I get a lot of calls on how to amplify PR but lately a lot of them have been about preparing for 2025 as the year wraps up. In my opinion there isn't a one and done PR plan for the year but big goals and quarterly breakdowns.
My approach is to ensure that PR is synchronized with business goals, sales targets, product cycle, market and of course all the things we can't control like the market, weather and competition.
Q4 PR Planning: How to Outshine the Competition and Finish the Year Strong
As we head into the final quarter of the year, it’s crunch time for businesses looking to solidify their market presence and end the year on a high note. Q4 isn’t just about wrapping up what you started earlier—it’s about making a final PR push to outshine your competition and set the stage for a strong start to the new year.
Effective Q4 planning requires a mix of strategic positioning, thoughtful media outreach, and a little bit of creativity. So, how can your business leverage PR in the final stretch of the year to grab attention and make an impact?
"A good PR strategy sets big goals, is agile and always delivering impact" Donna Loughlin
Here’s a comprehensive summary on what to plan now for your Q4 PR efforts to rival your competition.
End of Year Results and 2025 Predictions
Journalists love end-of-year content. During Q4, media outlets are typically looking for stories that recap the year’s biggest trends, challenges, and achievements. Now is the time to start pitching your CEO or company as a go-to resource for these stories. I have already started to craft 2024 predictions for my clients in various markets.
- Position Your C Suite as experts: Focus on trends and predictions for the upcoming year. Create a compelling narrative around your CEO’s foresight and offer bold predictions that showcase your company’s leadership and innovation. This is a key to secure feature interviews or expert commentary.
- Capitalize on “Best of the Year” or “Top 2024 Trends” Features: Reach out to journalists now and offer data, insights, or commentary on the biggest trends or challenges of 2023, as well as what to expect in 2024. Highlight your company’s achievements, lessons learned, and milestones that position you as a thought leader going into the next year.
- Use Data-Driven Stories: Leverage any proprietary data or research from your company to pitch “State of the Industry” pieces or analysis on how your business or sector has evolved over the year. Data-backed insights are often more compelling than opinion pieces and have a better chance of getting picked up by media outlets.
Create a Thought Leadership Campaign
In Q4, the noise from competitors can be deafening, especially as brands ramp up for holiday campaigns or product launches. One way to cut through this noise is to focus on thought leadership. Thought leadership positions your brand and CEO as a trusted voice in the industry, not just another company promoting its latest offering.
Here’s how to launch a strategic thought leadership campaign:
- Create a Series of Opinion Articles or Guest Posts: Develop a series of articles that tackle big-picture industry challenges or future trends. Pitch these articles to relevant trade publications or business media outlets. Opinion pieces that reflect on 2023’s lessons and look forward to 2024 will be especially timely.
- Use LinkedIn as a Publishing Platform: Your CEO or key executives should be active on LinkedIn, posting thought leadership content regularly. Q4 is a great time to push out personal reflections on industry trends, leadership lessons, or future outlooks. LinkedIn is a powerful platform for organic thought leadership growth.
- Pitch Podcasts: Podcasts are an excellent platform for longer-form storytelling and building your CEO’s personal brand. Identify podcasts that align with your industry or thought leadership themes and pitch your CEO for guest appearances. Q4 is a great time to position your CEO as a visionary for the upcoming year.
- Submit Analyst Briefing: Analyst groups such as Gartner, Frost and Sullivan and IDC do annual market reports annually. So, if you are a client of the big firms, you should be talking about 2025 already and if you are an early-stage company submit now for a general introductory briefing.
Leverage the Holiday Season for Creative PR Campaigns
Q4 is filled with holidays and festive spirit, providing a unique opportunity for creative, feel-good PR campaigns that resonate with audiences. Instead of simply riding on the back of holiday sales, use this time to create buzz around your brand’s values and purpose. If you are a product under $500 there are a lot of options for you to get coverage. However, if you are a million-dollar luxury car there are fewer yet premium media outlets for you.
