Unless you’ve been burying your head in the sand for the last few weeks, it won’t have escaped your notice that Christmas is just around the corner. For the majority of the population Christmas is something they only have to think about for a couple of weeks each year. For any B2C focused PR and some B2B PR, the festive season starts in June.

With a nice mix of ‘silly season’ festive story opportunities and a plethora of Christmas Gift Guides on offer it is no wonder that the PR wheel goes into overdrive. To maximise the opportunity, it’s all about being prepared:

1. Don’t just jump on the bandwagon 

If you’re thinking about ‘doing some Christmas PR’ just because you think you should, the chances are that you are destined to fail. If you genuinely have a product that people might like to give as a gift (or indeed receive) or a strong hook as to why your company can talk about a seasonal story then you could be onto a winner – read on!

2. Think mulled wine when everyone else is thinking Sangria

The best way to get noticed in the busy Christmas period is to ‘go early’. Christmas in July might sound like a nightmare but it really is this early that most journalists will be looking for products to feature in their gift guides. Hosting a product showcase of your whole range with some quirky giveaways is one way to spark media attention.

3. Be wary of wacky

While there is such a thing as ‘silly season’ when many journalists go on holiday and cover is brought in who will use a pre-approved bank of content to fill column inches, we would warn against going too strange. After all you don’t want your brand to become the topic of a social media joke. Think carefully about your angle for a Christmas story and how this ties into the way consumers will be feeling during December… broke, excited or dreading family events?

4. Calendar clashes

Obviously this is a very crowded time of year so to succeed it is always worth scoping out who else is hosting an event or launch and avoiding this date. After all no one wants to compete against an Xbox console launch or a new iPhone announcement.

5. Enjoy yourself

Christmas really is the time to get your inner Ab Fab on. Taking media who have been loyal to your brand out for drinks is a simple way of showing your gratitude and tee up a successful new year.

Image credit: Joe Buckingham