For many brands, the pre-holiday period and holidays are the time when they earn the most. How to design brand communication for the holidays to enjoy even greater conversions and sales? See proven methods of holiday marketing that you can use in your company.
Why should I think about holiday marketing at the end of summer? After all, there is still so much time until December 24th… This is a flawed approach that is still present in many companies. The result? Ineffective, chaotic marketing activities prepared telegram marketing at the last minute. On the other hand, if you start preparing your holiday strategy at the end of summer or at the latest at the beginning of autumn, you can be sure that sales will skyrocket.
Contents:
- Holiday Marketing – What is Worth Knowing About Customer Purchasing Behavior?
- Christmas Marketing – Calendar
- Content Marketing
- Christmas Marketing – Social Media
- Creations
- Influencer Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Paid campaigns
- Frequently asked questions
Holiday Marketing – What is Worth Knowing About Customer Purchasing Behavior?
Before we move on to proven methods of holiday marketing, it is worth knowing the most important data on the shopping behavior of Poles in the period preceding the holidays. According to the Deloitte report “Holiday Shopping 2021” :
- Estimated Christmas spending in 2021 averaged PLN 2,129,
- The most frequently purchased gifts include cosmetics/fragrances and care products (56%), games, electronic accessories, toys and books are also popular,
- Poles plan to spend almost half (47%) of their Christmas budget online,
- The most frequently purchased product categories online include: travel and leisure (71%), hobbies, toys and books (63%), electronic accessories (64%),
- Among online channels, the most popular are marketplace platforms , such as Allegro, Empik.com,
- In stationary stores, customers most often buy food and drinks (85%),
- On average, two out of three customers plan to do their Christmas shopping in December,
- On average, 1 in 10 people want to do their Christmas shopping on Black Friday,
- as many as 86% of Christmas shoppers are willing to try a new brand during the holiday season,
- 64% of holiday shoppers made an unplanned purchase during the sales .
Christmas Marketing – Calendar
A well-prepared marketing strategy does not focus solely on Christmas. On the contrary, there are several important dates in the pre-holiday this aims to make it easier for other period that are worth using in your marketing activities:
- November 25: Black Friday,
- November 28: Cyber Monday,
- December 6: St. Nicholas Day,
- around December 14th: Free Shipping Day.
Content Marketing
The end of summer/beginning of autumn is the perfect time to start working on holiday copy. It is not worth leaving it until the last minute, e.g. December, because good content requires proper research, planning , etc. Also remember that it takes time to position the text after its publication. What content is worth preparing for the holidays? It depends on the profile of your company, but in most industries you can use these formats adapted to your industry:
- shopping guide – in text/video form. e.g. “Top 10 gifts for…”,
- Christmas recipes,
- product reviews,
- DIY gift ideas,
- Christmas wishes for customers.
Recycle your content
You don’t have to create all your content from scratch. Take a close look at what’s already on your company’s blog and social media – chances are you’ll be able to use some of your holiday content from previous years. You just need to update and improve it.
PRO TIP
In content marketing during the holiday season, emotions are the most important. Make sure that kindness, empathy, love, joy of being together, etc. are at the forefront of the published content. Reach for storytelling – focus on telling stories, not on direct promotion of products.
Christmas Marketing – Social Media
Social media is one of the key channels for reaching consumers in the busy pre-holiday period. Especially the younger ones: as many as 97% of Gen Z consumers claim to use social media as their main source of shopping inspiration . At the same time, Gen Z prefers platforms such as TikTok, Pinterest or Instagram to Facebook. Therefore, when planning your social media marketing activities, consider which channels your brand bulk data will be active in. After choosing the right channel, it’s time to plan your posts:
- prepare a detailed publication schedule for November and December. Set the frequency – you don’t have to “post” every day or every other day, regularity is more important. Use the dates mentioned earlier (Black Friday, Cyber Monday), prepare Christmas and New Year’s greetings,
- try to engage your audience as much as possible. Use surveys (e.g. “My dream Christmas gift is…”), quizzes, ask questions (e.g. about New Year’s resolutions), run holiday contests (e.g. for the most beautifully decorated Christmas tree).
Creations
The holidays are a time when your creative team can really show off: from graphic/video creations on social media to product packaging . Specially designed packaging that refers to the holidays (and at the same time is consistent with the brand’s visual identity) will definitely improve the shopping experience and make the customer feel like they bought something special .