Home
>
Public Relations
>
The Four Seasons of Publicity - Building an All-Year Publicity

The Four Seasons of Publicity - Building an All-Year Publicity

If you're like most publicity seekers, you probably think one
project at a time. You've got a new product coming out in April,
so you send out a release in March. You've hired a new executive,
you'll put out a release when she's on board, etc.

For hard-core publicity insiders, though, there's a rhythm to
generating coverage, based upon the natural ebb and flow of the
seasons. Such an approach can help you score publicity throughout
the year, and will help keep your eye on the ball from January
through December.

Essentially, a yearlong approach consists of two strategies:

- Timing your existing stories (new product introductions,
oddball promotions, business page features, etc.) to fit the
needs of the media during particular times of the year.

- Crafting new stories to take advantage of events, holidays
and seasonal activities.

Before we run through the four seasons of publicity, a few words
about lead time. In this age of immediacy (only a few seconds
separate a Matt Drudge or a CNN from writing a story and putting
it before millions), it's easy to forget that, for many print
publications and TV shows, it can be weeks -- and sometimes
months -- before a completed story sees the light of day.

The phrase lead time simply refers to the amount of time needed
for a journalist to complete a story for a particular issue of a
magazine or episode of a TV news program. For example, a
freelancer for an entertainment magazine may need to turn in a
story on Christmas movies by September 15. That's a lead time of
three months, time needed for the editor to review and change the
piece, the issue to be typeset and printed and distributors to
place the issues on newsstands before December. Lead time can
range from a day (for hard news pieces in newspapers) to a few
days (newspaper features) to a few weeks (weekly magazines) to
many months.

The longest leads are the domain of "women's books" like Good
Housekeeping and Better Homes & Gardens. These publications
often have a lead time of up to six months, which means they need
information for their Christmas issues as early as May!

Here's a tip to help you discover the lead time of a particular
publication you're targeting: call the advertising department of
the publication and request a media kit. Since advertisers need
to know when their ads must be submitted, each issue's lead time
is clearly stated in the media kit.

Factor the lead time into your planning as you look over the
following sections. If you have a great story idea for Rolling
Stone's summer issues, you need to be on the ball well before
Memorial Day.

The Four Seasons of Publicity:

First Quarter: January - March

What the Media's Covering: Early in the year, the media is
looking ahead. It's a great time to pitch trend stories,
marketplace predictions, previews of things to expect in the year
ahead, etc. If a new President is being inaugurated, you'll see
lots of "Will the new administration be good for the
(textile/film/cattle ranching/Internet/...or any other)
industry?" types of pieces. This is a good time to have
something provocative, or even controversial, to say about your
industry.

The media also likes this time of year to run "get your personal
house in order"sorts of pieces. Tax planning, home organizing,
weight loss, etc. Anything that's geared toward helping people
keep their New Year's resolutions can work here.

Key Dates and Events: Can you come up with a story angle to tie
your business into an event that typically generates lots of
coverage? Put on your thinking cap -- I bet you can! Here are
some key events during the First Quarter: Super Bowl, NCAA
Tournament, Easter, The Academy Awards.

Second Quarter: April - June

What the Media's Covering: An "anything goes" time of year.
With no major holidays or huge events, April is a good time to
try some of your general stories (business features, new product
stuff, etc.) Light, fun stories work here, as a sense of "spring
fever" takes hold of newsrooms (journalists are human, you know.
They're just as happy winter is over as you are and it's often
reflected in the kind of stories they choose to run.). As May
rolls around, thoughts turn to summer. Now they're looking for
summer vacation pieces, outdoor toys and gadgets, stories about
safety (whether automotive or recreational), leisure activities,
things to do for kids and so on.

Key Dates and Events: Baseball opening day, tax day (April 15),
spring gardening season, Memorial Day, end of school, summer
vacation.

Third Quarter: July - September

What the Media's Covering: The dog days of summer are when smart
publicity seekers really make hay. Folks at PR firms are on
vacation, marketing budgets are being conserved for the holidays
and reporters are suddenly accessible and open to all sorts of
things. Get to work here, with creative, fun angles.
Entertainment-themed pieces do well in the summer, anything with
celebrities works, lighter business stories, new products, trend
pieces, technology news, back to school education-themed
articles, you name it. Reporters are about to get deluged once
again come September, so use this window of opportunity wisely.

Key Dates and Events: July 4th, summer movies, summer travel,
back to school.

