If you haven’t been paying attention, the signs should make it very clear – the holidays are here! And from a public relations’ perspective, it’s a great time of year to capitalize on promoting your clients.

One of the first things I discovered from being a reporter was that I enjoyed spending time with my family during the holidays just as much as anyone else. But I also learned that the holidays were typically a slow time for news, which actually made my job tougher.

As a PR professional, I always encourage my clients to use this knowledge to their advantage and let us find a way to promote their business during this time of year. For clients in the retail industry, it can be easy as long as it doesn’t come across as a pitch for free advertising. For others, it is just as simple as finding something we can promote that is relevant enough to be in the media.

The bottom line is this is a great time of year to take advantage of opportunities to promote clients. The media is looking for new and unique stories, whether they are heart-warming or humorous or just intriguing. The key is that it isn’t just a run-of-the-mill story that anyone can pitch. It needs to be something different.

Your client may think that throwing a Christmas party is unique but every business does that. Donating to a charity this time of year isn’t necessarily a story unless there is something different about it. Or if it is millions of dollars.

The same goes for social media. Posting this time of year can be holiday-specific, whether it is focused on the season itself or just the nature of what happens this time of year. It can be holiday-centered photos on Instagram, targeted tweets on Twitter (say that three times fast), or a variety of photos, videos, links and status updates on Facebook.

At Jupiter Promotions, we love this time of year. It’s an opportunity to engage a receptive audience who are spending more money and working fewer hours. Take advantage of it and build your business for the new year!