When it comes to PR opportunities, few things rival the impact of Christmas gift guides. From glossy magazines and national newspapers to online lifestyle hubs and influencer roundups, gift guides are one of the most coveted seasonal placements (and for good reason). They not only showcase your products to a huge audience, but also add a trusted endorsement that can drive both brand awareness and sales during the busiest shopping period of the year. But here’s the issue: journalists receive hundreds of pitches a day leading up to the festive season, many of which miss the mark. To stand out, your pitch needs to be perfectly packaged – clear, concise, and journalist-friendly.
And who better to tell us what that looks like than the journalists themselves? In our new podcast, ‘What the Media Want‘ , we spoke directly to journalists about their biggest pain points when it comes to the pitches they receive.
Here’s what you need to know to craft a gift guide pitch that actually sticks the landing:
1. Lead with the essentials
Every journalist we spoke to stressed the same thing: brands and agencies have to make the key info accessible at a glance. Editors don’t have time to dig around for missing details or chase PRs for information that should have been included in the pitch from the start. When journalists are fleshing out pages already packed with products, this is what can make the biggest difference between making the cut or being cut out entirely.
That means including high-resolution imagery (both cut-outs and lifestyle shots), clear product names, concise descriptions, stockist information, and – above all – pricing. Miss any of these, and you risk being skipped over in favour of a competitor who made life easier for the editor.
Catherine Bennion-Pedley, Editor of Fabulous Magazine, summed it up perfectly during her episode:
“Sometimes I’ll still get emails without prices on… if I haven’t got time [to check their website], then I might accidentally skip over that product.”
2. Be timely
Even the best pitch will fall flat if it lands too late. One of the biggest mistakes brands make with Christmas PR is waiting until November to get started, meaning they’re left with limited coverage opportunities.
Mel Sherwood, from Your Home Magazine, put it into perspective, saying their lead times are:
“Months and months [ahead]… I’m working on Christmas and November at the moment. It’s mid-July now, by the way, as we record. But with the real houses that we feature, we source up to like over a year in advance. So we’ve already got a Christmas 2026 house in the book.”
This tends to be the case for most top tier long-lead titles, while short-lead publications such as weekend supplements and online outlets commission features much closer to publication.
This creates two clear windows for PRs – but if you miss them, your chances of coverage drop dramatically. Glossy magazines usually wrap up their Christmas gift guides by the end of October, meaning a November pitch is already too late for many. The lesson here is to start early, and don’t assume that all journalists are working on the same timeline.
3. Provide an angle, not a product list
No editor wants to open a pitch that looks like a catalogue. What catches their eye are hooks that make sense for their readers – a.k.a themes and angles that slot neatly into editorial features.
Instead of sending a long list of products, frame them in a way that makes the journalist’s job easier. Think: “Stocking Fillers Under £20,” “Eco-Friendly Christmas Gifts,” or “Hosting Essentials for the Festive Season.”
Several editors on the podcast shared how much easier it is to work with pitches that do this legwork. When you provide the angle as well as the assets, your products instantly go from “nice to have” to “ready to use.”
4. Make it easy to say yes
Including the right details is only half the battle — the way you deliver those details makes all the difference. Journalists want to be able to see products straight away, without clicking through endless links or waiting for downloads. But they also need quick, reliable access to high-res files when it comes to pulling products onto a page. If either step feels clunky, your pitch is at risk of being skipped.
The sweet spot? Always include imagery within your pitch so editors can see the product straight away, and pair it with a reliable, press-friendly link to the high-res files if you’re sharing more than a handful. Avoid expiring WeTransfer folders, oversized attachments, or links that require multiple clicks. The aim is to make your pitch instantly usable and future-proof – everything an editor needs, accessible in seconds.
Alison Davidson, Editor at The English Home, highlighted this as a common frustration:
“We work in a visual medium, so I want to see pictures and I don’t want to just go to a link because that’s another job. If you can’t see the picture straight away, when everyone’s so busy, you just move on.”
As an alternative to sending attachments, many brands now use online press offices through platforms like Press Loft, adding links to their email signatures or websites so journalists can access imagery anytime – even when they’re not actively pitching. It’s a simple way to keep assets visible, accessible, and always ready to download.
5. Don’t forget the subject line
The subject line may feel like a small detail, but it plays an outsized role in whether your pitch is opened or ignored. Journalists’ inboxes are overflowing — especially in the run-up to Christmas — and your subject line is your one chance to prove relevance at a glance.
It needs to be short, clear, and direct, giving a journalist immediate confidence that your email contains something useful for them. Adding context, such as the type of feature your product would work for, can help cut through the noise and stop your email from being deleted without a second thought.
Lisa Smosarski, Editor-in-Chief at Stylist, stressed how critical this is:
“We get thousands [of pitches] every week…But if you’re particularly tactical on where you want it positioned, add that to the subject line where possible.”
At the end of the day, what journalists are asking for isn’t complicated – they just want a pitch that respects their time and gives them what they need without the extra chase. It’s a small shift for brands, but one that makes the difference between being overlooked and being featured.
For more insights straight from the editors, tune into our What the Media Want podcast!
What is Press Loft?
Press Loft is a PR platform specialising in the home, gift, fashion and lifestyle sectors that helps thousands of brands to get their products into the press. Their PR tools allow companies to easily secure press coverage and quality backlinks for SEO by connecting with their network of 27,000+ journalists, bloggers and influencers.
Did you know that we offer a FREE trial of our PR tools (including influencer outreach) for new brands? Click here to start your free trial and join over 1,300 brands already using Press Loft for their business.
