Key Factors to Consider for a Successful Holiday Marketing Campaign
Written by Courtney Raguso, Social Media Content Creator
Holiday season is upon us and as wonderful as it can be, things sure get hectic. As a consumer, your concern is snatching the best deals, and as a business owner, it’s making sales. Breaking through the holiday noise can be tough because consumers are being flooded with messaging from brands. When it comes to getting a positive return on your investment, there are many ways you can take advantage of the opportunity and capitalize on the season. This is something every business should get involved in because getting in the holiday spirit is something a lot of consumers are still doing, so you should, too. It’s also important to note that recent studies show holiday sales account for 20% of all retail sales. That’s a lot of sales you can be making. Even if you aren’t a retailer, you can still take advantage of those holidays. Just look at one client of ours: Robison Oil. They are an HVAC service provider, but still get festive for the season. They use holiday themes in their social content and promotions, as well as participate in and sponsor events like the yearly Westchester’s Winter Wonderland. Any industry you are in, you can participate in the holiday season at a large or small scale. However, what matters is how you execute your campaign.
What you’re going to want to focus on first is your audience and what holidays are relevant to your brand and customers. Of course, you’ll want to participate in major holidays such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Black Friday and New Years since they are all heavily observed by many brands across the board as well as by customers. However, you are going to have to consider which religious holidays you want to participate in based on your brand’s identity and consumer demographics. Some brands can stay pretty neutral in this and just use generic holiday themes in their mailers, social media posts and website design, not really naming a specific holiday. Others will play Christmas music throughout their stores, spend millions on Christmas advertising and may even refer to valuing their God. Take Tyson Foods for an example. You may not realize it, but they are a very religious company that embraces “spirituality” in the workplace. Their founder, John Tyson, speaks openly about his Christian beliefs, and the company’s core values saying that it “strives to honor God” and “be a faith-friendly company.” Aside from values and consumer demographics, what matters is how you execute. Making a calendar and planning for which holidays to participate and invest in is crucial for your brand performance and efficiency. Take this example: if you own a Jewish bakery, it’s pretty obvious that you shouldn’t be celebrating Christmas. Making Hanukkah inspired cookies or posting a Happy Hanukkah graphic on your Instagram would be something you can easily do that’s relevant to your brand and audience. Just make sure that you aren’t spending time and money investing in something you don’t need to.
After you know your road map, you’ll want to make sure each interaction and message you put out is the right one. Try looking back on previous holiday marketing campaigns and analyze how your customers reacted. Seeing what your target audience responded favorably to can really give good insight on how to craft your message. Make sure that you are injecting emotion into your campaign. People love feelings of nostalgia, but they also love anticipation. This can be discussing your campaign offer in advance to your audience or creating a countdown for your campaign. It could also be the discount you plan to offer, a bundle deal, or a teaser of a new-release product. Time restrictions are also great for injecting emotion because it creates a sense of urgency and scarcity. So you’ll be giving your customers the fear of missing out if they don’t buy your product or service. At this time of year, when the holiday spirit is strong, it’s important to have fun and get creative with each observance. There are certain colors, icons, characters, and other cues that immediately remind consumers of each event during the season. You can incorporate each theme into your campaign. Let it be your graphics, email template, or landing page; it should be unique to your own brand while staying relevant and consistent for your consumers.
Now there are many brick-and-mortar stores that face an unpredictable holiday season given the affected economy and Coronavirus. Retailers are working to find ways to balance safety measures and customer experience such as using pop-up locations and offering curbside or pick-up-in-store to accommodate social distancing. Many stores will probably have lines out the door and will be enforcing masks. However, there is no way of really knowing how it’s going to play out, but one thing we do know is the internet. E-commerce sales are projected to earn more than double their record growth set back in 2019, meaning that there will in fact be a second surge in online sales this year. Not only that, but the shopping season will be longer than usual. It’s kicking off early this time, and the shopping will start to drastically pick up soon. It won’t be easy for retailers to spread out demand to prevent overtaxing supply chains while also worrying about timely deliveries. It also won’t be easy to manage everything all at once, both in-store and online. There are so many marketing tactics you can use for the holidays. From holiday sale promotions to themed giveaways, you can really do a lot to get your customers amped up. By playing a part in holidays relevant to your brand and audience, you can help build even stronger connections and really add personality to your brand.
At MSM DesignZ, we put in the time and energy needed for success, so you can ensure you are using every dollar for maximum return. With over 20 years in the business, we have watched marketing evolve from traditional to digital. Whether you need a website refresh, more attractive email, or a quality online presence, we can do it all. When we take on a client, we put in 110% and treat every brand as if it’s our own. We will always continue to place our clients’ needs at the heart of our operations. From web development to social media management, we’ll work directly with you to build a personalized strategy to not only retain but also gain business. We are assisting in all areas for our clients. Visit our contact page at https://www.msmdesignz.com/contact/, and we’ll work with you to devise a custom plan that will keep your brand alive and well. We look forward to working with you!
Sources:
https://mailchimp.com/resources/5-key-dates-for-your-holiday-marketing-plan/
https://cmasolutions.com/blog/top-holiday-marketing-ideas-for-small-businesses-on-a-budget/
https://www.cbre.us/research-and-reports/US-Retail-Holiday-Trends-Guide-2020