Most subscription box entrepreneurs can agree that Q4 is THE best time of the year to score new subscribers. In fact, most box owners see an increase of 4-6x in November & December alone. How exciting is that? Spoiler Alert: very exciting!
This year, holiday spending is projected to surpass 1 trillion dollars, with the majority of those sales happening online. This is great news for subscription box owners! As you can see in the Google Trends graph below, searches for “Subscription Box” dramatically increase around the holiday season! Which makes it the perfect time to launch or promote your subscription box!
In this blog post, we are going to talk about some PR strategies that you can use to get your box in front of potential buyers this holiday season.
Local News Outlets
Believe it or not, local news stations and newspapers are always looking for stories to run. So here’s what you are going to do. Do a quick Google search and create a list of all of the news stations and newspapers in your local area (or as far as you are willing to drive!). Then visit their website and look for a “submit a news story” button. YES…most news station websites actually have a button that will allow you to submit your own news story.
Here’s where it gets tricky….you need a pitch. You can’t just say, “Hey I have this great box and you should feature it”. Don’t do that. Instead you will have to come up with a pitch (or story) specifically for your box and their audience. A pitch that is both compelling to the show producer and the audience is a great way to get your foot in the door!
Below is an example of a pitch email that you can send to news stations and newspapers to see if they have any interest in your subscription box.
Hi!
I’m Sam from Austin Box, a subscription box full of locally sourced and handcrafted items from Austin. I was wondering if you plan on doing a “Shop Local” holiday shopping segment for the holiday season? If so, I’d love to be considered as my box is a perfect fit for the local Austin audience.
Please let me know if you’d like more information.
Cheers, Sam
What you’ve done with this email, is introduced yourself, your business, given them a segment idea, (“Shop Local”), and also let them know why your product would be a perfect fit for that segment.
Once you submit the pitch, it’s important to follow up with the program director to ensure that he/she sees it. So here’s another email that you can send for the follow-up.
Hi <name of program director>,
I just wanted to follow up on the “Shop Local” story idea that I submitted earlier this week on your website. I think this story would really connect with the holiday shoppers in the <your location> area. Please let me know if you are interested in learning more about my idea.
Thank you!
Sam from Awesome Box
Niche Bloggers
If you haven’t already done this (and you totally should have by now!) create a list of influential bloggers and social media influencers in your niche. You can use a mobile app like Collabor8 to find influencers, or you can do the legwork yourself. Once you have a list, reach out to these influencers and ask if they would be willing to do a blog post or social media post on your behalf in exchange for a box.
Below is a sample email that you can use to reach out to influencers. You may have some influencers who are happy to post in exchange for the box, while others will want to be paid for their post. Depending on your budget you will have to determine which works better for you.
Hi <name of blogger!>
I’m Sam from CatBox, a monthly subscription box for cat lovers. I recently came across your blog and think you would be a perfect fit for my holiday blogger influencer program! I would love to send you a box in exchange for an honest review on your blog & social media! I can even give you a coupon code for your readers!
Please let me know if you are interested!
Thank you,
Sam
Gift Guides
There is a good chance that your product will fit into a lot of niche gift guides. Here is how you can get featured. Do a quick search on Google and see if any gift guides exist for your niche. For example, if your box is a self-care box for moms. Search for “Gift Guides for Moms’. Then go through the search results and gather names and email addresses of writers who have created gift guides in your niche.
Then reach out to them and ask if they will be doing another one this year and how you would love to be considered for it. You can either offer to send them a box or a coupon code for their audience.
Hi <name of blogger>!
I’m Sam from MomBox.com! I know that you have done Gift Guides for Moms in the past and was wondering if you plan to continue this awesome series? If so, I would love to be included as I have a subscription box that is full of self-care goodies for busy moms!
Can I send you a box in exchange for consideration of being placed in your gift guide? I can even give you a coupon code for your readers!
Please let me know if you are interested and I can get the box in the mail to you quickly!
Thank you for your time!
Sam
Securing a few early PR placements (pre-Black Friday & Cyber Monday) can greatly increase your exposure to potential customers. We recommend starting your PR outreach in late October & early November in order to meet some of the holiday media deadlines.
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