The leaves are just starting to fall, but already we’re seeing Christmas decorations in stores! Every year consumers begin shopping earlier for the holiday season to avoid last-minute stress. With the evolution of social media as an e-commerce tool, businesses need to plan their holiday marketing strategy to reach the most customers!
Waiting until December will leave you behind the pack, so get ahead by planning your holiday marketing strategy. Figure out what discounts or deals you want to offer your customers, and which products or services you’d like to highlight.
Here are our top 5 holiday marketing tips to plan your marketing strategy this holiday season:
1. Know Your Ideal Customer
Create effective messaging with target customers in mind:
- The Early Bird – The sooner you reach them, the more likely your business will be on their shopping list.
- The Traditionalist – This person lives for the excitement of the holidays, so play into the nostalgia with images and holiday colours.
- The Self-Gifter – They love to treat themselves, so offer 2 For 1 deals or family & friend discounts.
2. Plan Events to Celebrate Your Customers
Create exciting in-store experiences with installations that people can take photos with, or make fun online campaigns to generate user content that you can use to advertise. Build your email list with limited discount offers and deals!
3. Incorporate Holidays of All Types to Be Inclusive
Whether religious or modern, make sure you include the long list of holidays through November and December! This can help you target your different shoppers as well:
- The Early Bird – Black Friday (Nov 25), Small Business Saturday (Nov 26), Cyber Monday (Nov 28)
- The Traditionalist – Free Shipping Day (Dec 14), Chanukah (Dec 18-26), Christmas (Dec 25)
- Self Gifter – Boxing Day (Dec 26), Kwanza (Dec 26-Jan 1), New Years (Dec 31)
4. Update Your Businesses Social Media Profiles
Put away the brand kit and focus on holiday imagery, colours and fonts. Customers are proven to have a stronger connection to brands that evoke feelings of nostalgia!
5. Don’t Just Focus On Selling
Providing content that helps your customers during the stressful holiday season is more likely to keep them coming back. Gift guides, recipes, party planning tips…the list goes on! Build off of your niche, the possibilities are endless:
- Florist? Create a list of plants to give hosts.
- Restaurant? Make a menu of wine and food pairings.
- Radio station? Create and share holiday playlists for parties.
Consider hiring a digital marketing expert to create effective graphics and copy for holiday promotions. They can also create a strategic paid ad campaign on social media that targets customers who are already searching for gifts online!
DigiHype Media has worked with Canadian companies through the holidays to create effective ad campaigns that reach new customers. Contact us today to get started!
References:
Ad Age. (2022, September 23). Holiday marketing has a record early start as retailers brace for economic hit. Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://adage.com/article/marketing-news-strategy/holiday-marketing-has-record-early-start-retailers-brace-economic-hit/2432786
5 Tips on Preparing Your Holiday Marketing Campaigns. (2021, August 24). The Shutterstock Blog. Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/holiday-marketing-campaign-tips
Holiday Marketing Campaigns: Strategies for Success + Mistakes to Avoid. (2022, October 17). The BigCommerce Blog. Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/holiday-marketing-campaigns/
Sehl, K. (2022, August 19). The Complete List of Social Media Holidays (2022 Edition). Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard. Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://blog.hootsuite.com/weird-holidays-to-celebrate-on-social-media/
