17 Ways To Get Featured In A Gift Guide [2023]
Here are some effective ways you can get your nail art, beauty products and other products featured in a gift guide for any time of the year.
Do you have a nail art or beauty product that you would love to see featured in one of those highly ranked holiday gift guides?
Gifting seasons aren't just for the winter months, at any time of year it can be extremely profitable for anyone who has a product based business.
There are literally gift guides for everything. Mother's Day, Valentine's Day. And then gift guides based on personal niche preferences like Best Gifts For Beauty Lovers or Gift Ideas For Nail Techs. Yup, sales come rolling in for those nail art brands that are featured in gift guides.
From affordable gifts, to the most luxurious, there is a gift guide tailored for everything under the sun, offering the best nail art products with links for buying that go directly to your shop or website.
These gift lists are visited by countless people looking for gifts. Nail art techs, beauty lovers and at home nail art shoppers who are looking for ideal gifts. So of course, you want to have your nail art products featured in these highly ranked shopping guides!
Getting your product into gift guide articles is easier than you think. We will show you how you can do this for your own business.
In this blog post, we'll give you some great tips on how to get your product into the hands of a gift guide curator. Keep reading for the best insider tips and tricks on how to make your product stand out from the competition!
Although this guide is directed for the beauty and nail industry, anyone can use these tips and apply it to your own products and industry.
How to get a featured in a gift guide
1. Make your shop gift ready
Your online presence needs to be editor-friendly, so that means it must be presentable and professional. Your website, blog, Etsy shop or Amazon shop should be easy to navigate, have well-written descriptions, and provide a good customer experience.
This matters not only for the editors that are looking for nail art products to be included in their gift guides but also for their readers and future visitors.
A luring coupon with a discount for is also a welcoming addition worth considering when pitching for a gift guide.
Be aware, lots of gift guides will not include a coupon code unless it does not have an expiry date, it's too much trouble to go back and remove it. So you can let them know this coupon does not have an expiry date.
2. Contact the blogs and magazines that reach your target market
Research your ideal magazines and blogs and make a list. You will have to decide which blogs and media websites target your market audience. If you are good at selling your nail art supplies and products you probably already know your targeted customers.
For those who have Google analytics or tracking, write down the age groups and demographic of your ideal customer.
Do a quick Google search. Type in gift guide submissions on Google. You will get a list of all of the gift guides that are accepting submissions from a vast array of media outlets.
Go one step further and search for gift guides in your specific niche or based on products. You are going to find a ton of online sites that are offering all kinds of guides in all niches.
Here are some example searches to try:
Best Gifts For Nail Technicians
Gift Ideas For Beauty Lovers
Gift Ideas For Mom
Best Gifts For Teens
Last Minute Gift Ideas
Gifts For Makeup Lovers
Gift Ideas For At Home Nail Artists
3. Find the right contact person
This is very important because there is going to be a team or the right editor who looks after the blog posts and gift guides. Visit the website and find the contact us or about us buttons. Then try to find the best person for the contact.
You can also search for a print magazine that you already know of and find the right person to contact which is usually at the front pages.
If the media outlet does not have a specific person listed, that ok. Just fill out their form or email them asking for the right person to contact for PR, media or gift guides.
Another way to look for the right contact is on LinkedIn. Enter the website in their search and the contacts will pop up if they have an account. You will need to have an account for instant access to emails.
4. Create a good pitch at the right time
Pitch your products at least 6 months in advance. Many publications work with a lead time of 6 months up to a year or more when they are creating and updating their gift guides.
There are different types of gift guides out there, so it's important that you are aware of what type of gift guide you want to be featured in. Make sure that your pitch is speaking not only to the publication’s (and yours) demographic but also is aligned with their values.
For example: If the publication is cruelty-free, or features products that are 5 free, make sure that the products you mention meet that criteria. Or, if the brand promotes their products to teens, and you have more of a refined product that speaks to people over 50. Make sure you are contacting the right websites.
Another example, if you own an online store selling nail art supplies, then it would make more sense for you to apply to be featured in a nail supply guide as opposed to a nail gift guide that only features handmade sellers.