- Host a Holiday Event: Whether virtual or in-person, a holiday-themed event can be a great way to engage with the media, customers, and influencers. Consider hosting a webinar, panel discussion, or charity fundraiser that aligns with your company’s mission and values. Ensure there is a PR angle that journalists can cover.
- Launch a CSR Campaign: Now is a great time to give back and build goodwill around your brand. Launch a corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign tied to the holidays, such as a charitable donation drive, supporting a local cause, or offering pro-bono services. Make sure your CSR efforts are authentic and aligned with your brand’s values. These initiatives often attract positive media attention.
- Holiday-Themed Product Stories: If applicable, tie your product to the holiday season with a creative PR campaign. Pitch your product as a must-have gift or create a seasonal narrative around how your product solves a holiday-specific problem.
Amplify Success with Case Studies and Customer Stories
Media outlets love real-world examples of success. In Q4, leverage your customer success stories and case studies to demonstrate the impact your business has made throughout the year. These stories resonate with both journalists and potential customers.
- Develop Case Studies for Media Use: Work with key clients or customers to highlight how your product or service has helped them achieve significant results. Package these stories into case studies that you can pitch to the media as evidence of your company’s effectiveness.
- Pitch Customer Testimonials to Trade Publications: Reach out to trade publications that focus on your industry, offering exclusive access to customers who have had transformational experiences with your company. Customer success stories serve as third-party validation, which makes them more compelling for media coverage.
Plan for Rapid Response Opportunities
As we move through Q4, there will likely be breaking news stories or trends that your CEO or company can comment on. Newsjacking—the practice of inserting your brand into a breaking news story—can be a great way to get timely media coverage. I like to call this Rapid Response as timing is critical to get into the news same day not tomorrow or next week.
- Stay on Top of Industry News: Be proactive in identifying breaking stories that your brand can contribute to. Whether it’s a major innovation in AI, a policy change, or an emerging market trend, prepare your CEO to comment on it swiftly.
- Prepare Quick-Response Media Kits: Have a media kit ready that includes key talking points, quotes from your CEO, and relevant data. This allows you to respond quickly to media requests when a breaking story emerges.
- Create a Crisis Prevention Plan: What were the industry challenges for 2024? Did you slip on product? Miss revenue or perhaps had to reorganize? All of these scenarios should be in a crisis prevention plan complete with communication execution and sample communique for internal corporate communications, external, customers, partners and
Measure Success and Refine Your Strategy
Conduct a Competitive PR Audit
Are you getting more valuable coverage than your competition or struggling to be heard? Often time when I do a PR analysis, I discover the company issues more press releases than conversations. Before diving into your Q4 strategy, it’s crucial to understand where your competitors stand. A competitive PR audit will give you insights into what’s working (or not) for other brands in your space and help you find areas where you can differentiate yourself.
- A Closer Look at Media Coverage: 5 great articles is better than 50 bad ones. So, content is still king in weighing in on media value. Are there certain outlets or journalists who seem to favor your competitors? Is the tone positive, neutral or negative? Also, go on instincts as sometimes a critical article gives you a second opportunity to fuel the media outlet with a positive case study, analyst endorsement or other positive morsal of information.
- Identify Content Gaps: Look at the stories your competitors are telling and ask, “What aren’t they talking about?” Find an angle that’s been overlooked and claim it. For example, if competitors are focusing heavily on product launches, you might focus on thought leadership or company culture. One of the best ways to turn this around is to be more quotable and make a list of quotes that you can swap into pitches or find subject matter stories the quotes can be inserted.
- Nifty Tools: Use tools like Mention, Meltwater, or Google Alerts to track how much media coverage your competitors are receiving versus your brand. This will help you gauge where you stand and what needs to be done to close the gap.
By conducting this audit, you can better position your Q4 strategy to capitalize on missed opportunities and fine-tune your messaging to stand apart.
Are you getting ready to plan for 2025 or perhaps launch your company and have questions? Schedule a free consultation with me today at [email protected] to see how LMGPR can make your launch a successful one. Join me on Linkedin here.