Fourth Quarter: October - December

What the Media's Covering: The busiest time of the media
calendar, the Fourth Quarter is when the business media turns
serious and the lifestyle media thinks Holidays, Holidays,
Holidays. Business angles need to be hard news. Fluffy trend
pieces won't cut it, as business editors begin to take stock of
the state of the economy and the market. It's a tough time to
put out a new product release. For the non-business media, think
Christmas. Christmas travel, Christmas gifts, Christmas cooking,
whatever. If you have a product or service that can be given as
a holiday gift, get on the stick early.

Nail down lead times for the publications you're targeting, call
to find out who's handling the holiday gift review article and
get your product in the right person's hands in plenty of time --
along with a pitch letter or release that makes a strong case
about how what a novel, unusual or essential gift your product
makes. After Christmas, you have a brief window for "Best of the
Year", ""Worst of the Year" and "Year in Review" pieces. Be
creative -- the media loves these things.

Key Dates and Events: Labor Day, World Series, Thanksgiving,
Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year's Eve.

Bill Stoller, the "Publicity Insider", has spent two decades as
one of America's top publicists. Now, through his website, eZine
and subscription newsletter, Free Publicity: The Newsletter for
PR-Hungry Businesses http://www.publicityinsider.com/freepub.asp ,
he's sharing -- for the very first time -- his secrets of scoring
big publicity. For free articles, killer publicity tips and
much, much more, visit Bill's exclusive new site:
http://www.publicityinsider.com/freepub.asp

family-safe home cleaners Morton Grove ..

In The News:

Discover Android's new Sound Notifications feature that alerts you to smoke alarms, doorbells, and baby cries even when wearing headphones.

New SantaStealer malware reportedly threatens holiday shoppers with password theft. This Christmas-themed info-stealer targets browsers and crypto wallets.

The Christmas season brings a surge in Netflix phishing scams targeting shoppers with fake emails. Stacey P received convincing scam but verified account first.

San Francisco Giants invite Jamie Grohsong to throw ceremonial first pitch at Oracle Park after he learned to play baseball with a bionic hand following an injury.

FBI warns cybercriminals are stealing family photos from social media to create fake proof of life images in virtual kidnapping scams targeting victims.

Instagram's new 'Your Algorithm' tool lets you control your Reels feed in real time. The app now gives you power to customize what videos you see.

Major Marquis fintech breach exposes 400,000-plus Americans' data through unpatched SonicWall vulnerability, with Texas hardest hit at 354,000 affected.

Free up iPhone storage fast by clearing large photos and videos from Messages app. Simple steps for iOS users to delete attachments without losing chats.

Scammers are flooding inboxes with fake tracking alerts that mimic real carriers, exploiting the holiday rush to steal logins and personal data.

The Fox News AI Newsletter brings you the latest news on AI technology advancements and the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Texas family reunites with missing 11-year-old cat Grayson after 103 days using Petco Love Lost's AI photo matching technology and community help.

Tired of AI customer service loops? These insider tricks help you escape "frustration AI" and get real human help when you need it most for urgent issues.

Unlock richer audio from your streaming apps with simple tweaks to volume normalization, equalizer settings, and quality preferences for cleaner sound.

Scammers are sending fake Facebook settlement payout emails that mimic legitimate notices from the privacy settlement administrator to deceive users.

Holiday shopping scams surge as fake refund emails target distracted consumers during Black Friday and holiday seasons, costing Americans billions annually.

The AI-powered IRMO M1 exoskeleton features four modes, including turbo, eco, training and rest for hiking, running, cycling and sports with eight-hour battery life.

OpenAI announced upgrades for its ChatGPT Images platform on Tuesday, saying the program can now make more precise edits and produce images more quickly.

Chrome for Android now turns web articles into AI-powered podcast conversations. Get hands-free browsing with Google Gemini's natural audio summaries.

LastPass faces $1.6 million fine from U.K. regulators after 2022 data breach exposed 1.6 million users. Password manager failed proper security controls.

Petco disclosed a data breach exposing customer Social Security numbers, financial account details, and driver's license information due to a software error.

Baseball teams can now analyze complete swing mechanics in normal training environments using Theia's markerless AI system that processes standard high-speed footage.

Smart home hacking fears overblown? Expert reveals real cybersecurity risks and simple protection tips to keep your connected devices safe from hackers.

MIT develops needle-free glucose monitor using light technology. Revolutionary device could replace painful finger pricks for diabetes management.

The ClickFix campaign disguises malware as legitimate Windows updates, using steganography to hide shellcode in PNG files and bypass security detection systems.

Researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University designed a 21-foot dome that combines aquaculture and hydroponics to create a self-sustaining urban food system.

The Four Seasons of Publicity - Building an All-Year Publicity

Public Relations