Now we’re in December, it’s the season to be jolly and show our loved ones just how much we care. For many businesses, that translates into more potential customers looking for the right gift, service or experience. Even at this late stage, it’s still possible to carry out digital marketing activity that helps give you and your customers an even Happier Christmas.
I’m sticking with the jolly seasonal theme and sharing 12 positive marketing tips that you can apply to your marketing over for the Christmas period. And if you break into song while reading them, all the better!
1. Form a Plan (Quickly!)
It’s easy to feel the weight of time pressure when a target date is so close but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take time to plan. Just keep it brief.
Detail exactly what your goal is for your seasonal marketing:
- Sell a particular item or service.
- Promote your brand to a new audience.
- Let potential customers find out more about who you are and what you do.
- Get rid of dated stock.
- Increase the number of new customers.
- Increase your social media following.
- Increase market share within a particular product category or market
Knowing your specific goals will make it easier to implement your Christmas marketing strategy.
2. Spread Some Christmas Cheer Tears
Your marketing and promotion style could benefit from an emotional aspect – provided it’s relevant. Big businesses famously spend millions on producing Christmas marketing and ads that elicit an emotional response.
Of course, I’m not suggesting you need to spend a lot on this, but adding that personal element won’t hurt and should secure you some extra customers.
3. Create a Christmas Landing Page
This may sound very obvious but amazingly many brands forget to give their customers a nudge in the right direction with a specific Christmas landing page, featuring suitable gift products and services.
It can be as seasonal as is suitable for your brand and will make it easier for some to find what they’re looking for.
4. Don’t Forget Social Media Imagery
In the world of digital marketing it’s quick and painless to add that seasonal touch to your company imagery, on your website and Social Media accounts.
When people are scouring the web for that perfect gift, they tend to take a look at their Social Media streams. Don’t miss out on that and add some Christmas flair to your accounts to catch their eye!
5. ‘Christmasify’ (probably not a word but hey-ho-ho-ho) Your Updates
For those of you working to keep your company name in peoples’ minds over the holiday season, a simple way to do this is by sharing some Christmas-themed updates.
Adding seasonal topics works across emails, social media posts and company blogs, to pique the interest of those who see your content.
6. Share Useful Details
As an online shopper, even in the lead up to Christmas I often leave some gifts to the very last minute. That means companies who can give me clear information on when my order will arrive often win my custom.
Encourage those who shop during December with easy-to-find details on delivery times, countdown clocks and in-time for Christmas order dates. Even better, offer email gift certificates and notes that can be sent at set dates and times.
7. Think Beyond Christmas Day
For many families, the holidays are all about the build-up to Christmas day and your seasonal marketing campaign should work with that in mind but that’s not the be all for everyone.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday have passed, but Christmas Eve specials are still on the radar, as are Boxing day sales. Remembering those key dates in your marketing plans is bound to pay off.
8. Add Some Christmas Jingle
Like it or not, Christmas music is a hit with virtually every audience demographic. Another simple way to elevate your content or holiday marketing is with the addition of Christmas music.
Whether you prefer traditional carols, number one pop hits or something more classical, Christmas music will put a smile – or a rue grimace – on the face of many of your visitors!
9. May Your Keywords Be Merry & Bright
PPC remains an important part of any digital marketing strategy. You can embrace that by adding seasonality to the keywords you bid on.
Instead of ‘tableware’ and ‘dining accessories’, how about ‘holiday tableware’ and ‘Christmas dining accessories’. Instead of “gifts” ensure you have all the Christmas variations such as “Christmas gifts” “secret santa gifts” and “stocking fillers”. Yes, you won’t be the only business doing this, but you will be in with a better chance of securing more seasonal sales.
10. Make it Easy
Gift buying can be hard for some people. Win their interest by creating a gift package. This works across service-related gifts or products and can also be perfect spread across both.
Take the effort out of the gift selection process and encourage some new customers as well as impressing your existing clientele. A slight reduction for those buying packages over single items can be all the incentive needed to secure that sale.
11. Encourage Early Shoppers
With so many deals and sales, you would be surprised how many users now do their Christmas shopping earlier than ever. Much of this shopping and pre-purchase research is done on mobiles, so rewarding these users when you have their attention on app or site, is another smart move for your Christmas marketing plan.
Sometimes all you need is a small voucher, for use online or in store, to encourage a sale there and then rather than taking a risk that they may not return at a later date to complete their purchase.
12. Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly META Tags
As with the PPC seasonal update, adding some select Christmas SEO keywords to your META description and tags can help make your products seem more relevant to online shoppers visiting organically through search engines. It’s easy and quick to update back to normal target keywords after the big event.
BONUS STOCKING FILLER (well, it is Christmas):
13. GIFs. The Gifts That Keeps on GIFing
GIFs are a great media format as they grab user’s attention within social media feeds and are often shared out to others. There are thousands of hilarious or nostalgic scenes from classic Christmas movies that can tie into your copy for the perfect shareable organic social content. When combined with paid promotion, these posts can capture very high engagement and click through rates leading to sales if the landing page and user experience is just right.
I’d love to hear your own Christmas marketing dos too. Please pop them in the comments below.