Holiday Press Releases: Donât Procrastinate!
-- By Joe Oberkrieser, editorial supervisor
If youâre hanging holiday press releases by the chimney with care, in hopes that an avalanche of media coverage will be there, you need to make sure youâre sending your press release at the right time. Many companies send press releases to announce Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, as well as nice news about Holiday events and charitable endeavors. If you want the media â not to mention consumers â to see and act on your news, here are some tips for when to schedule your press release.
Best time to issue a Black Friday release
For many, the Holiday season begins on Black Friday (Nov. 29 this year). Leave the house at midnight, get in line at your favorite big-box store, and get ready to trample! (Or be trampled.)
But seriously, Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year, and we see many press releases about Black Friday sales. Any store or any website that sells consumer goods is probably doing something for Black Friday.
So whenâs the best time to issue a Black Friday release? The key is not to wait until the last minute. Either the week before Thanksgiving or the Monday of Thanksgiving week would work well. If you wait until the last minute, thereâs a good chance no one will see your release until itâs too late. Some folks hit the road as early as Tuesday to avoid the well documented and dreaded busiest travel day of the year â the day before Thanksgiving. And anyone crazy enough to be shopping at 2 a.m. isnât going without a game plan. So make sure you get the word out early enough so that shoppers can plan ahead.
To see an example of a Black Friday press release, please click here. Notice it was sent a week before Black Friday â perfect!
Cyber Monday Press Release tips
In case you donât spend enough money on Black Friday, thereâs also Cyber Monday (Dec. 2) to contend with. While Cyber Monday releases werenât all that common a few years ago, as the âholidayâ picks up steam, weâre seeing more PR traffic involving it.
There are two strategies for Cyber Monday releases:
1.      Follow the âBlack Fridayâ guidelines above. Remember, after Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, itâs going to be hard to get any eyeballs on your release. Everybody is traveling, eating, watching football, etc.
2.      Issue the release on Cyber Monday. This would be a great way to get some impulse buys. Ideally, people would see your release online, then bounce over to your site and buy something. If you elect this route, itâs best to send your release out early in the day. Even 6 or 7 a.m. ET might work well â waiting too long could cost you some impulse buys.
Please click here to check out a Cyber Monday release.
Holiday News
Letâs put aside consumerism for a minute and talk about other holiday news. Many companies issue press releases about nice things their employees are doing for the holidays, such as collecting toys, food or clothing. There are always Christmas-themed events and products that companies want to spread the word about, too.
When should you spread the holiday cheer in a press release? Generally, the earlier the better. The first two weeks in December would be perfect. The third week isnât too bad, either. But sending anything out after that could make you feel as if you got coal in your stocking.
The main reason is that people take vacation over Christmas and New Yearâs. Many media outlets operate with a skeletal staff over the holidays, and theyâll plan holiday coverage in advance. A lot of the nice holiday features you see in newspapers and on TV over the holidays arenât deadline pieces â they were written or produced ahead of time. Wait too long to issue your press release, youâll be left out in the cold.













