Enterprise Nation

Simon Corbett from Jargon Public Relations returns to the site to offer us some festive cheer .. and PR advice. The festive season is an excellent opportunity to generate valuable media coverage for your business, he says, but forward planning is essential to make the most of the media before and during the season.

There’s more to Christmas than toys

Christmas is less than nine weeks away!  And whether that fact fills you with joy, or fear, it presents a great opportunity to generate valuable column inches for your company and the products and services you sell.

Many businesses believe that the media are only interested in toy manufacturers and wine merchants during the festive period.  In fact, this widely held belief could not be further from the truth.  While there is an obvious need to report on the Christmas best sellers, the media in all of its various forms still has other news pages, broadcast slots, web sites, etc to fill with news, besides this year’s top ten toys.

During the run up to Christmas the working pace inevitably slows in almost every company and PR can be almost forgotten as executives enjoy the festivities December brings.  This gives home based businesses an opportunity to generate some publicity for their own business, receiving the kind of media coverage and exposure normally reserved for major brands.

Start with a plan

Before planning to use the festive period to generate media coverage, begin by planning what you want to achieve, such as communicating key information regarding a specific product or service, announcing the launch of a something new or increasing the level of overall awareness regarding your business.

Having decided what you would like to achieve, plan why media are likely to be interested in this, for example, a home based life coach may not be immediately interesting, but a story targeted ah their customers trade media discussing how the coach has helped enthuse and motivate the management and as a result grow their business is likely to be well received.

Although something related to Christmas is an obvious story choice, try to look broader and instead relate your story to an anniversary or perhaps look at why Christmas does not affect your business?

Understanding scheduling

Having decided what you’d like to say and the hook you will use to say it, it’s important to understand media publishing/reporting schedule over Christmas and the New Year.

Almost every trade magazine will shut down during this time and even the national media has only a skeleton staff working.  This means the majority of the content has been pre-written well in advance of 24th December and gives small businesses the opportunity to pre-plan their story, pick the relevant media and reporter and make contact with a well thought through story well before the Christmas break.

Don’t forget that the media will need stories and content throughout Christmas and the New Year, a period of more than one week, so there is plenty of opportunity to pitch stories at different reporters, for different days.

Simon Corbett is managing director of Jargon Public Relations, an independent public relations agency.  Jargon Public Relations works with businesses looking to create or maintain their reputation throughout the media from all markets and with all budgets.

• Jargon PR
• How can I get the press talking about my company, Simon Corbett