seriously.
We’re a natural fit for holiday news. If you’re looking to activate reporters to cover your holiday news, NOW is the time to write your holiday stories.
Black Friday
- Store hours, discounts, and promotions
- New products and services
- Special accommodations for employees to help them survive Black Friday (onsite massages, yoga classes, or meditation opportunities)
- Tips on a successful shopping plan of attack
- Success stories, sales figures
Cyber Monday News
- Last-minute offers lined up for Cyber Monday
- Predictions for the holiday shopping season
- Information on Cyber Security
- Success stories, sales figures
Corporate Social Responsibility
- Company-sponsored charity events
- Charitable giving programs and results
- Toy or food drives and drop-off locations
- Stories of employees in the field volunteering for a company-sponsored charity
Holiday Gift News
- Gift guides! Use Business Wire’s customized distribution options to promote gifts by age and demographic. I have a 73-year-old mother and a 92-year-old grandmother. How about a gift guide with ideas for aging parents and grandparents?
Holiday Food Stories
- Holiday recipes
- Special menus at restaurants
- Holiday cocktail recipes
- Seasonal product offerings
- Holiday cooking classes by local chefs
Holiday Travel Stories
- Last-minute holiday trip packages
- Tips and tricks on travel with young children or pets
- Ideas on celebrating the holidays away from home
Late December Ideas
- Economic predictions for the New Year
- Weight loss product launches
- New Year resolution stories with customer testimonials
- Predictions by futurists
To truly tell your holiday story, you will need to write a multimedia-rich news release – this means you will want to include a photo, infographic, or video showcasing your offer. Reporters need your multimedia content to create a compelling story. Humans are visual learners. They retain 65% of what they learn when a visual is added. Make it easy for reporters to tell a compelling story by adding photos, videos, and infographics.
And don’t forget to leverage the reach of others! Social influencers can act as sales associates for you. Work with them to create custom content or give them your assets to drive higher engagement and ROI. Give them easy content to use including infographics, PDFs, and Customer Testimonials. Include videos but keep them short. According to Vidyard’s 2017 Video in Business Benchmark report, a video less than 90 seconds in length sees average retention at the end of 53%.
Once your holiday season is over it will be time to measure the success of your work. Utilize the data Business Wire provides including metrics on volume, sentiment, influencers, geographic location, and virality. These reports provide instant access to a wide range of metrics you can use to extend your outreach or highlight your PR program’s results to your management team, ensuring you, and they, have a very happy holiday season.
The holiday season is here! Are you ready? I, for one, can’t wait to read your news!
