Marketing Memo: Looking Ahead to Holiday Media Coverage

by KAYLIE EASTON, Vice President of Client Services at Litzky PR

In an evolving media landscape with seemingly fewer earned editorial opportunities, now’s the time to finalize your strategy for securing holiday coverage. Product publicity topping your wish list? Taking a few simple steps this summer will set you up for success!

Affiliate PR is table stakes for securing coverage in national media. Outlets rely on affiliate links as a revenue stream, allowing them to monetize content by earning a commission from the sales of featured products. Most outlets require affiliate links for editorial coverage; ‘best of’ listicles, gift guides, reviews, and product roundups in online publications are all driven by affiliate PR. The explosion of affiliate marketing has expanded coverage opportunities as several outlets have launched their own shopping sites in the past few years (see AP Buyline, USA Today’s Reviewed.com, Forbes Vetted, TIME Stamped, WSJ’s Buy Side, and plenty more). 

Mass retailers typically have their own affiliate programs, so you may be all set if you have confirmed retail distribution. However, if you’re a direct-to-consumer brand or seeking to drive traffic to your e-commerce platform, don’t anticipate editorial coverage without an affiliate program in place. An added bonus? Your affiliate strategy will also help connect PR results to sales and provide a clear look at how editorial content drives consumer purchases.

Take advantage of larger conversations within our industry and tap into pop culture trends that resonate with your brand to garner editorial interest this season. While ‘kidulting’ and ‘eldertainment’ continue to capture industry attention, they have also paved the way to a bigger conversation around inclusivity and intergenerational play that’s fun for all; a perfect fit for toys and games that can be enjoyed across ages. 

Through a broader lens of pop culture, the Y2K revival across fashion, entertainment, TikTok, and more continues to drive trend stories; women’s sports deservingly dominate headlines; and prioritizing social and emotional well-being for all ages remains a pointed conversation. If these are areas your brand exemplifies or can add to the conversation, you should!

Now is a great time to establish relationships with creators you want to cover your brand. Influencer outreach shouldn’t be transactional and happen only when you want to see coverage; developing ongoing relationships will make the coverage more meaningful and authentic, and help turn influencers into brand advocates. 

Emphasize not just what you’re offering, but why it’s a fit for their platform. Tailor pitches to match an influencer’s creative approach. For example, as a growing set of parenting influencers move away from ‘sharenting’ and choose to obscure their kids’ names and faces, any calls to action should provide content opportunities for the parent instead of focusing on their child.

When you start seeing social buzz, capitalize on the content! Like and share influencers’ posts, leverage the comments for social listening purposes, and join the conversation by interacting with their followers. If posts are performing well — receiving positive follower feedback and racking up video views – you might even pay creators an additional fee to boost their content and get more attention on your brand. Traditional media also keeps an eye on what’s trending on social – so the buzz could be a reason to re-engage your editorial contacts, too.