7 ways to promote your business this Christmas
The holiday season has finally arrived. The smell of eggnog is in the air and Christmas lights are illuminating the streets for as far as the eye can see. But before you can kick your feet up and enjoy Christmas jingles in your snowflake-printed PJs, you have to be sure how to promote your business this Christmas and that your business is making the most out of this opportunity – You need a fully formed marketing campaign and that will require some prep work.
Christmas is an important time of year for every kind of business, both big and small. It’s the biggest consumer holiday there is as gift-givers are looking for new and original ways to delight their recipients. So, no matter what industry you’re in, you need to start planning an effective holiday marketing campaign that won’t let any potential customers slip away and understand to how promote your business this Christmas.
Here are a few stats just to give you a taste of what’s at stake:
And that’s why we put together these 7 Christmas marketing ideas to get you started:
1. Christmas-fy your branding
It doesn’t take much to add a little holiday flair to your branding, logo, store, merch, and more. A little bit of Christmas lights here, a Santa hat there and your business can transform into a holiday destination. Sure, it sounds a little hokey but it also lets your customers know that you’re going all-in on the season. You’ll stand out more and send a signal to your customers that you’re open for business during the holiday season.
Pro-tip: Holiday decoration is not just for brick and mortar. It can make a significant impact on your social channels and eCommerce stores as well. Promo.com has a number of free tools that can help you decorate your digital sphere with holiday-themed videos?
- Showcase any holiday-themed merch on your Shopify store with our Free Video-Making App.
- You likely already know how to make a YouTube intro – recreate it with a Christmas vibe!
2. Don’t alienate your non-celebrating customers
While “Christmas” definitely gets all the attention in December, it’s important not to neglect the other holidays as well. Hanukkah, for one, is an important celebration within the Jewish community and is often overlooked by many during the Christmas shopping frenzy. A special Hanukkah promotion, or even an acknowledgment of the holiday itself, can go a long way towards reaching an often neglected portion of your audience and turning them into customers.
Pro-tip: In all, the “holiday season” is often thought of as kicking off with Black Friday and ending with New Year’s Eve. This gives you a whole month to plan out and fill with marketing awesomeness. If need be, you can avoid saying the word “Christmas” altogether by simply referring to holiday sales, winter sales, end-of-year sales, etc. Overall holiday spending is worth a lot and the more encompassing your messaging is, the bigger piece of that pie you’ll get.
3. Keep your social channels as full as your belly
We know you want (and deserve) a winter break but now is not the time to take your foot off the gas when it comes to your social media channels. People will always be checking their social media feed, no matter where they are. Whether they’re skiing on the Swiss Alps or eating Christmas dinner with the family, they will always have time to sneak a peak. That’s why you want to keep your content cup a-flowing as often as possible.
Pro-tip: Grab a customizable caption, video template, and hashtag for every single day of the month from the Promo Social Marketing Calendar. All you have to do is select a video (or all of them), customize and post as you sip your morning pumpkin latte.
4. Theme your content
A great rule for content marketing is the 80-20 rule. The 80-20 rule has various inceptions. For example, 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers. This principle illustrates the importance of customer loyalty and repeat business. For the purposes of content, consider that 80% of your content should bring value to your customers while only 20% should be directly promoting your product or service.
A hallmark of content marketing is the value added by engaging with the content you produce. As such, a lot of your social media posts, emails, and other forms of content should shy away from being blatant “BUY THIS” advertisements. Don’t get us wrong, advertisements are crucial to your digital marketing strategy. However, for customers to truly want to engage with your content, you can’t be a sales ticker online. Customers tune out.
Pro-tip: You have to be a little creative with your content, especially around the holidays. Try crafting content aimed at providing holiday tips, recipes, or celebration ideas. This type of content always works better in video form which is far more memorable and enticing than a simple blog or Facebook post.
5. Don’t sleep on gift cards
The Christmas gift-giving season is often stressful. Some of us are great at buying awesome gifts for people (ahem). Others, not so much. For this reason, gift cards are a multi-billion dollar industry. Gift card sales and promotions are especially useful around Christmas. What’s more, holiday-themed gift cards are relatively low cost to create. One great way to promote gift card sales is by offering a bounceback coupon to purchases. How does that work? Easy.
Anyone who purchases a gift card during the holiday season automatically receives a second gift card (for a lesser amount) to use on their next visit. For example, you might run a promotion that says anyone who purchases a gift card of $25 or more will automatically receive a $5 gift card for themselves to use on their next visit.
The great part about a promotion such as this is that you’re getting at least three visits to your store or website out of a single intended purchase.
- The initial purchasing visit, during which many customers will purchase more than just the gift card.
- The redemption visit from the gift card recipient, in which most customers wind up spending more than the value of the gift card they received.
- The return visit from the original purchaser who surely isn’t going to let that $5 go to waste.
Three visits for the price of one. That’s a win-win any way you slice it and a great promotion to run during the Christmas season.
Pro-tip: This is also a good way to collect leads for your video marketing efforts. You can ask your customers to fill out both their own and the recipient’s email address when purchasing a gift card.
6. Create a sense of urgency
Christmas is not like every other day of the year. There is a sense of urgency to gift buying and so a sense of urgency in your marketing is a smart move. Work with themes such as “don’t wait” or “act now.” Theme the urgency to the season: “Get it in your stocking before it’s gone,” etc. No one wants to get stuck on Christmas even without the right gifts, ingredients or decorations and honestly, some of us need that little push to make sure that we get it done.
When it comes to Christmas shopping, we all need a little sense of urgency every now and then. So let customers know you’re here to help and they can count on you for those last-minute gifts!
Pro-tip: Create a Christmas countdown clock in your email marketing efforts or on your social channels to keep your customers on their toes.
7. The gift that keeps on giving
The great thing about holidays is that they come every single year so you don’t need to throw away your old content. Don’t be afraid to repurpose old content from last year’s marketing campaign and use them for this year’s sales. Just make sure to change anything old that might give you away (like a year or date) and if your content includes products, make sure they are still in stock.
Pro-tip: Once this year’s campaign is over, put all of your well-performing content into a designated folder for next year so you don’t lose it.
Merry Christmas!
Christmas is an exciting time of year for customers, small businesses, corporations and everyone in between. It’s the busiest shopping season of the year, and often the most lucrative. Start early and plan your Christmas strategy. Create awesome promotions, enticing deals, and engaging video marketing content to tell the world what you have to offer.
Any of the tips above are a great way to get started. And remember, it’s never too early to start planning for a great Christmas marketing season!
