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The holidays are almost here! With Christmas and New year's fast approaching, now is the time to start thinking about promoting your holiday products and services.

Can you use press releases to showcase your products or services without sounding like a blatant advertisement? Absolutely! However, your press release must be written correctly and it must be targeted to the right audience.

Keep these tips in mind when writing and distributing press releases for the holiday:

Tip #1: Make the new in the press release “newsworthy.” Always look at the press release from a journalist’s point of view. They need relevant news stories. What they don’t need is blatant commercialism. Press releases that use descriptions like “out-of-this-world,” “one-of-a-kind,” “terrific,” “amazing,” etc., sound more like a sales pitch than an informative news release.

Tip #2: When searching for an angle, look at what your company already has planned: raising money for a worthy cause; providing a service to the needy; making a company donation to a charitable organization; sponsoring a fundraising event; holding a community holiday event; running a holiday themed contest. You can also angle your press release to address common problems that gift-givers have such as finding a gift that is both practical and personal. Maybe your gift can be ordered up until the day before Christmas for those procrastinating husbands.

Tip #3: Piggyback on other News. Find the fads, faces, trends, companies and issues that turn heads and ride in the wake of their PR success. If you can tie your product or service in with a person or organization that people already read about, you’re one step closer to getting published.

Tip #4: Avoid using overly expressive wording in your press release. If your release is over 400 words, you may have too many adjectives and quotes that sound like “outstanding,” and from an editors point of few, scream of self-serving. Stick to the basic facts. The average person loses interest after 400 words, so keep it short, sweet, and to the point. If your product or services can’t stand on their own two feet you may want to reconsider writing a press release in the first place.

Tip #5: Pay attention to your headline. Obviously your press releases will need to be angled to reflect the season. Make sure that your headline clearly states that your press release is holiday related. Journalists looking for holiday material will be able to quickly pull yours out of the slush-pile with just a glance at the headline. This should be a catchy, although relevant, title that helps grab the reader’s attention.

Tip #6: Sending out a press release doesn’t guarantee a response. You want your news to get into the hands of journalist and editors who are interested in it. So, keep your audience in mind when making decisions about distribution. How? Start by evaluating the media you want to target with your press release. Should you target only your local media or send to a national industry specific or trade list? An easy way to judge if your release is best suited for local media is to look at what you’re saying in the release objectively and decide if a national audience is going to be affected by it.

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