Are you on top of your holiday marketing?
It’s around this time of year that people start to realise just how close we are to Christmas and the new year. In fact, it’s only around 70 days away! Most people will at this point start to gather a list of all the things they need to do to be prepared for the upcoming holiday season. With Halloween, Black Friday, Christmas and The New Year on the way, businesses need to be EVEN MORE prepared – so that they don’t miss out on what is potentially the most lucrative time of the year (depending on your industry).
If you’re starting to think (and worry) about your holiday marketing, unsure of where and how to start, then worry no more. In this brief blog, we’ll dive into everything you need to know about holiday marketing, how to get you started, and what common mistakes to avoid. Let’s go…
Why Bother With Holiday Marketing?
According to research from finder.com, the UK population spent around £25billion on gift-giving last Christmas (2021). This worked out at around £548 per adult! Despite forecasts reporting that this amount will be far less in 2022 (thanks to a very high-cost year), the amount of money spent in this short amount of time is still colossal. The consumer market gets itself into a money-spending mindset, it’s just expected. Energy and morale are also high around this time and so people are more willing to part with money to get the things they need to have a good time. And so, for this reason, you want to be really pushing to get your name out there and in front of both your existing customers and new potentials. The return could be massive, setting yourself up for a great start to the following year.
Current Holiday Marketing Trends
Before we get onto the goods and the bads of holiday marketing in general, we wanted to take a little look into a few things to expect from the upcoming holiday season, based on trends and forecasts, that you can use when considering your holiday marketing…Â
- E-Commerce On The Rise: One thing that has grown massively over the past couple of years is people shopping online. This was growing steadily over time but with everyone being forced to stay indoors during the pandemic, e-commerce has sky-rocketed and very quickly become most people’s preferred method of shopping. So much so that e-commerce sales are forecasted to reach $1.06 trillion across 2022.
- Communication Through Social Media: Similar to the previous point, because people were forced to stay indoors during the pandemic, the world took to communicating with each other online. This meant that people relied on their social media channels more than ever before. As a result, businesses now have more of a need to focus their messages and marketing via social media. With many social media platforms now incorporating e-commerce directly into the platform – maximising your online presence is vital.
What Makes Good Holiday Marketing?
The main thing to consider when tackling holiday marketing is to take all the good advice out there about marketing in general and heighten it. You want to be making sure that your marketing strategy is top-notch all year round, however with the back end of the year being packed with holidays, you just want to be pushing a little harder, and making double sure that you’re being as impactful as you possibly can. However, there are a few specific things worth considering when it comes to holiday marketing…
Plan Way Ahead
The best and most effective marketing campaigns don’t happen in a day. It takes a lot of time, planning and consideration to really hit the nail on the head. The best way for you to do this is to give yourself as much time as you can. Instead of leaving it to the last minute and throwing yourself into creating anything, consider:
- Which holidays would you rather focus on?
- Which holidays would your business best perform?
- How does your audience behave during these different holidays?
- How then is best to communicate and resonate with them during these times?
- What platforms are your audience using?
- What creative ideas are going to set you apart from the competition?
Giving yourself as much time as possible allows you to look at these questions, consider the holiday marketing campaign as a whole, and optimise every part for the most success.
Holiday Deals & Promotions
This is a common one – but effective! Everyone’s seen and is aware of holiday-specific offers, deals, and promotions. It’s somewhat expected by consumers at this point. So why not get involved? The handy thing about this route is that your entire holiday marketing campaign can revolve around the deal. Your social posts, email marketing, and everything else can build up to and cover an amazing and irresistible deal your offering. The other good thing about this route is that if it entices new customers to your business, and they enjoy what you offer, then they’ll more than likely return all year round, long after the deal is over. However, one thing to consider when running limited offers and promotions – try not to devalue your product/service by making the deal too low. If you practically give your product/service away then consumers might start to think that quality is low. And if the quality is low, why would I spend that much more on it once the deal is done?
Re-Market Previous Customers
Want to know where some easy marketing can be done? Your previous customers! Unfortunate as it may be, customers of yours will come and go. Just because they come to you once, even if you exceed their every expectation, some will still never come back. However, this is largely because they just simply forget. They get what they need, move on with their lives, and before you know it, your business is back off their radar. However, this is where re-marketing can change the game. If you’ve managed to secure any previous customers’ details, or know where to find them, then re-market straight to them. The good news about this method is that there’s no need to sell what you’re offering – they already know! Plus you don’t have to reassure them and gain their trust – they already do!
Holiday Marketing Mistakes To Avoid
Businesses tackling their holiday marketing campaigns, for one reason or another, can often fall into the same common mistakes. You’re of course wanting to maximise your effectiveness and give your holiday marketing the best possible chance, so here are a couple of the most common mistakes you’ll want to avoid…
Over-Sending
The holiday season can be an exciting time for businesses and marketers. The opportunity to draw in a massive amount of business can be tantalising but remember to keep your cool and be strategic. A hugely common mistake that a lot of businesses make is over-sending marketing. Whether it be email marketing, SMS marketing, or social media – one thing that will turn your audience FAST is bombarding them with content. This is especially true if the message of that content is the same every time. Make concise content and space it out.
Under-Preparing
This may seem like a bit of repetition of a previous point – but that’s just how important preparation really is. The point that we want to leave with you following reading this blog post is that the less time you spend planning and creating your holiday marketing campaign, the less effective it will be. Do your research. Find out what similar businesses had success with in the past. Put your own unique twist on it. Plan out what content will go to what platform. The strategising takes its own large amount of time – let alone how long it will take to come up with an amazingly creative campaign idea.
Conclusion
For most businesses, the holiday season is a great time to generate vast amounts of business – from new and old customers alike. Holiday marketing is just the method of getting your message out there. You may find that you have a healthy influx of custom without holiday marketing. However, if done to the best it can be, holiday marketing can completely change the game for your business as it heads into the new year. Hopefully, there was plenty of helpful information in this blog that inspired you to go and create some amazing marketing for this upcoming festive season.
BONUS: If You’re Expecting Guests…
If you’re a business expecting to have a huge amount of foot traffic coming and going to and from your business, then the festive season is also a great chance to widen your customer base. Well, that’s where we come in…
With Unaro, you can gather customer data in real-time that feeds directly into a customisable and easy-to-read platform. This platform, full of real data based on your customers, can then go toward informing future marketing decisions and campaigns – which you can also do straight from the platform. Get in touch today to find out exactly what Unaro can do for you and your business TODAY!
