Sharing some really, really exciting news before anything else today! My work was nominated for a CAPS award! What is this award, anyway? Glad you asked.
All the large publishers compete for their product-related content to come out on top and blow the Skimlinks teams away with their numbers. On the PR end, you probably don’t hear about it much because all you care about is the placements/products sold to deliver to clients. Buuuuuut these metrics actually matter a bit more than you think.
This Skimlinks/CAPS awards system is likely the most definitive metric of content performance. A story on the best widgets that gets 10k views and 5 sales is obviously worth somewhat less to a client than the same story with 100k views and 5,000 sales… right? Right. Anyway, my work (and some of my broader team’s) was nominated this year! It’s very exciting as someone who digs into performance metrics!
Can I ask you for a friendly/quick favor?
Would you cast a vote for me here? My team and I are nominated in the best bedding/mattress content categories under Reader’s Digest and for best evergreen content as Taste of Home.
The link to vote is here.
Also, this list MATTERS to you. Why? Because this is your cheat sheet to the magazines/outlets that perform the best across product and commerce-driven content. It’s also an otherwise-secret list of writers generating the most traction with their content. Some of them I know, some I’ve never met—but I’m impressed by them all!
Agencies don’t have access to this info. It. Is. Gold. …or whatever is better. Platinum? Uranium? Moon dust?
Need pitches:
Reader’s Digest: I need pitches for the best-rated, snuggliest and overall most-wonderful THROW BLANKETS ever. They absolutely MUST be affiliate-ready (we love major retailers like Amazon, Wayfair, Nordstrom, Walmart, Target and DTC-sites with Skimlinks). I want to hit oodles of categories here like best affordable, bestselling on amazon, best luxury (maybe cashmere?), best machine washable, best oversized, etc etc. …select samples will be called in to shoot. As always, bonus points for brands that are great about social media shares. bryce@theluxuryspot.com
Reader’s Digest: Blessed be the season, friends! Seriously. It’s holiday time. Halloween ended a few weeks ago, so it’s time to get sparkly. I’m officially calling in pitches for our RD guide to unique holiday gifts for people that already have everything. Ideally, I’d like the majority of pitches to be under $250… that’s what most people prefer spending. A handful of splurges will be included though, so don’t be shy. We’ll cover mostly for adults in this particular guide, but some kid/baby items’ll make it in. MUST BE AFFILIATE FRIENDLY. Bonus points for brands that are wonderful about social media shares on positive press. bryce@theluxuryspot.com
Recently published:
100+ really great Labor Day sales for every type of shopper (no, not updating… save your energy <3)
IMHO, the best Labor Day mattress sales
Jobs:
SQRL needs a digital communications director. Salary ~150k.
Louis Vuitton needs a menswear PR director. NY-based.
Amazon needs a new PR manager for the Shopping Innovations team. I don’t entirely understand what that means, but I basically shop Amazon for a living so I mean… I hope we work together + I thank the HR team for sharing this jazz.
Musings:
OMG I’m going off grid and I’m so excited you can’t imagine. Going to write a full review (no, Tesla PR didn’t reach out to me… this is just my own regular purchase). Also, before anyone says anything: financing a full roof of solar = cheaper on a monthly level than paying the power company by meter the ole’ fashioned way. Plus, there are no variables (ie 5 years from now power bills are projected to be about 30% higher than they are right now, whereas panel payments remain fixed each month from this point + are fully paid off at the end of 10 years).
Also yes, my husband had our home painted red, white and blue as soon as he got his citizenship papers in 2021. So there’s that.
Re: gift guides, I think this is an important time to remind all the new and growing publicists about how booze/thc/sex products work in edit content. Federal laws make it difficult for the MAJORITY of major publishers to put more than just a *little* booze/controlled substance content into shopping content. Now, that’s not to say that a gift guide roundup of the “50 best gifts for men” can’t have a whiskey and a wine, but when you start adding SEVERAL boozy inclusions you get into very dicey territory. Often, the governing bodies will not have the time or resources to fine and reprimand outlets going over these numbers… but the possibility exists. Responsible editors typically shy away from mainstream content that is top-heavy on booze for this reason. There are some exceptions, like if a story is solely focused on booze or the magazine goes out of its way to make it explicitly clear that their content is for 21+. Most fashion, beauty, lifestyle etc magazines DO NOT clearly indicate 21+ readership, so they have to tip-toe around with finesse. Why am I bringing this up? Because sometimes I include a wine or a gin, etc. in a gift guide and I get a follow up from PR with “Hey, I pitched you 13 award-winning wines… why did only one make the cut?” If an editor is skirting these rules, they’re putting their jobs at risk. I suspect a lot of the newer writing teams may not even have formal trainings/be aware, so it’s something YOU as the publicist can look out for.
How can you pitch lots of booze without getting in trouble? Pitch booze-specific guides, magazines with clear age demo guidelines or just expect lower inclusion ratios (ie 5% of product inclusions or less). Does it really matter? Yes. If a mag gets a fine, the fine is bonkers levels of big and the writer is either canned (most likely) or moved to a totally different dept. No sense in burning a bridge, easier to just be aware and tailor pitches/communications to avoid the issue!
Sept 15 AMA: I know I mentioned it before, but I don’t think there’s any human way to have several thousand subscribers there… so I’m whittling it down to paid newsletter subscribers only. If you’re part of the paid Affiliate Tribe newsletters, you’ll get a Zoom link invite soon enough. If you’re not already a member, here’s a briefly-discounted sign-up link:
Alright, alright… do we want this week’s trending on skimlinks data? If so, I can put it in tomorrow AM’s newsletter! Let me know in the comments. Running those numbers takes a bit of time + I’m happy to do it if you can use the data for your own efforts!
Yay, congrats, Bryce! Just voted and have my fingers crossed for you. Also, thanks so much for sharing your perspective on alcohol coverage. So helpful!
Congratulations on your nomination! Very exciting! I voted for you! And my faves in the other categories! Thanks for this insight!