Holidays are coming! Are you feeling jolly? Has Christmas spirit already found its way into your heart and your social media? So far, you’ve uploaded a new Christmas logo and a cozy-looking cover photo, but you would like to improve your holiday campaign and show your followers that your product is a must-have this holiday season. This winter, you would want to have a great marketing strategy that will bring you even more customers and make your loyal audience happy. You know that putting on your online decoration and giving your platforms incredible Christmas looks is the initial step, but where do you go from there? Here’s how to create an impressive campaign and start 2019 with success!
Focus on your customers’ wish lists... On time!
This tip implies, of course, an early start. It’s never too early to start preparing for the holidays. In August, it’s easy to forget how busy it gets in December, so it’s smart to have your strategy prepared in advance. How do you even start planning the campaign? Listen (or read) closely to your followers. Pay attention to their wishes and dreams – this way you’ll be able to create a product or offer a service that will be precisely the product or service what they need. Alternatively, maybe, you already have such a thing, so you will only need to find a new, holiday-spirited way to promote it. You can even find everything out directly – ask your followers to share their Christmas wish lists with you or have their children write letters for Santa. It’s a method to kill two birds with one stone – you will boost the engagement on your pages, and you will learn about what your audience would like to buy this Christmas.
Be generous with discounts!
The season of giving is not the right time to be cheap. It’s never the right time to be modest if you want to have loyal customers and many followers on social media. That is a perfect opportunity to offer your customers great discounts and deals, such as „buy 2, get 3rd for $1 “or „buy 1, get 50% off the price for the 2nd one“ and so on. Give them offers they can’t refuse! Present these deals on social media as your Christmas gifts for your loyal clients but remind them it’s also a chance for them to get presents for their beloved ones – everything in one place and at a bargain. They will appreciate it because you know it’s hard to afford everything at this time of the year.
Moreover, they’ll remember you next December! Also, if you want to be generous, donate to a charity and try to motivate other brands to do it as well. There’s no better time to helps the ones in need than the holiday season. This year, you can even start a new tradition that others can follow: choose a different charity each month and help them in a way you find suitable – it doesn’t have to be money, it can be your products, your time or anything else.
Customer loyalty
Prepare some special deals for your most faithful customers. It’s important to show your clients that you care about them and that you notice they’re here – on your Facebook page, on your website, in your store. Send them a gift card or a voucher for their next shopping or a special Christmas bag with some of your products. These can even be personalized, and this is even better because your followers will feel like you truly know them and that there is an actual person behind your Instagram page or Facebook profile. Which brings us to our next tip:
Emotions and family
What you want your customers to say is – Aww! So, there are two ways you can play this card. First of all, holidays are about family and everyone is planning reunions and family dinners. The ones who live abroad are coming to visit their parents. The ones who have just moved out are inviting their families over for a meal for the first time. The ones who have been fighting have decided to make up and spend the holidays together. The ones who have been in love since forever have finally decided to pop the question. These are some of the scenarios you can use to create a Christmas ad that will make your followers feel emotional and maybe even bring tears to their eyes, but also a joy to their hearts! Remind them that they should laugh, hug, forgive and surprise each other this Christmas and make them see your products or services are the perfect way to do it.
The other side of the „emotions“story has to do with you. Show your audience your human side – present your team or create a Facebook group, which feels more personal and humanized than a page. Let them see whom they’re communicating with when they leave comments and send messages to your profiles. Tell them how you feel about this year and what you expect to achieve in 2019 and invite them to share their hopes and dreams too.
Copy ideas not content
Don’t be shy – take a look at other companies’ campaigns. You’re not a copycat if you want to learn something from more experienced marketers and companies. Giants like Coca-Cola have amazing holiday campaigns that are known all over the world, and every year people are impatiently waiting for a new Coca-Cola Christmas ad to come out because it doesn’t feel like Christmas until it does. Investigate a little and try to learn something from their marketing strategy. Always focusing on happy, smiling faces, feelings, and experiences, it came as no surprise that Coca-Cola used Santa and holidays to create unique campaigns where they managed to make every single person in the world automatically associate this drink with celebrations, holidays and good times.
SEO on Social Media
Everyone seems to forget about SEO when it comes to social media – it can be critical not only for your website but also for your social media accounts if you want to drive more traffic to them. The more transactions you have – the more new followers, likes and comments you’ll get and, proportionately, your sales will increase. So, first of all, think of the keywords that can be used to describe your website and your pages. They will make it easier for your potential clients to find you in the search engine. Be careful not to name your URL something too complicated, such as numbers or symbols – use keywords and be descriptive. Ensure your content is of exceptional quality, well organized, with HD photos and with no spelling mistakes. Don’t forget internal links that will take your customers from one page to another that can be interesting to them. Also, how much time do you spend on your mobile phone? So how often do you turn on your computer? Of course, we use mobile phones more frequently, so optimize your pages and website for mobiles. Make it possible to click on any phone number and your customers will be able to call you with just one click instead of copying and pasting, which sometimes can make them give up.
Remarketing Strategy
Remarketing is also a good strategy for your holiday campaign. It’s already December, so you’ve had the whole year to study your audience, your ads, and other attacks and make some conclusions about what works best for them and your brand.
You know that some people have already expressed interest in your products or services, so holidays are a good reason to start a conversation with them and try to make a deal. Prepare some special offers for them and invest in some targeted ads that will become visible to the potential customers who have visited your accounts but haven’t made any contact or haven’t purchased anything. These ads will remind them of your pages and maybe help them decide to visit your business when they see your excellent holiday offers.
Curiosity didn’t kill the cat
The last, but not the least tip – add some mystery to your campaign. Everyone loves surprises. Don’t reveal your slogan, your product or your offer just yet. Have your followers try to guess what you’re preparing for them this winter. Make them wait for a while and promise it’s going to be worth it. It can help you learn about what your followers want and maybe even have a last-minute change in your campaign! Make them curious and impatient about your big reveal that you can announce a few weeks before Christmas and use Christmas day or New Year's Eve to let the cat out of the bag.
We bet you already have an idea for your holiday campaign after reading these tips! Be creative, start on time and monitor the data closely on your social media pages and we guarantee you’ll be successful. The spending frenzy is something you can benefit from if you’re ready to offer some good deals and reward your loyal customers. Promote happiness and gratitude, make sure your ads will bring smiles to your followers’ faces and you’ll soon be able to see the results. So, get some hot chocolate, sit by the fireplace, play some Christmas music and start preparing your holiday campaign!