Being featured in gift guides is a GREAT strategy to find potential buyers.

You basically get to reach people who are about to make a purchase and want suggestions for the best things they can spend their money on.

Not too shabby.

In case you’re not familiar with gift guides, they’re basically round up lists of gifts that are well suited either for certain types of people, like mothers, fathers, teachers, and significant others; people with specific interests, such as animal lovers and sports enthusiasts; or for particular holidays, like Father’s Day, Christmas, and birthdays.

And because there are so many types of gift guides, there are lots of potential opportunities for you and your product.

How to Find Relevant Gift Guides

This is very simple and is mostly a matter of conducting targeted Google searches.

Say, for example, you specialize in selling dog-related mug designs. You might plug something like the following into Google:

dog lover gift guides

dog lover gifts 2017

dog lover Christmas gift ideas

dog Mother’s Day gift ideas

dog owner gift ideas

pet owner gift guides

gift ideas for dog owners

gift guides for dog lovers

holiday gift ideas for pet lovers

gift guide for the pet lover

You can obviously swap out Christmas and Mother’s Day for whatever holiday is most appropriate. Plus, this list of search terms is by no means exhaustive for the dog niche. But hopefully you get the idea.

Also, if you want to search specifically for blogs with gift guides, include “inurl:blog/” at the end of your queries. For example…

dog lover gift guides inurl:blog/

dog lover gifts 2017 inurl:blog/

dog lover Christmas gift ideas inurl:blog/

You might want to cross-check sites on alexa.com to see how much traffic they get. We decided that if a site was on the top of Google for our search, it was good enough for us.

When my assistant ran this search last week, she looked for “dog lover gift guide 2017 inurl:blog/” and got the following results:

How to Get in Touch

You’ll need to look for the email address of the gift guide’s author or editor (or the next most appropriate person). You can usually find this information in the top navigation or footer of the website. Alternatively, if the author’s name is listed on the guide, you may be able to click it to learn more. If an email address is nowhere to be found, though, you may have luck reaching out via social media.

Once you’ve compiled a list of contacts, make sure to reach out to each person individually. Mass emails are far less personal and way more likely to get deleted.

Here are two sample scripts that you can personalize by filling in the blanks and then send to gift guide creators in your niche.

Script 1: Initial Message

Hey [first name],

I came across your [gift guide name with link] and loved it! I especially enjoyed _____, as I’m a big fan of _____. Do you plan on updating the guide for any other upcoming holidays or creating any new lists? 

My name is [your first name] and I sell [your product(s)]. Here is a link to my store: _____.

I typically run promotions around holidays and I think my [product name] would make a great addition to your next gift guide: [insert product link].

If you’d like to check out any of my [product type, e.g. mugs, t-shirts] first hand, I’d be happy to send you one for free. Here’s what other satisfied customers have had to say: 

[insert product review(s)]

Let me know what you think! And thanks so much for your time. I look forward to hearing from you soon. 

Warm regards, 

[your name]

After sending an initial email, if you don’t hear back, you can follow up a few days later.

Script 2: Follow Up

Hey [first name], 

I recently got in touch about your [gift guide name with link] and the possibility of adding my [product name with link] to it. 

I’m sure you’re very busy, but I think this could be a win-win and I wanted to make sure you got my message. 

Let me know what you think when you get a chance!

Either way, I wish you all the best and look forward to seeing more great gift guides from you. 

Thanks so much.

Warm regards, 

[your name]

Based on the search results of her “dog lover gift guide 2017 inurl:blog/” query, my assistant made a list of a dozen of the most relevant bloggers and then sent them an initial message as well as a follow-up in several cases. She far, she’s received two positive responses!

Here is the exact message she used for one of those contacts:

Subject: I loved your Valentine’s Day gifts for dog lovers post!

Message: Hey Laura (and Bentley)!

I came across your Valentine’s Day Gifts For Dog Lovers post and loved it! I especially enjoyed the book of photos of underwater dogs — so cute! Do you plan to update this guide for any other upcoming holidays or to create a new list?

My name is Rachel and I sell dog-related mugs and t-shirts. Here is a link to my Amazon store:

[LINK]

I typically run promotions around holidays and I think my [PRODUCT] would make a great addition to your next gift guide:

[LINK]

If you’d like to check out one of my mugs or t-shirts first hand, I’d be happy to send you one for free.

Let me know what you think! And thanks so much for your time. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Warm regards,
Rachel

And here is a screenshot of the response she got four days later:

Not only is Laura going to share my mug in her new blog post, she is also going to feature it on her Instagram to her 31k followers!

Considering our total spend was an hour’s worth of work and the cost of one mug on UseGearBubble, this was an EASY win.

I hope you found this useful! Please let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Update (May 2)

I just heard back from Laura and she sent the following message:

In her latest gift guide she featured TWO of my pit bull mugs! Plus, she shared the guide with all of her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram followers!