Holiday wedding PR buzz

The holidays are the official beginning of engagement season when there is a flurry of breaking news stories on the latest celebrities to get engaged, fashion features on holidays jewelry and party dresses as well as perennial style stories on winter wedding trends. What follows the holidays is the busiest booking and selling season for many wedding fashion brands and event venues. Thus, it is important to create a good amount of PR buzz in preparation for the season.

For us, December 2012 has been a busy season indeed with several national print magazines releasing features about our clients and online press buzzing with holiday stories and giveaways. Here are some of our favorites stories:

Brides.com picked 10 red and green engagement rings by Yael Designs for its holiday features:

Weddington Way gave recap of winter bridesmaid trends  on The Knot:

Kirribilla dress was styled by Southern Bride magazine:

Benign Objects DIY hankies were picked by Junebug Weddings for its holiday giveaway:

PR 101: only fools rush in

Last week, a new client reached out to us seeking urgent help. He was launching a new company and needed a press release to put out on the PR wire services. The launch was in one week.

We told him that unfortunately we’re not able to help on such short notice and recommended another firm. But the lesson struck me as an important one to share because many clients come to us too late in the game, expecting magic in the span of hours.

Timing is a crucial part of a successful PR campaign, so keep these tips in mind when you’re creating your marketing plan:

Plan ahead

For months and weeks before the launch, you’re refining your product, tinkering with your website, announcing the coming launch to your friends and social networks… Public relations is no different – if you want a successful campaign, you have to plan in advance.

If you’re releasing a product, you should have a public relations firm – or a PR plan – in place at last one month ahead of the launch. If you’re launching a company or a store, you’ll need two months minimum to create a quality PR campaign, which should include a refined media list and a well thought out timeline.

Online vs print timeline

The timeline of a successful PR campaign will vary according to your media placement goals. If you’re looking for print media, many magazines work on a 3-6 month deadline, so you need to reach out to magazine editors as early as you have information and images to share. For example, if you’re releasing a spring product line, you need to be reaching out to editors by September of the previous year.

Newspaper deadlines are much shorter (one day to a week), but hard news items (think fire, election, etc.) will always take priority. So unless your story is tied to a specific event, it will appear whenever there is space. That means, reaching out to journalists on a “slow news day” (like around the holidays when there are fewer government stories) will increase your chance of publication.

Online press deadlines are much shorter, but can vary greatly – some blogs schedule their posts up to 2 months in advance, while others can put up a news item in a matter of days. Either way, you don’t want to wait until after your launch to reach out to editors. By letting them know the date of your release, you can have press coming in as soon as your product is launched.

And unless you’re not sure of your product’s quality, availability or release date, don’t be scared to contact editors before the launch – just make sure to tell them your release date and they won’t publish anything until then.

Link your story to a date

Introducing a product that works well for winter weddings? Have a 4th of July idea to share? Editors always do stories around holidays and seasons, so if your product or company aligns well with a particular theme, let them know in advance of the holiday. Linking your product to a calendar date or holiday is a great way to keep media buzz going throughout the year.

Respond ASAP

No matter how early you send your pitch, editors will often get back to you right before their deadline with an urgent request for a sample or image. If you want media attention, be prepared to provide what they want as soon as they want it, which means ASAP. We recommend having samples available to be shipped the same day, easily accessible image files, and a prepared blurb about the product and your company.

P.S. Press Release is Not a PR Campaign

If you think putting a press release on the wire will launch your company or product into the stratosphere, think again. While some companies have been known to go viral after a media release, such a case is once in a million. And even in those cases, it was never a press release that did it, but often a video showcase of a product or a launch event, prepared in advance.

Yahoo Finance feature and the importance of general audience media

While we work mostly with wedding magazines and blogs, we absolutely love when our clients are featured in general audience media. That’s why we were excited to see wedding registry Hatch My House featured on Yahoo Finance section Financially Fit, anchored by the talented Farnoosh Torabi (who is herself planning a wedding!).

The story talks about several new wedding registry options for engaged couples who’re searching for an alternative to the traditional big store registries.

General press important for PR

Hatch My House received a significant surge of traffic from the Yahoo story, which is a great reminder to think beyond the wedding media industry when putting together your PR strategy. While many brides read bridal blogs and magazines, there are even more who read general press on a daily basis.

By reaching out to general press outlets, you get a chance to communicate not only with your target audience, but with the people who influence them such as their friends and relatives who are impossible to reach through the bridal press. Whether involved in the wedding planning or not, grooms are much harder to reach through bridal magazines and are much more likely to be reading general interest blogs and bigger newspapers.

Lastly, if your business targets non-bridal clients or has the potential to eventually move beyond that market (like Hatch My House whose business model can be applied to anyone who wants a gift registry), then appearing in general interest publications is a must. It will help solidify your brand with the general audience, making it easier to make the jump when your business is ready for it.

OK. So, let’s review why target general press outlets in your PR plan:

– Broader reach of brides

– Target grooms who don’t read bridal magazines

– Target couple’s influencers like friends and family

– Increase branding potential for non-bridal clients

As always, if you get featured by general press outlets whether it’s Yahoo or New York Times, don’t forget to flaunt that on your website and social media.

Wedding PR 101: The In Person Meeting

Harper's Bazaar office
Visiting Harper’s Bazaar office

While it’s hard for Bay Area wedding business owners to personally meet with bridal magazine editors, most of whom have offices in New York, it is absolutely essential to a successful relationship.

I have been working with the editors of Bridal Guide magazine for a while, but when I got a chance to finally meet with them in person in their New York office, it gave our relationship a huge boost. In the industry these meetings are known as “deskside”, but despite their impersonal name they are a great chance to showcase your offering to the editor and see their reaction.

Meeting in person makes all the difference in collaborating, networking, selling or pretty much any business activity. And it’s certainly a huge part of successful public relations strategy as you become more than just a voice on the phone, but a reliable and friendly resource.

Since our New York meeting, I have been working closely with the editors there on a few features for several of my clients, which I’ll be publishing throughout the year. But here are two recent stories featuring Yael Designs bridal jewelry:

Retro Chic jewelry story in the Summer 2011 issue of Bridal Guide featured aquamarine cocktail ring and black diamond stud earrings:

Bridal Guide jewelry

The Fall 2011 issue of Bridal Guide featured Yael Designs pearl drop earrings in its Pearl Chic story (see top right):

Bridal Guide Pearl Chic

I’m excited to be a resource to the Bridal Guide editors and am looking forward to our continued relationship. Stay tuned for more features 🙂