The holiday season is a time when businesses pull out all the stops in order to attract consumers. This generally means increased spending on advertising and promotions, as well as changes in how companies position themselves relative to their competitors.
As more and more consumers shop online, the planning phase is arguably the most important part of a successful season. But before delving into marketing strategies to keep your business successful during holidays, let’s examine the foundations of a great holiday marketing strategy
Examine Your Past
More often than not, looking at your company’s past marketing campaigns can help you identify the successes and pitfalls and ultimately prepare your team for future campaigns. Examine statistics from previous years to analyze previous strategies and circumvent mistakes.
Another important aspect of past campaigns is the customer feedback you received. Is your target audience the same or has it shifted over the years? Delve deeper into your target demographics and evaluate their values, their language, and what they respond to most. Understanding these key elements of your ideal customer will help you craft holiday messaging that clicks.
Focus On Strategies That Fit Your Audience
Holiday marketing campaigns may have similar goals, but they are not created equal. It is important to avoid simply adapting your competitors’ strategies. The key to a successful holiday marketing campaign lies in knowing and understanding your target audience.
For instance, if your target audience is younger (e.g.18-30), focusing on e-commerce strategies to share special offers or holiday promotions will be beneficial to your company.
Plan Your Content Accordingly
When it comes to the holiday season, it is better to take advantage of what works rather than creating everything from scratch. In this way, you can save both time and money while also creating content that resonates with your target audience.
Finding opportunities to republish relevant content not only saves you time and money but also creates a more unified experience for your customers.
With these three key foundations of good holiday marketing, here are 5 holiday marketing strategies to consider when it comes to marketing during these seasons.
5 Holiday Marketing Strategies
Adapt
Holiday seasons are, by nature, busy seasons for companies and their marketing teams. While being prepared beforehand is great, having a fast-acting team is crucial for resolving issues quickly, maintaining timely responses to clients, and even refining an active campaign as it is running.
Have A Content-Driven Approach
Because of the fast growth of online shopping and social media marketing, messaging around the holidays tends to become repetitive. Your clients are inundated with marketing alerts on holiday offers the moment they turn their devices on.
Content marketing can be an effective way to cut through the digital noise, reach your customers and stand out. This approach can also enhance your SEO and help drive organic traffic to your website. Capitalize on offering more personalized content, gifting guides, and discount codes.
Keep An Eye On Your Competition
Be prepared for more competition than ever during the holidays. As mentioned in the previous segment, many brands will be vying for visibility during these periods. Curating strong email campaigns can help your company reach both existing and potential customers and direct them to either your online store or brick and mortar location (or both!)
Include An Influencer Strategy
Many companies use social media for marketing during the holidays. While its efficiency varies depending on the industry, having an influencer strategy helps add a human touch to your messaging. Because different influencers usually have an avid and loyal fanbase, including them in your holiday marketing strategy gives your brand access to potential customers. Influencers help drive a human-focused message to an already captive audience.
Team Up With A Non-Profit Organization
Holidays in the fall and winter are a time that many give back and reconnect with loved ones. For your company, this is ideal to amplify and strengthen brand loyalty by appealing to your clients on an emotional level. Partnering with a non-profit organization can help you share your brand mission with your customers while supporting a great cause.
Hosting events and fundraisers with your non-profit partner is one way of enacting this strategy. While this approach may be costly, it is a great way for both organizations to raise money and awareness. According to Gloria Horsley of Forbes, “combining resources means that nonprofit partners can get financial synergy from sharing the cost of hosting an event while bringing more people together in one place for additional discounts and awareness opportunities.”
These five strategies will help you refine your efforts to drive sales during the most profitable time of year. The earlier you plan, the better. Optimize your content and keep your customers in mind before, during, and even after holiday seasons. For more information on how to approach specific holidays, here is a great piece on how to market during Valentine’s Day. Reach out to us for more personalized strategies and approaches to your marketing from our expert team of consultants.
