Frankenstein’s Monster Media Coverage

**Screaming and shouting about the time of year can turn heads in a manner worthy of that scene in the exorcist**

‘‘TIS the season’ is a phrase that, quite appropriately for this time of year, strikes fear into the hearts of but the most hardened Christmas fanatics so early in the calendar. But now that Halloween is here and Guy Fawkes’ Night is just round the corner, the onslaught of jingling, decking and wrapping is nigh.

The truth is, though, being ‘of the season’ matters.

It matters because every couple of months, large swathes of the nation become obsessed with giving gifts, eating chocolate eggs or, of course, cutting sinister faces into the sides of large orange gourds.

To ignore this is to miss a trick. Open any newspaper, visit any news website or take a cursory glance at twitter and you will see pumpkins, movie references and costumes everywhere.

It is something that all good PR agencies should understand and businesses looking to tackle the media should look to learn.

Our client, Mackie’s of Scotland, are just one such company that knows how to appeal to customers sense of tradition and variation.

Their seasonal products have been fertile ground for grabbing headlines with summer and winter flavours catching the public’s imagination.

Make a meal out of the time of year with seasonal brands and corresponding media activity. See how our client Mackie’s has taken full advantage of the public’s festive interest.

But you don’t have to be a confectionery tour de force to make the most of people’s appetites for the cyclical. Take a look and see how entering into the spirit can help you in three key areas.

Social Media

Twitter, Facebook and sites like Reddit are great places to reach potential customers with your content and should never be underestimated in their reach and potential.

However, social media outlets also provide an incredible resource for mining public opinion and sparking ideas. They are also an amazing barometer for what interests those engaging in all kinds of media.

Journalists are undoubtedly taking advantage of this and, as active users, generating content themselves. Importantly for businesses looking to get onto the media’s radar, writers will be checking their feeds and taking them into account throughout the cycle of picking stories and reading releases.

So, take advantage of social media but not just as a platform for your own ideas, listen to others as well.

Blogs

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation to those less well versed in acronyms) is what makes the difference between languishing on page umpteen on Google and appearing as top result.

One good way of boosting SEO is to make sure you’re posting quality topical, regular content.

One of the many things that Google (and the other search engines that you probably rarely use) take into consideration is the regularity of new information and content on a site.

Basically, if your site lies dormant, it will start to make its way into the ether.

Do you wish it could be Christmas every day? Whip up a flurry of media interest by creating timely content like this seasonal blog from our clients, Eagle Couriers.

PR isn’t purely about getting in the papers and on TV, there are many ways to draw the limelight to you. Not least by positioning yourself as a capable writer and commentator.

While public holidays can give you great fun and fluffy ideas sometimes they can raise issues that are a little less cuddly.

Take the time to write and create festive or topical content and you will not only engage customers but give your SEO a boost.

Video and Images

The first thing that most people think of when they think of PR is getting into the papers and scoring headlines.

No need to fear, there are plenty of opportunities to use the changing seasons to your advantage when targeting newspaper inches.

Part of the reason for this is that photos are increasingly important for the papers.

Stopping short of saying that ‘a picture paints a thousand words’, I will say that a picture is eye-catching and instantly interesting.

Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day and just about any other festivity lend themselves to some interesting snaps.

The combination of happy people (often children), decorations, costumes, dancing and a dash of grub make for just the sorts of pictures editors and reporters love.

Even if your pics don’t make the front page they can be a quick and easy way of engaging customers on online platforms.

We’re not new to this! At Holyrood we take care to keep up interesting, industry appropriate content to inform and inspire our clients and potential customers. This blog is one of many we issue every year that take advantage of the moment.

An idea as simple as carving pumpkins can generate, pictures, GIFs, videos, blog posts and even the odd media release.

So, check out our latest video to see how you can carve out a piece of the social media market and generate content from something as simple as the season.