Christmas Season Marketing: Proven Strategies to Maximize Your Holiday Marketing Campaigns
5.00/5For businesses, Christmas is both a great opportunity to drive sales and a challenge to get people’s attention. While everyone is in the mood to shop and looking for the perfect gift for all their loved ones, companies are trying different methods to keep their brands top of mind. That’s what this blog post is all about, the different holiday marketing campaigns you should definitely try.
8 Holiday Marketing Campaigns You can Use this Year
Holiday marketing varies depending on the scope and size of your business and your target audience. But overall, there are 8 proven campaigns that are known to get your message across, get everyone in the spirit, and drive sales.
For them to work, you need to be able to adapt them to your business and deliver the perfect holiday message. To do this, we highly recommend that you do the following first:
- Define who your target audience is.
- Set clear goals and KPIs.
- Choose the marketing channels where your prospects spend the most time.
- Create a content calendar that will help you stay consistent.
- Set a budget for design, promotion and any additional costs.
Once you have all the boxes checked, you can start deciding which campaign ideas to implement and how to do it.
Create Holiday Social Media Posts
Harness the power and reach of social media by asking your design team or social media agency to create special holiday-themed posts.
You can start by dressing up your social networks in the spirit of the season. Put a Santa hat on your profile picture or add some Christmas lights to your banner image. There are many different ways to do this, just like we all like to decorate our houses and wear ugly Christmas sweaters.
For your social media posts, you want to create them using a holiday color palette and make sure they are attractive and relevant to your target audience. For example, you can share holiday gift guides with recommendations based on your top shopper profiles and interests. You can create a Christmas countdown where you recommend a product or announce a one-time deal each day. Or ask your followers to share pictures of themselves using your brand.
Bring the Holiday Spirit to Your Products, Services and Business
In the same vein as dressing up your social media channels, you can make your product offering unique. Launch special seasonal products or create holiday versions of your existing products. Cadbury, for example, creates Advent calendars for children to enjoy the countdown to Christmas Eve.
For example, if you sell coffee makers, you can sell red ones and bundle them with specialty coffees. Or you can simply launch a special edition of coffee mugs with cute holiday messages.
The sky is the limit, but we highly recommend focusing on your best sellers or products you want to clear off the shelves.
Spoil Your Customers with Special Christmas Discounts
Another great way to grab your audience’s attention is to offer great deals and promotions. Not only will they entice people to buy, but they will also help you clear the shelves and make room for new year’s merchandise.
Consider offering short but high-value deals, such as a 70-90% discount, to drive sales and traffic to your store. Offer buy one get one deals on your website. Include free gift wrapping and shipping.
Your goal is to run holiday promotions in both your physical store and on your ecommerce site. You can use social media ads and email marketing campaigns to reach a wider audience and create buzz around your holiday sales.
Let Emotions Flow in Your Holiday Ad Campaigns
Choose to create video ads for social media, especially where your audience is more active. Use storytelling to connect with them and trigger those emotions that will take them back to a special Christmas and make it almost impossible to hold back the tears.
A perfect example is the 2022 Christmas ad from John Lewis.
How can you emotionally connect your brand or products with your audience? Your online advertising agency may have the perfect answer.
Run Successful Holiday Email Marketing Campaigns
Don’t forget your database subscribers. Design and automate a special holiday marketing campaign filled with relevant gift guides, unique seasonal products, tips, thank you notes and special discounts.
Read our “Effective Christmas Email Marketing: Tips and Strategies for Festive Campaign Success” blog post for specific tips on creating the perfect email campaign.
Create Useful Content for Your Blog and Newsletters
Ask your content creation team to fill your blog and YouTube channel with relevant holiday content. You need to look for ways to tie your brand to the holidays and how it can help bring the holiday spirit into every home and family.
For example, if you are in the food and beverage industry, you can add a special holiday recipe section. While if you are in the health and fitness industry you can share an av list of the best apps for personal care.
Some general content ideas you can try to include are:
- Personalized gift recommendations for the different types of customers you have.
- Recommendations on how to make the most of the holiday season.
- Tips on how your products can help create the perfect holiday spirit.
- A look back at the year and recommendations for 2025.
Create Gifts Guides and Use Them as Lead Magnets
Take advantage of the rush and add more records to your database. A simple but effective idea is to gated relevant content behind a registration form. Don’t charge any fees, just ask people to share their contact information in exchange for access to the special piece.
Lead magnets can include holiday recipes, meal planners, gift guides, wellness trackers, calendars and more. Choose the option that best suits your audience’s interests and your brand.
Use Pop-Ups to Promote Your Christmas Deals
Consider adding pop-ups to your site to let holiday shoppers know about your deals, promotions and special products. Make it easy for them to access them with just one click.
Ask your designers to work with your holiday color palette, include a clear and concise call to action, and use eye-catching visuals. Once it’s ready, contact your website team and explain when and how it should appear. Keep it live for the duration of your holiday campaign, and consider adding a countdown during the final days.
Must See Holiday Marketing Examples
To help you get inspired, we wanted to share some examples of what we at Sortlist think are the best holiday marketing campaigns of all time.
Starbucks is known for its annual line of holiday-themed to-go cups. Every year since 1997, they have been able to wow and surprise their holiday shoppers with beautiful cups.
Ikea is living proof that it is never too early to start your holiday campaign. A few years ago, they launched a series of flyers featuring newborn Christmas trees with decorations.
Spotify surprises us all with their annual Wrapped, where they take a look back at your playlists and break down your most listened to songs and artists.
Finally, take a look at this Cadbury holiday ad campaign from 2022. They were able to bring the online and offline worlds together and put a smile on the faces of people across the UK.
Key Takeaways
- Variety of Holiday Marketing Campaigns: The article outlines 8 proven holiday marketing campaigns, including social media posts, special product offerings, and discounts, that businesses can use to engage their audience and drive sales during the holiday season.
- Preparation and Strategy: Success in holiday marketing requires defining the target audience, setting clear goals and KPIs, choosing the right marketing channels, creating a content calendar, and setting a budget. These steps help in delivering a consistent and effective holiday message.
- Leveraging Emotions and Personalization: Emotional storytelling in ads and personalized content, such as gift guides and special offers, are emphasized as powerful tools to connect with customers on a deeper level, enhancing engagement and boosting sales.
Conclusion
You don’t have to be a big company like Cadbury, Spotify or Starbucks to succeed in holiday advertising. You just need to understand your audience, the products they like most, their needs, interests and the deals and promotions they will enjoy most. Once you have that, it’s a matter of sitting down and letting the creativity flow. Use the list of suggested holiday campaign ideas we shared here as a starting point and tailor them to your brand.
Remember, you don’t have to use all 8 holiday marketing campaign ideas. Pick the ones you think will resonate best with your potential customers.
