Ah, summer.
The season of sun, surf, and…holiday planning? If you think “Christmas in July” is just a clever sales gimmick, think again. Savvy PR professionals know that journalists and editorial teams work months ahead—often a quarter or two in advance—following strict editorial calendars, not the lunar calendar. With print and digital outlets mapping out their seasonal issues well before Labor Day, now is the time to get your holiday pitches on editors’ desks.
Editorial Calendars Rule the Roost
Holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all have their own editorial lead times. If you wait until October to pitch a festive feature, you’ve already missed the window. By starting in July, you align your outreach with the rhythm of magazine and online publication planning, ensuring your story is considered for those December gift guides, holiday trend roundups, and seasonal how-tos.
Timely & Seasonal Angles with a Festive Twist
Summer offers plenty of local and lifestyle hooks—outdoor adventures, health and wellness, back-to-school prep—but it also marks the kickoff of holiday editorial season:
- Early Gift Guides: Retailers and lifestyle outlets begin compiling December gift recommendations as early as July. Pitch your client’s standout products now to secure placement in “Deck the Halls” or “Gifts for the Grinch” features.
- Holiday Event Previews: Festivals, charity balls, and community tree-lighting ceremonies need early publicity. Offer up interviews with event organizers and sneak peeks that capture the spirit of the season.
- Seasonal Service Spotlights: Wellness brands can pivot to winter skincare tips; hospitality clients might tease cozy holiday getaways. Frame these as “Winter Wellness in July” pieces to get editors thinking ahead.
Human Interest Stories That Warm Hearts
Festive features shine brightest when they’re rooted in genuine partnerships. If your client is teaming up with a nonprofit or community organization for a seasonal campaign, now is the time to map out the collaboration—identify key spokespeople, co-create talking points, and plan joint events or content. By building the strategy this summer, you’ll have all the details buttoned up for fall pitching, ensuring your “Chestnuts Roasting” human-interest story lands seamlessly when readers are looking for warmth and goodwill.
Visual Storytelling: Paint a Holiday Picture
Winter stories come alive with visuals—twinkling lights, cozy interiors, festive table settings. Journalists are more likely to run features that include strong imagery: high-quality photos of holiday décor, behind-the-scenes videos from gift-wrapping events, or festive graphics. Offering ready-to-use assets now makes your pitch even more compelling.
Expert Commentary: Sleigh the Holiday Trends
With editorial teams planning holiday content months in advance, summer is the ideal time to research and forecast seasonal trends. Dive into next year’s top toy fads, analyze retail shopping behaviors, or explore emerging wellness routines, and develop expert commentary now. By building these insights during the quieter months, you’ll be ready with data-driven perspectives when fall pitching season kicks off.
Keep It Light, Keep It Festive
Just as no one wants a heavy snowstorm when they’re packing for the beach, holiday pitches should capture the joy and spirit of the season without feeling overly serious. Journalists look for stories that entertain as much as they inform, so infuse your holiday pitch with playful, festive energy.
At JJPR, we understand that effective media pitching follows the beat of editorial calendars, not the calendar you hang on your wall. That’s why we’ve crafted a PR Pitching & Editorial Calendar—a downloadable roadmap outlining the ideal outreach windows for summer features, back-to-school roundups, and holiday gift guides. While everyone else is roasting marshmallows, we’re roasting chestnuts, making sure your holiday stories land exactly when they need to.
Ready to deck the news desks this July? Download our PR Pitching & Editorial Calendar and let’s get your brand on every festive page.
