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Before you click out of this blog thinking – my goodness, it’s not even Halloween yet – WE KNOW. We know you know. You’ve seen enough Christmas Trees and Thanksgiving Turkey decorations to last you a lifetime, and if you’re anything like us, you just want to tell Target and Hobby Lobby to go AWAY with their winter wonderland because it’s still 90 degrees where you live and it probably won’t even dip below the 80’s come the holidays.
Unfortunately, that can’t happen. Why? Because we’re in this business biz baby, and we have to plan ahead to hit those holiday objectives. That being said, we’ve created a list of Marketing Do’s and Don’ts to help you jump start, or give you inspiration, for any holiday campaigns or initiatives you’ve got to get going.
DO:
Have a holiday idea brainstorm meeting with your team. Any input is always valid input.
Your campaigns should match your brand aesthetic. Want to use a Christmas tree in an ad or a piece of content? Maybe make it match your brand colors. Get creative.
Collaborate with other businesses in your industry. By this we mean maybe throw a giveaway with their services/products alongside yours, have a joint sale, etc.
Use the theme of the holiday in your campaigns, but put a unique spin on it- an easy template is “12 days of ____”.
Use holiday lifestyle content as a way to build a holiday presence/brand awareness on your online platforms. Ex: Post an Instagram story that’s holiday related.
Stay in touch with pop culture and internet trends, and incorporate those into your campaigns (only if this is in line with your brand and your target audience).
Keep track of all your campaigns/promos/anything and their results- you will need these for any end of year reports you do.
Run holiday edition contests for services and products that will create interest in your brand.
Run exclusive holiday promotions for loyal consumers to encourage repeat sales and hopefully encourage word of mouth.
Give back (charitable donation of some sort with influx of sales). You can align with a charity for this and offer x% of sales back to this charity/non-profit for the holiday season.
DON’T
Plan last minute. Don’t do a week of campaign, or make something up a few days before. This isn’t your Chemistry 101 project you forgot to do and it’s due tomorrow at 9 am.
Go out of the way to make campaigns or products/services for the holidays that don’t really match up with your company’s brand, message, or voice.
Forget about post-holiday sales, and the post-consumer buying attitude. We mean don’t put everything into holiday marketing and nothing into the experience the consumer will have with whatever they bought from you afterwards.
Neglect audience retargeting (make sure you have pixels on your website to be able to remarket the traffic you’re sending there). Just because they came to you during the holidays doesn’t mean they won’t ever come back- you just have to target them again.
Miss out on the 3 big shopping holidays: Black Friday (November 29), Cyber Monday (December 2), Small Business Saturday (November 30). Don’t forget even one. Utilize all three in different ways.
Let your follow up plan get pushed to the backburner. If any of your campaigns generate leads (i.e. orders), you should 3,000% be sending a follow up email of some sort after the craziness of the holiday dies down. You can do this with either a promotion, news, or new product release.
Get experimental and start trying new things during the holidays. Not a good look, and it probably won’t end up well.
Push sales, sales, sales. Consumers can see right through this, and it will actually detract from your business. You’re still a brand with a voice to them, and you want to make sure that voice doesn’t scream “Buy from me! Christmas gifts! You need it!”
Ignore or forget past consumers or loyal customers because you’re focused too much on expanding your sales or consumer base.
Mistake “get creative” for holidays with over the top holiday cheesy. This includes overstimulating your consumers with so many holiday elements in one sale graphic, for example.
The holidays can be stressful for everyone, but more so us on the marketing side of things. And while we know it’s too early for Christmas decor, it’s never too early to start planning your Christmas strategies. But we know that this isn’t for everyone, and if you have any doubts to whether or not you’re up for the holiday sales marathon – you know we always are. Don’t get fa la la lost in the chaos!
But wait, there’s s’more. We put together a fun thing for you, friends. We like to call it out “Holiday Marketing Campaign Planner,” and it will help you hone in on your ‘plans’ for holiday marketing, if not at least point you in the right direction. The beauty of it: you can print it and write allllllll over it.
As a marketing strategist and business mentor, I help brands grow, scale and expand passion-driven & impact-led businesses that stand the test of time.
If you enjoy reading this blog, you might also enjoy the She's Busy AF podcast - where I dish tips JUST LIKE THESE, for free, in a listenable format. Head on over to your fave podcast platform and tune in today!
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© 2023 Brand Good Time™️ | Florida Marketing Agency
Privacy Policy |
This website was built by the most fun team ever (ahem, it's us, Brand Good Time™).