The Best Time to Pitch Your Product for Holiday Gift Guides

Land your product in holiday gift guides this year by timing your pitches to perfection.

The holidays are here (in the PR world)! 🎄

And if you want your product featured in major gift guides this year, planning your holiday PR outreach is critical. As with most things, timing is everything in securing those coveted media placements.

So let’s explore the best times to pitch your product for holiday gift guides. 

In this article, we'll cover:

• The best times to send a product pitch for each type of publication and media
• The ideal day of the week to send a PR pitch for a holiday gift guide product
• The best time of day to send your PR pitch
• Additional holiday timing considerations

Let’s jump in!

When to Pitch the Media

Pitching Traditional Print Magazines

For traditional print magazines, you'll need to pitch incredibly early due to their long lead times. Most start working on their holiday gift guides 6-8 months in advance.

For the biggest magazines, aim to have your pitches in by March or April for the best chance of being considered.

Regional Print Magazines

Smaller regional print magazines typically have shorter lead times of 3-5 months.

However, keep in mind that most print publications will want to review and photograph products in-house. In this case, it doesn't hurt to be early.

For these, plan to pitch around March or April, however you can still continue pitching through June or July.

Pitching Online/Digital Publications

Online publications and digital magazines are a goldmine of holiday gift guides, so this is where most of your pitching efforts should take place.

These publications operate on much shorter timelines compared to print. Most will start planning holiday gift guide content in June or July.

Pro Tip: Holiday season kicks into high gear online after Amazon Prime Day (which typically takes place sometime in the first two weeks of July). After Prime Day, commerce editors tend to shift their focus to holiday gift guides.

For online gift guides, your pitching window will generally be from July through early October. But to secure a top-tier placement, the earlier, the better!

Aim to get pitches in by mid-August for the best shot at a media placement.

When to Pitch TV Shows for Holiday Products

TV for holiday gift guides? You betcha!

A product placement on a holiday TV segment is a PR home run! But you'll need to be prepared early.

Most TV producers start booking holiday segments as early as August or September.

For top national TV shows like Good Morning America or The TODAY Show, August is your target pitch window.

For local TV stations, aim for pitching by September to early October.

Pro Tip: We see a lot of last minute requests from TV segment producers come through HARO (Help a Reporter Out) in August and September. Keep an eye out for last-minute product requests all through the holiday season for additional opportunities.

Other Holiday Pitching Opportunities

The holidays are prime shopping time, so even if you've missed the target window for some of your dream publications this year, you might be able to find a placement opportunity in less-traditional formats, like:

• Brand Partnerships: Partner with another brand to create a special holiday offering that exposes each brand to new buyers. Get creative! These types of partnerships come in all shapes and sizes.
• Sponsored Content: Many blogs and digital publications offer special sponsored advertorial slots for the holidays. Some brands choose to sponsor their own gift guide, featuring their product in the mix. Others might contribute an article (or advertorial) focused on their product. These paid opportunities vary drastically. So be clear about how much you want to spend and how well their audience matches with your ideal customer.
• Social Media Campaigns or Giveaways: Sponsor a giveaway or contribute a product for additional online exposure during the holidays.
• Podcast Interviews or Product Features: There are podcasts of all sizes, from single-person operations to full studio productions. Typically, the smaller the production, the quicker you can get on air. Consider an interview if you have something truly valuable you can contribute to the podcast through an interview. OR consider sponsoring a podcast with a special offer for your product through the holiday season.

Although the timelines vary, for most of these opportunities, you'll generally want to pitch 2-3 months before the holidays - around September or October.

The Best Day and Time to Send PR Pitches

When it comes to actually sending your pitches, timing matters too!

Best Day of the Week for PR Pitches

Studies and surveys show that PR pitches sent early in the workweek tend to perform best.

The ideal day is typically Tuesday or Wednesday, when journalists and producers aren't slammed after the weekend and haven't started to check out for the upcoming weekend.

But if you've got timely news to share, don't wait another week!

Best Time of Day to Email a Pitch

As for the best time of day, shoot for mid-morning, between 10AM-11AM in the journalist or producer's timezone. This allows them to get settled into their workday while still catching them before lunch hour.

Get a Head Start on Your Holiday PR

As you can see, successfully pitching your product for the holidays requires careful planning and strategic timing. By knowing the ideal windows for different media types, you can help your pitches get in front of the right people at the right time.

Want a little extra help securing those coveted holiday features this year?

Download our FREE Holiday PR Toolkit!

It includes a detailed checklist to walk you through the process of pitching your products for holiday gift guides, a template for building your own media list, and 20 free top-tier media contacts to kick off your outreach.

Not into building a media list from scratch? We've got you covered there, too! 

Our collection of holiday gift guide media lists provides hundreds of media contacts, organized by industries such as Beauty & Cosmetics, Tech & Gadgets, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Kids, Food & Kitchen, and more.

The holidays are just around the corner, so let us help you boost your sales this season by getting your product in holiday gift guides this year!