End-of–year holiday gift guides are the most prominent and influential, but gift guide opportunities exist throughout the year. Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, start of the school season and graduation season are all great opportunities for placing your product into a gift guide.
Be specific about what gift guide you want to be in. Search through their site and save all the links that you think would be a great fit. Share one or two of those links so that they know what gift guide you want to be in. They might put you in somewhere else, but at least you made the effort to make their job easier.
5. Do not pitch one of a kind products
Pitch items that are your top sellers and items that will not sell out on a regular basis. One of the worst things you can do is to pitch a one of a kind product to a gift guide.
The problem is that many gift guides are written and then not updated for a few months. Editors are looking for holiday gifts and products that are evergreen.
Try creating gift bundles with unique packaging and keep them available at all times.
Another way to get the media outlets attention is to offer a product theme pack for their target audience or for the specific time of year like spring or summer. So if you sell jewelry, it can be a Spring fever collection or if you sell bath & body items, make up gift sets for Mother's day.
The blogger or media company is not going to continually check on the item that is featured to see if it's sold out. And they are NOT going to want their reader to click on an expired link. Big NO!
Solution: If you only have one of a kind items, consider pitching your whole shop as a collection and the link goes to the collection instead one one product.
6. Invest in sending product samples
Be prepared to mail out a PR sample package if the company wants samples. Not everyone wants samples, but some do for different reasons.
Sometimes they might take their own photos, or use your product on their YouTube channels or social media blasts. This is a win-win situation for everyone.
They may even include your product in a themed photoshoot or blog post. This should be beneficial to both of you. Check the traffic of the blog or website before sending out any samples to make sure it's worth the cost.
If you are pitching a very well known website, be thankful that they ONLY want samples because many will charge a PR fee to reach their readers. It's up to you to decide if you are going to pay for an insertion.
Again, do your research on how many people are visiting that site per month. There's lots of free online tools that you can use or you can simply ask them what their reach is.
7. Keep your emails short and to the point
Once you have the right contact, keep your introduction email short and to the point. Most people who write gift guides will simply go right to your website or Etsy shop and see if you are a good fit.
Here's a sample gift guide submission letter of what you can write to get into a holiday gift guide or gift list.
Subject Line: PR & Gift Guide Submission
Dear NAME,
I'm BLANK from BLANK and I just wanted to introduce myself and my company for a possible feature in one of your gift guides or shopping guides. I feel that your readers would absolutely love my products and that we would be a great fit.
My website is:
Thanks for your time and contact me anytime with questions. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Take care,
NAME
8. Have a unique write up ready
Writers are busy. To help you get featured, have a product or company write up of your business prepared. Then they can just insert it into their articles or change a few minor things.
Sometimes a media company will have their own team of writers and won't need anything from you at all but have something ready just in case.
The write up must be unique to them and make sure that they know you will not be sharing it with anyone else because duplicate content on the web is a no no.
Good content is key when it comes to being featured on a blog or website - especially if you are not paying to be in the gift guide.
You want to make sure that you share enough information about your product or service so that their readers can see its value in a few short sentences.
Nothing long and drawn out. But do be sure you are hitting the right points about your product. And keep in mind the gift guide theme. So if it's a natural beauty gift guide, write down your key points that will fit into it.
9. Professional photos of products is a must
Your photos must be top of the line and professional. Gift guides are only going to use quality photography in their lists. Use photo editing software to resize your images and edit out any dust or lint from your photos.
Have high resolution photos ready that the publication can resize or crop. Also having the right background is essential. Some publications might want a crisp and clean white background and others might be looking for more creative backgrounds for photography.
Writers will crop and resize photos for their websites so that the page load speed is quick.
Your watermark can be on the photo but keep it on the bottom left side and make sure it does not interfere with the product that you are selling.
Lots of editors will simply go to your website and save the photos they want to use from there.
If you have photos that don't look so great, you will not get featured plain and simple. Check out the must know nail art photography tips to help make your photos their best.
10. Keep your media contacts organized
Keep an organized list of people you have contacted. A spreadsheet style is very handy so that at a glance you can easily check the list of who you have contacted and when.
The best way to keep track is simply make a spreadsheet in your Google docs. You can also purchase a productivity planner that doubles as a daily planner if you like to write instead.
