Key Elements of any Christmas Marketing Campaign

In late September and early October you should hear a silent starting pistol go off in your head as you look forward to getting your holiday selling campaign going.

On every website and social media account you are bound to start seeing gift suggestions in many forms. These days just about every media outlet creates one or two. Many generate guides on a daily basis aimed at a range of unique recipients. (Think hobbies, sun signs, age groups, genders, color themes).

These gift guides are hidden gems that product based businesses can benefit from in a way that is unique to this time of year.

Gift guides are a uniquely valuable way to vastly widen a brand’s audience.

Publications that typically eschew recommending products to their readers will open their pages for product coverage leading up to, and throughout the holiday season.
Many media outlets will also feature products against type. Say, a men’s health title which normally features grooming and fitness gear will be open to products for women.
Being published in popular gift guides is a terrific way to grow your email list and create year-round fans of your brand.
An added plus: Holiday gift guides published online stay there year-round, making them a discoverable asset for new audiences no matter the season.

For brands looking to get featured in holiday gift guides for 2024, here are some tips to increase your chances of inclusion:

1. Firmly Establish Your Affiliate Setup.

In years past we probably wouldn’t have listed an affiliate program as the first item, but it’s really key to gift guide inclusion in 2024. Media are increasingly motivated by the possibility of earning commissions from the products they recommend to their readers and it makes good sense. If a prominent website is going to share precious real estate with you in the form of a recommendation to their readers, offering them a referral fee for doing so is a fair exchange.

2. Have a Dropbox Full of Great Images Handy.

Every product should be beautifully photographed in high resolution on a white background and offered with both shadow and no shadow. The preferred format is square so that it fits in easily with other images on the list. If you’re not familiar with the term these are known as “silo’d” shots - short for silhouetted. Note: When a digital publication asks for high resolution, they generally mean between 2000 and 3000 squared pixels. A print publication is typically higher. Lifestyle shots are also good to include, such as a necklace shown on a model, or a candle styled on a holiday table.

3. Showcase Your Unique Selling Points.

Remember the part about specific gift guides mentioned above? Gifts that are great for Mom, a Pickleball buff, or a Sagittarius are all going to stand out for the right gift guide editor.

Price points are a huge factor here - there are luxury lists but some of the most successful guides are for products under $25.

Gift guide editors are flooded with product options, so it's important to make your offering stand out. Highlight the unique selling points of your products such as their on-trend popularity, affordability, sustainability, and selling success with consumers.

4. Maximize Celebrity and Influencer Relationships.

Gift guide editors are very much interested in suggesting great gifts as well as bringing in as much traffic as they can to their websites. For this reason, any “Google-able” names will be especially interesting to them. Establishing relationships with celebs and key influencers throughout the year is key to shoring up this point.

5. Make Sure You Have a Spectacular Product Page Set Up and Optimized for Traffic.

While many times media will link to Amazon or another big box store, most often traffic will come directly from gift guide links to your website. When they arrive you want to have a beautiful page that’s easy to navigate waiting for them.

Editors look for live links that provide a look into the type of shopping experience a reader will have on your site once they click over. Make sure your sales platform is stable and that your products are fully stocked. No one wants readers from a large publication to be met with a sold-out notification or a crashed website.