The Ultimate Guide to Writing Engaging Holiday and Event News Stories

Loy Krathong Festival, Thailand

PR and marketing experts can often run short of story ideas.
When there are no special campaigns or product launches
happening around your company, what can you do to keep your
brand top of mind?
Besides the breaking news you find on CNN, there are certain
special days, trade shows and holidays happening over the
course of the year, from the traditional holidays like Lunar New
Year to the unique and quirky days like Pi Day that can be a rich
source of material for marketers to produce some engaging
content.
This eBook will provide tips on how to write event-related or
holiday-themed stories more appealing to the journalists, follow
by the common press releases objectives and examples
categorized into four main themes: Traditional Holidays, Trade
Shows & Industry Events, Special Days, and Awareness Days.
Copyright © 2016 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 Don’t overwhelm your audience with ads.
Although it seems to be impossible to omit salesy
promotions during the holiday season, remember
that your story will also be up against countless ad-
like press releases. To set yourself apart from the
crowd, show off your expertise by providing useful
holiday-themed information so your audience will
value your content and trust your brand.
 Strikes the emotional chords. Creating emotionally-
relevant touch points is important if you want your
audiences to resonate with the cause you are
championing.
 Find the holiday angle.
Trending topics around the holiday season include
year-end round ups, travel tips, entertainment
ideas, holiday recipes and philanthropy causes. Be
topical and tell an interesting story that your
audiences will remember.
 Focus on the why. An awareness day in itself is
not a news story. Use it as a hook to discuss trend
and explain its relevance to the reporter’s
audiences. Consider incorporating the latest
market research, polls or voices of key opinion
leaders to trigger more conversation.

 Don’t Plan Late.
Journalists will not want to receive your story if it’s too late,
but they might not feature it if it’s too early either. Do your
research on the editorial calendar of your targeted media and
check how far in advance they look for stories. Mark down all
the important dates and do some backwards planning.
 Offer a new story twist for journalists to write their features.
While many retail brands may focus on nailing a sales surge on
Single’s Day, an airline company can provide a new spin on the
typical event stories by sharing a fun mix of research and
listicle release like “Top 5 Travel Spots for Singles and Tips for
Going Solo”.
 Think twice when pulling an April Fools’ Day hoax.
No journalists like to be teased or are willing to let their
professional reputation suffer. Do not violate that trust and
put your credibility at risk by sending a phony news release.

• ‘Tis the season to engage your audience.
From the playfully spooky Halloween story to the announcement release
of “Disability Pride Emoji” on World Emoji Day, there are plenty of fun
and wacky inspirations for marketers. Instead of sharing a 20-page dating
research on Valentine’s Day, consider featuring bite-sized content in your
release, such as infographics of dating polls or how-to videos to make
your content more enjoyable to read.
 Don’t be too corporate speak.
Whether it’s the ALS ice bucket challenge or the Always #LikeAGirl
campaign, human interest is the key element that makes these
campaigns go viral. Heavy use of corporate speak can cause your readers
to disregard the content as salesy, leading them to lose their interest in
your story.
 Don’t overdo it.
While it is refreshing to see some zany and off-the-wall content that are
different from the typical corporate stories, your audience will turn from
being amused to big yawns when they see a holiday-themed story every
month. Marketers should not lose sight of the importance of upholding a
long-term content marketing plan to keep their audiences engaged.

 Don’t simply use the headline “ABC company to
exhibit at XYZ event” as there is no news value.
To make your story stand out, do not just tell people
what is happening. Identify the heart of your story and
focus on the impact of what is happening.
 Highlight your call to action.
Make sure to place your call to action in the first or
second paragraph of your press release. Your readers,
including journalists, do not usually have the time or
patience to finish the entire story.
 Don’t overly use industry jargon.
Besides the industry professionals, the media is also
your primary target audience. Make the press release
easy for journalists to digest so they can retell your
story to their general readers.
 Use bullet points.
Whether you are writing year-end round ups or
sharing an interesting study on gift buying, avoid the
giant blocks of text. Consider creating holiday-themed
listicles to inspire your readers.

When the holiday season approaches, consumers are often in
the mood for some lighthearted and holiday-themed stories.
According to a new study by Outbrain, consumption of
holiday-related content began to steadily increase around
early November while the amount of content created
struggled to keep up. With the increasing appetite for holiday-
themed content, marketing and PR experts need to start their
holiday marketing campaigns early to gain a competitive edge.

 Drive direct sales
 Share holiday tips (e.g. gift buying, recipe, etc.)
 Give appreciation
 Promote goodwill
 Share an in-depth study, new research or report
 Promote special events or festivities
 Drive traffic to the website
Tips for travelling, entertainment
and other festivities are no doubt
the trending topics around the
New Year. Besides listicles, why not
top your holiday story with some
sweet multimedia elements?
Infographic, for example, is a great
way to engage your audience and
encourage social sharing. See how
World Design Capital utilized
infographic in its story.
Five New Ways to Spend New Year's in Taipei
 1 in 5 Employees Determined to Land a New Job in the
New Year, According to CareerBuilder Survey [read]
 700,000 Celebrate Chinese New Year in Trafalgar Square,
Millions Around the World Join in [read]
 Opera House Turns China Red for Lunar New Year
Celebrations [read]
 Zhouzhuang Brings Back to Life Ancient Traditions Through
the Dragon Boat Festival [read]
 The German Christmas Market Comes to Stanley Plaza [read]

Nowadays, it seems like every day is marked with a health,
cultural or environmental observance. From the well-known
awareness days like Earth Day to the new pop-up Instagram
awareness campaigns like #nomakeupselfie, tying your brand
to an awareness day, week, or month has developed into a
common PR strategy to spotlight your charity cause and
garner media coverage.

 Build public awareness
 Draw attention to your charity work
 Inspire audience to advocate for your mission
 Fundraising
 Drive campaign engagement
 Promote corporate philanthropy/CSR objective
It is proven that people engage with visual
content more than text-only stories.
Catering to people who are not aware of
pancreatic cancer, this story was a great
example of using a multimedia news
release that incorporates visual and
interactive elements to attract people’s
attention and drive engagement. The story
starts with some interesting stats that
indicate its relevancy to all of us, then it
breaks down the key information to an
easy-to-read bullet points format. Not to
mention those “did-you-know” visuals, the
informative video and the click-to-tweet
feature that lead readers to give the issue
a thought, prompt them to act and spread
the awareness.
Second World Pancreatic Cancer Day to Elevate
Conversations, Awareness and Education About One of
the Deadliest Cancers
 On World Water Day, Nestle Waters Expands its
TOGETHER 4 WATER Events with Project WET and
Reaffirms its Commitment to Water Stewardship [read]
 Sands China Properties Go Dark to Support Earth Hour
2016 [read]
 New Accenture Research Finds Digital Skills Help Narrow
the Workplace Gender Gap [read] (*in Mandarin)
 Durex Launches Campaign to Create the First Official Safe
Sex Emoji [read]
 World Cancer Day: Reflecting on progress and hope for the
future in cancer treatment [read]

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Engaging Holiday and Event News Stories

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The Ultimate Guide to Writing Engaging Holiday and Event News Stories