Your very merry media plan: Planning your end-of-year PR Strategy

End of year is looming, and that provides seasonal opportunities for PR and media coverage for your organisation or brand.

Has your company seen a boost in revenue or customer numbers throughout the year?

Are there insights or surveys on consumer habits or challenges to share?

Do you have expansion plans for the new year that need to be announced?

Do you have holiday tips or helpful advice to get people through the silly season?

As 2024 draws to a close, a good PR company knows what angles will resonate with journalists over the next three months.

Careful forward planning is important to allow appropriate reflection and review time, space to collate research, adequate windows to align with content calendars, and opportunity to organise partnerships, if applicable.

Year in review stories

What sort of year has it been for you or your company?

It’s natural, at the end of the year, to evaluate successes and failures and to crunch numbers in terms of revenue, profit and growth.

Achievements, like the successful launch of a new product, a significant boost in sales, or a cut-through awareness campaign, all provide valuable hooks for a Christmas “year in review” story.

Adoni Media’s Managing Director Leisa Goddard said knowing what information to highlight, is key.

“An experienced PR team can collate valuable information that underlines the company’s business strategy and package it in such a way that’s it’s appealing to media,” Ms Goddard said.

Consumer Habits or changes

Has your company seen changes in buyer behaviour throughout the year? Perhaps a product has seen a significant increase in popularity, and if so, can it be linked to new market factors, or other economic influences?

Fast changing consumer attitudes, tracked over the year, are often of huge interest to the mainstream media.

Adoni Media recently managed World Skydiving Day for the Australian Parachute Federation. The world record attempt for the most skydives recorded in a single day generated 100 stories nationally and had a knock-on impact for the adventure sport.

Tandem skydives have increased significantly across the country in recent months following the media campaign, while the profile of the industry has skyrocketed around the world.

Holiday tips

Providing tips to help people navigate the often busy and chaotic holiday season is another way to create opportunities for end of year PR.

Everything from how to boost cyber security, to the safest times of travel regional highways, to how to make alcohol free Christmas cocktails, are angles that resonate with audiences this time of year.

Expansion plans for 2025

Finally, is your company undergoing a rebrand for the new year? Is it perhaps announcing new team members? or expanding its market reach?

New services that address a a pressing consumer need can provide a valuable hook for media stories at the end of year.

Forward Planning your end of year stories

Forward planning is key for your end of year media strategy.

Many publications operate on a set editorial calendar, that fills up fast this time of year. Having stories ready to go months before the due date ensures clients have a greater chance of locking down a prime publication date.

A long lead time also provides ample time to source, research, collate, and evaluate data or information to be used for an end of year media release.

Another consideration is annual leave by journalists this time of year. Many will look to arrange stories to run over their holiday break, and these need to be sourced, approved and scheduled, before they head off for Christmas.

Reaching out early to account for reduced staff across print, TV and radio is not just convenient for the journalists but improves your chances of coverage.

Got a great story to tell this Christmas?

If you would like to discuss your communication and PR goals, reach out to Adoni Media today for a confidential chat with a member of our team.

We know what makes a story, how to pitch a story to a journalist, and can guide you rough on what to expect from story inception to completion.

Let us help you tell your story this Christmas and boost your media coverage.