The holiday season is a great opportunity to get creative so that your brand can stand out among the countless images of seasonal fun.
But since the holidays come back around every year, you might be struggling to break out of a holiday marketing rut.
Do you find yourself running the same sales in the same way? Then, it’s definitely time to try something new.
And the effort is worth it. Holiday spending in 2021 surpassed $1 trillion in the U.S. for the first time ever.
Boost your brand’s visibility during this hectic time with the following 11 ideas to inspire your holiday marketing strategy.
Host a social media contest or giveaway
Organizing a contest or giveaway on social media is a great way to get people talking and involved with your brand.
There is a difference between contests and giveaways. In a giveaway, participants are simply entering to potentially win a prize of some kind based on the entry rules you set. In a contest, participants are doing more than just entering, but what that action is depends on your contest. For example, you could have a holiday photo contest that incorporates your brand’s products in some way, so participants would be taking and submitting a photo according to your entry rules in hopes of winning a prize.
Contests and giveaways can also help grow your social media following as well. It often can come down to the appeal of the prize and ease of entry. Just make sure you’re keeping everything on the legal up-and-up.
Leverage paid ads to promote a product or event
The days of relying solely on organic social media posts are long gone, so you’re likely already at least dabbling in paid advertising on one or more social media channels.
During the holiday season, consider getting specific with your paid ads that directs consumers to your upcoming holiday event, discounts or seasonal products. Paid ads are particularly helpful at reaching people outside of your social media following who are the demographics of the target audience you’re looking to reach.
Aim for memorable, shareable content
Easier said than done, right? When it comes to creating and publishing memorable content that’s easy for followers to want to share, start by thinking of your target audience.
What are their interests? What are their hopes, fears, challenges when it comes to the holiday season. By using your content to address topics that matter to them, you’ll better resonate with them. And that’s where you’re content becomes more shareable because users will want to share that with their own networks.
You’ll also want to keep your visuals in mind. Are they eye-catching and memorable?
Check out our 10 tips to create engaging content.
Create product bundles
Consumers like saving money, especially during the holidays. If you can offer multiple products or services together into a bundled discount, you’ll likely see an overall increase in sales during the holiday season.
If you’re not sure what to bundle, think about what items are often purchased together anyway.
Once you’ve created at least one bundle, you can include its promotion as part of your holiday marketing strategy.
Offer gift suggestions
The holidays can be stressful, especially when consumers are trying to think of the perfect gift for everyone on their list.
You can help with this stress by sharing gift suggestions featuring your products or services and the type of person it would be perfect for, such as:
- Mother
- Father
- Wife
- Husband
- Sister
- Brother
- Son
- Daughter
Just think about what you can match with some of those recipients and then promote accordingly. Just make sure you include a call to action, like “Buy Now.”
Partner with a local nonprofit
Cause-related promotions are particularly effective during the holidays. Consumers are becoming increasingly thoughtful about the businesses they support and what they’re doing beyond striving to make a profit.
By showing your support for the community, you can grow your brand awareness and potentially attract new customers.
Of course, these partnerships can work in any number of ways. For example, you could announce that a percentage of every product or service sold will be donated to a particular nonprofit.
Remember (and reward) your loyal customers
In the push to acquire new customers during the holidays, don’t forget about your existing (and loyal) ones. You can easily offer unique discounts or bonus gifts (with purchase) targeted to your established customers.
In fact, you can even send them a “thank you” message or card before the holiday season even begins so that they feel appreciated and have your brand top of mind as the season begins.
Be sure to seize the opportunity to leverage your customer loyalty program over the holidays as well.
Check out our five tips to successfully promote your customer rewards loyalty program.
Embrace nostalgia
The holidays are all about memories of childhood and magic. You can tap into this with your holiday marketing strategy.
To do this, consider using black-and-white images and old-style fonts. Then, use these to convey a sense of nostalgia that complements your brand and connects with your target audience.
Offer free shipping to convert abandoned carts
Free shipping can be a great way to not only convert leads into purchases up front. But if you hesitate to offer free shipping up front, consider offering it as a follow-up to any abandoned shopping carts on your website.
You can frame it as a holiday gift as you encouraged fallen-off customers to come back and complete their purchases.
No limit on holiday spirit
Beyond the posts that will reflect holiday imagery in some way, what else can you do to convey that your brand is all about the holidays?
Think about embedding warm holiday scenes and sparkle in your physical store locations (if applicable), across the home page of your website, the cover photos of your social media accounts and any relevant landing pages.
You also can go beyond the imagery by sharing any charity work your company is doing during the holiday season and any special services or products you might be offering (free or not) during the holidays only.
There’s truly no limit to the holiday spirit you can convey to consumers through your brand.
Take advantage of Small Business Saturday
In addition to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, don’t forget about Small Business Saturday, which happens the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
If your brand is a small business, it’s an opportunity to connect with your audience in a different way. What’s the story behind your business? What drives you? Who are your employees? What are their stories?
About a third of U.S. adults who do holiday shopping say they plan to shop locally or buy from small businesses to support local communities.
Embrace that for your own brand and promote around that.
In conclusion
Of course, when it comes to your holiday marketing strategy, it’s never too early to start planning and publishing. It takes potential customers to see your messaging several times before taking action. And the sky’s the limit on creativity. Evaluate what your competition is doing or has done in the past.
Dive deeper with our seven holiday marketing tips to optimize sales.
As you begin to plan and prepare your holiday marketing, consider optimizing your digital marketing process. This includes such features as automation, audience segmentation and enhanced email marketing capabilities, to name a few. DailyStory can help. Schedule your free demo with us today.