Here's what you can keep track of:
Website you contacted
Contact name and job title
Email Address
Date of first contact
Response
Response date
Date of sample mailings
If you are considering a planner instead of Google docs, 6 ring A6 binders are great for this. That way you can insert as many pages and sections as you need and remove them when you don't need them anymore.
And with the A6, there are calendar inserts and blank pages that you can purchase separately.
About a week after contacting them, you can check again just to see if they have had a chance to review your website. Do not despair if you get a no from some or no response at all. Keep trying until you find a perfect fit.
11. Join an affiliate program
Here's some news you might not know: Some magazines and blogs will only feature products via affiliate programs because of the commission. And rightly so, they are there to make money too.
So if you have a large collection or have the budget it might be worth it to look into Share A Sale to help get even more features.
If you are selling on Etsy, there is good news because most magazines and bloggers already know about Etsy's affiliate program through Awin. You can let them know as a reminder when you contact them.
12. Offer a discount
If you offer a discount in your store, the best option is to keep the deal on for at least a year at least. You might even consider a coupon with no expiry.
It comes back to the magazine or blog writer being too busy to go back into the gift guide and find expired coupons.
To stand out, if you are offering a discount, make sure it's not going to expire for a very long time. Do not offer coupon codes that will expire in a week, it's usually not worth it.
13. Ask about placement
Once you get accepted, ask about placement. Don't be shy about this. Some of the gift guides are huge. It's not uncommon to see a gift guide that features 20-30 products, even more. So what makes you stand out?
Placement.
Ask if you can either be near the top of the list or at the very bottom. People like to read through the first few products that are featured, then naturally scroll through the list to see if something catches their eye.
Especially if someone is in a hurry looking for last minute gifts. Then they'll go to the bottom to see what's there. So the top and bottom are the best placements.
Take note that sometimes there is a fee for the top spots, especially if the media outlet is getting over 40K visitors and over per month. The cost goes up depending how many visitors the website gets.
Some gift guides you can get into for as low as $99 and others might have a package costing thousands of dollars. And of course some are free.
14. Offer a link back to their website
There's a little secret that websites and bloggers love and that is links that go back to their website. So always offer a link from your press pages and let them know you will be sharing their article on your socials. This one thing is like gold to bloggers.
Make it a point to let them know that you will be sharing the gift guide on your social media and online store. Social media platforms like Facebook and Pinterest are perfect for letting people know about gift guides because you can link back to them easily.
One of the best things you can do is to give extra media coverage to bring in more traffic especially if the guide is for a similar target audience. This is really going to help you get some repeat customers.
15. Join HARO
Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is a website that helps writers and bloggers connect with sources to meet their journaling needs. HARO is definitely a place that is going to connect you with gift guide callouts.
You can join as a resource and then you will get emails letting you know what writers are looking for. Once you have some queries coming in, you can start adding some contacts to your media list. This is one of the most effective ways to find your target customers.
16. Reach out again after 6 months
First impressions are important but so are lasting ones too. When you first pitch for a gift guide often you will get a 'not this time' or no response at all. After all, gift guides are in high demand. Always follow up with a nice email thanking them for their time.
Then put them back on your calendar and check on them again to see if you still feel that you are a good fit.
Contact them again after about 6 months with a new collection, or let them know of a revamp or something new that you would like to share about your brand.
Just be sure to write down any new contacts that you discover because it might be a different person who looks after that department since your last contact.
17. Have enough product stock
Before pitching anyone, make sure you have enough products in your shop. This is especially important if you are pitching a publication that gets thousands of views per month.
You are most likely not going to be getting into any gift guides soon if your shop or Etsy store only has a few random things (unless your brand specializes in one product only). Be fully stocked up.
✅ In conclusion:
If you’re looking for a way to get your product featured in a gift guide, start by doing your research. Get to know the editors of the guides and pitch them ideas that are unique and interesting. And remember, a gift guide is not only for the holiday season.
Make sure your product is something special that stands out from the rest, and be prepared to send high-quality images and a well-written press release.
Follow these tips, and you’ll have a better chance of getting your product into the hands of shoppers.
Good luck!
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