Summer is in full swing the weather has warmed up, the summer clothes are out, the school holidays are looming and for some an actual holiday here or abroad. Summer can be hectic so here is a little round up of important dates and places and things to be pitching in July.
Use the awareness dates to create social media posts or if relevant to your business you could use them as hooks for potential media stories. Here we go:
Key Awareness Dates
1st-31st – Plastic Free July
1st-31st – National picnic month
3rd – National Transplant Week
4th – Independence Day
7th – World Chocolate Day
11th – World Population Day
12th – National Simplicity Day
17th – World Emoji Day
19th- Daiquiri Day
25th – National Wine and Cheese Day
30th – World Friendship Day
Last Minute Pitches
As with all last-minute requests keep an eye on the twitter hashtag #journorequest and if you don’t have time each day to scroll Twitter maybe consider signing up to a media request service such as Pressplugs or Editorielle. Alternatively, sign up for my £100 per month package where I will send you media requests relevant to your business.
Two of the big dates in this list are Plastic Free Month and World Friendship Day. Whether you’re making a pledge to be sustainable, creating a campaign around friendship or manufacturing a magnificent PR stunt there are several ways to use the dates to leverage some coverage.
If you’re a hospitality business, consider doing something around Daquiri Day or World Chocolate Day if you have products or recipes that fit the bill.
SHORT LEAD VS LONG LEAD
Understanding the difference between long and short lead media and how to pitch accordingly is a topic I’ve already covered. To keep it succinct, the key to differentiating between the two is in the name!
‘Short Lead’ has a turnaround of about 4-8 weeks from pitching, editing, and publishing whereas ‘Long Lead’ follows a much longer timescale of anywhere from 3 – 6 months.
Short Lead
Looking ahead, things you could be pitching about or preparing content around for short leads are Watermelon Day (August 3rd), Organic September (September 1st – 30th) and Sourdough September (September 1st – 30th).
There are also lots of other great consumer-related opportunities on the horizon, so get panning for these whilst also keeping an eye open for other opportunities that might pop up. Some other short-led dates include International Youth Day (August 12th), International Cat Day (August 8th) and Relaxation Day (August 15th).
Long Lead
All I’ll say is Christmas. Yes, Christmas – now is the crucial time to start planning your Christmas PR and content. Christmas gift guides are extremely competitive but getting featured in just one is invaluable and can make a huge difference to awareness of Christmas sales. Even if you don’t have a dedicated Christmas range it’s still worth pitching your core or best products to journalists – so, now’s the time to get your product releases and images ready.
If relevant I’d suggest keeping your eye on Recycle Week (Se16th- 22nd October, Black History Month (October 1st – 31st), World Mental Health Day (October 10th), Halloween (October 31st
Rebecca Slater is a PR Consultant with more than 20 years public relations experience. She is based in Staffordshire and provides support to businesses all over the country.
Find out more at www.beckandcallpr.co.uk or email sayhello@beckandcallpr.co.uk
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