Can you imagine that it’s almost going to be a year that we are living locked inside our houses? Because I can’t! But has this pandemic stopped any of the consumers from getting any less excited about the Holiday Season? Well, it doesn’t seem like it!
Despite the world being on hold for a few months, we have all learned to live with it in the long run. Nevertheless, the holiday season is back, and so is the enthusiasm. Christmas is near. Thus, we can witness a lot of businesses coming up with their Christmas marketing strategies.
Do you own a business? Are you wondering how to get new prospects and maximum conversions during this Christmas season? Then read ahead to know 09 fool-proof holiday marketing strategies that will get your business what it deserves.
09 Holiday Marketing Strategies To Follow This Year
Let’s not beat around the bush and dive right into some of the things that you ought to do for better marketing of your products and services this year. Here are the 09 main tips to follow:
1. Avoid Urgency. Provide Reasons to Buy
One thing that you need to learn from panic buying is that customers will buy anything instantly when they need the product, and they are confident that it will sell out soon. People wait for the holiday season to get their desired products at discounted prices, and they won’t probably buy it from you if you can’t convince them why yours is the best in the market.
For instance, if you only hold sales once or twice a year, it is going to be compelling for them. Sure, you can talk about how your product/ service is different from others. But also make them realize why this particular sale is unique.
Maybe if you donate a part of your holiday earnings to a charity or for a better cause, people will still invest in your brand.
The bottom line is that your holiday marketing strategies should be convincing and not pushy. The audience receives offers and coupons throughout this season, and the last thing that you would want is to make your Christmas marketing newsletters go into the spam folder.
2. Focus on Newsletters and Emails
Any average person with an Android phone checks their emails at least once a day. They do so purposely during the festive season to check for offers, coupons, or anything new available for them.
If you have a list of people who have previously shown interest in your brand and the ones who recently contact, then you’re already good to go. Draft and send newsletters regularly that remind them of your current offers.
Personalize these newsletters so that they find the content more compelling and relatable. Maybe you could mark a discount on some items from their cart, add a list of products that matches their previous purchases, address them by their name at the beginning of the email, etc.
You could use phrases like:
1. Denim Jeans at Flat 40% Off (For recent offers)
2. Check Out Our Holiday Chocolates Collection (For items related to previous purchases)
3. Only a Few Pieces of Pastel Pencils Left (For wish-listed products and the ones in cart)
Try to induce FOMO (fear of missing out) in your audience when they view your newsletter. Always include images and make it device friendly.
3. Make Use of Social Media
The amount of competition that persists in the holiday season is 10x higher than the regular market competition. In order to stand out in the eyes of your potential and existing audience, you have to make sure you remind them about your brand from every channel possible- social media being one of them.
Running your Christmas marketing campaigns on popular social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc., will not only increase your brand awareness- it is going to get you more leads.
Let me explain to you how.
About 70% of online shoppers make purchases using their mobile phones. Now, what’s a better way of reaching out to them other than using social media platforms?
Newsletters and emails do work pretty well- but nobody checks their emails as frequently as they check their News Feeds. Display offers, coupon codes, price drops, etc. Hold a contest, organize giveaways, ask questions, be active on Social Media! Make it a huge, huge part of your holiday marketing strategies.
Use can use Social Media automation tools like Socinator to market on social media without any hassle.
4. Re-target Existing Leads and Customers
The visitors who come to your website will be a mix of new prospects as well as old customers. So, you do have to come up with creative ad banners to attract potential leads, but you also have to create content that targets your pre-existing customers.
As a matter of fact, there is a teeny tiny chance that the number of potential leads that you get with a campaign will be higher than your pre-existing customers. Plus, the chances of conversion are always higher among old consumers.
Also, your existing consumers can act as organic promoters of your brand and can get you more leads by word-of-mouth.
Make sure you reach out to them via emails, SMS, social media, etc. Remind them about the things that they left in the bag the last time. Organize contests and ask them to tag their friends. Maybe provide some extra coupons for the old shoppers.
5. Invoke Nostalgia and Emotions
Who doesn’t love that warm, fuzzy feeling of reminiscing the childhood days? Nostalgia is a powerful emotion, and it always invokes a sense of belongingness.
Think of the last time you felt nostalgic. Was it that Spotify mix of all the old songs you listened to as a kid? Or was it Netflix that reminded you of those good old days with Stranger Things and Dark?
There is one thing I can assure you with here- nostalgia marketing is everywhere.
And, as you might already decipher, the holiday season is the best time to work with it. Let your Christmas marketing campaigns remind your audience about those days when they celebrated the festival with their grandparents. Include texts and visuals that take them back the memory lane. Maybe a video ad will help.
Bonus- 13 Creative Instagram Marketing Ideas That You Need To Learn From Meme Pages
Holiday Marketing Mistakes To Avoid
While there are various things that you have to alter in your holiday marketing strategies to make it a successful one, you have to steer clear of some of the mistakes as well. Don’t worry- I have listed down some of the leading mistakes that marketers commit. Let’s break them down one by one:
6. Not Understanding the Buyer’s Persona
Here is the number one piece of advice for all businesses- know your customer. Now, this advice may not sound like a broken record, but it is vital to bringing success to all your holiday marketing campaigns.
Any average consumer scrolls about fifty ads a day and only clicks on the ones that feel relatable.
Having a Christmas marketing campaign that is crafted specifically for your buyer personas will help your brand stand apart from competitors and hold your customers’ attention.
7. Last Minute Planning
One of the most common mistakes that businesses make is starting with their holiday marketing campaigns at the very last moments. Here’s a thing- there are plenty of early buyers, and you are going to miss on them all.
Starting early is not only going to help you sell your products and services to the early buyers; it will also assist you in spreading brand awareness over time.
You can, of course, get conversions by marketing at the last moment as well. But it will never be possible to go back in time and ring all those possible days when you could have reached those early shoppers.
8. Sending Too Many Emails
Go to your Gmail inbox and look at the total number of promotional emails you received today. I assure you- it’s going to be more than what you expect.
It is the same for all the consumers out there. And thus, most of the emails that they receive go into the spam folder. Do you want your Christmas marketing newsletter to go into the same folder? If your answer is no (and I suppose your answer is no), then you have to limit the number of emails you send.
Bring variations in your mails, and keep them short. Try to personalize and target as much as possible, but do not over-pitch. You may scare the customer away.
9. Sticking to One Tactic
Repeating the same marketing tactics like marketing only on social media is going to limit your sources of reaching your potential customers.
Your holiday marketing campaigns are going to look, feel, and sound the same because you keep pitching the same set of audience via the same medium with the same content. (Boooring!!) The probability of getting a new customer gets extremely low in such cases.
Even your old customers may get bored. Now, variations do not only mean changing channels of marketing. It also means bringing variation in the type and approach of your content and its format. Try to publish every ad type- banners, videos, texts, newsletters, News Feed slides, carousels, etc.
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Wrapping It Up!!
The holidays are all about acknowledging what we have in life and thanking the ones who made it happen. Well, it’s that time of the year again! Get ready to make some extra profits this year with some easy-to-follow holiday marketing strategies and tips mentioned in this article.
Whatever you do, make sure you stick to the plan and follow a routine. Buckle up for the best time of this year and make maximum profit out of it!
Do you have any tips that you would like to add? What are your Christmas marketing strategies? Leave your thoughts/ queries in the comments below. I would love to hear from you!