15 Oct Three Easy Tips for Successful Marketing in the Holiday Season
The holiday season is a busy time of year for everyone. Between gift shopping, decorating, cooking, and planning family activities, everyone’s schedule is full. Not to mention, every brand is advertising something for the holiday season and the messaging and décor come out earlier and earlier every year. From the moment Halloween ends to the moment the new year begins, the holiday season is everywhere you look. So how can you make sure your brand is heard in the blizzard of holiday marketing?
1.Plan Early
It’s never too soon to start planning for the holiday season and you don’t have to be in retail to promote your business. Smart strategies recognize holiday marketing goes far beyond gift-giving. Think about your brand, your holiday message or promotion, and set everything in place before the holidays hit. This way, ads can reach audiences sooner and more frequently and the pressure is taken off when the holidays actually come around. This could be a holiday greeting to clients and customers, an upcoming promotion or giveaway, a holiday-themed event, gift buying (because, let’s be real, that is still important in holiday advertising), or a combination of messages. By planning out your holiday promotions, you give your business time to create the events and put together a stronger marketing strategy.
2. Find Your Strategy And Stick To It
The most important rule in advertising at any time of year is to know your audience. When you know your audience, you can tailor a strategy to them and have more success in your marketing. Where is your audience looking most often? What social media platforms are they on? What demographics do they belong to? These questions and more can help narrow down what strategies will be most successful so you can spend your marketing budget more wisely. For example, younger generations may not be so interested in receiving advertisements via mail, whereas older generations may not be as present on certain social platforms. Having a comprehensive strategy will drive the right customers to your business and improve sales. Don’t be afraid to get creative. The best way to stand out from everyone else is to not be like anyone else. Be funny or heartwarming. Have a sale with a deadline. Send out coupons. Create a holiday package. Get the staff involved. Get people to engage on social media. Do something memorable that feels right for your brand.
Additionally, don’t skimp on retargeting. One message alone isn’t enough to stick in a person’s brain. First, determine what you want your audience to do–visit your website, purchase a product, inquire about services, sign up for a newsletter or rewards program, apply to your school… Whatever the goal may be, get the message out there and keep reminding them of that message. Get them to contact your helpful staff or to visit your clean, comprehensible website and, more importantly, follow through. In fact, approximately 96% of website visitors don’t purchase anything. This means only 4 out of every 100 people on your site actually engage with your product, while the rest browse and close the tab. Get people back by sending retargeted ads to their social media or email. Or if your goal was to get into contact, follow up with those that do. Surveys are a great way to get current clients’ feedback on your marketing strategy and can help strengthen strategies in the future.
3. Have Long-Term Goals
When marketing for the holidays, consider messaging that promotes the brand outside the holiday season. This can be as simple as consistency in the aesthetics of your branding or including messaging that tells the audience that you exist in the new year as well.
After the holidays are over, don’t disappear! Evaluate your holiday strategy and determine where improvements can be made. Then, apply those improvements to the next set of advertisements. Maintaining consistent, recurring messages keeps your brand at the forefront of the audience’s brain, making them more likely to trust your business. Just make sure not to be too present and have the adverse impact and having your audience associating your brand with annoyance! Keep consistent, genuine messages that highlight the values of your brand and get the word out about your seasonal promotion.
If you need help creating advertisements for the holiday season, contact Crystal directly at (248) 866.3257 or crystal@ri-ad.com to get started. We hope you enjoy your holidays!