Overview

Every small business wants to create a holiday campaign that boosts sales and will make your customers happy. Holiday marketing can be lucrative, but it’s a highly competitive market. That means you need to do everything you can to stand out.

Here are some basics to help you create a holiday marketing campaign that will boost your holiday sales in 2022:

• Create a Unique Holiday Campaign
• Email Marketing Works
• Keep It Simple
• Underscore Brand and Customer Experience, Not Just Products
• Engage Your Market Rather than Simply Talk to Them
• Advertise by Video
• Create a Holiday “Showroom” on Your Website
• Thank Your Customers for Another Great Year

Holiday Marketing Campaign Basics for Small Business and Organizations

Whether you are a small business trying to boost sales or a non-profit organization reaching out to donors or others during the holiday season, the key is to create a holiday marketing campaign that helps you stand out from the others. Here are some basics to help you do just that.

Create a Unique Holiday Campaign

We mean this in both senses of the word “unique.” You want to stand out from others, but you also want it to stand out from your own marketing campaigns you have running at the moment. For example, you could run a whole new holiday promotion that is completely separate from your other promotions. Decide on:

• What products you want to feature (if any)
• The theme – Christmas or Holidays are obvious themes, but end-of-year, New Year, and winter themes work too
• Messaging – This will be driven largely by your theme and choice of feature products. The best marketing campaigns have a catchy holiday slogan for advertising (like the one pictured here).
• Media – Where do you plan to advertise? Social media, in-store posters, and email (see below) are obvious ones. But there are other creative places to get the word out including local holiday gift guides, coupon books, and holiday issues of local publications.

Email Marketing Works

If you have an email list of your customers, now’s the time to use it. Your holiday email message              can let them know about upcoming sales and specials you have coming up. Be sure to stick to the same themes, messaging, and products you identified above. (And if you don’t have an email list yet, get one!)

Similarly, if you have a blog, holiday posts that feature your Christmas specials and products can help you connect with existing customers.

Keep It Simple

Not only is the marketing space crowded during the holidays, but your customers’ attention span is shorter, too. Keep your messaging simple. This is not the time for convoluted marketing ideas or complex ways to get your offer. Give them a good reason to buy right now, including:

• Lower holiday pricing
• The perfect/hottest holiday gifts for 2022
• Easy “no-brainer” gift idea (such as shaving tools for men)
• Free delivery or some other way to speed up their purchase and make their holiday shopping experience faster and/or easier

Underscore Brand and Customer Experience, Not Just Products

Christmas and the holidays is a time that people will splurge on things they normally wouldn’t buy. There’s a reason why an Hermès Apple Airtag cost 10x as much as a regular one – and it’s not entirely due to the cost of the leather pouch. If you sell high-end items or if you have high-end versions of the regular items you sell, now is the time to feature them. The same is true if you offer high-end shopping experiences. Not only will it help you put your high-profit margin products front and center, it will create a feedback loop increasing your brand’s value in your customers’ eyes.

Engage Your Market Rather than Simply Talk to Them

Wherever possible, create opportunities for your customers to interact with you. For example, many Christmas gift stores offer holiday wreath workshops to bring people into their stores. You could hold a Q&A for items that are more complex such as some electronics, do a presentation or “product launch” for any new items you have in store, a “meet the author” for a book you’re selling, etc. These events will boost sales and may even get you free media coverage.

Advertise by Video

Videos on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are becoming the norm. If you’re on social media, this is a great opportunity for you to talk directly to your customers. You can use some of the ideas from above here too: do a Live Facebook Q&A (be sure to record and post it later), unbox a new product, or do a mini TV ad featuring your special holiday messaging. If you’re camera shy, get someone else in front of the camera. But give it a try yourself – you may surprise yourself!

Create a Holiday “Showroom” on Your Website

If you have a number of products you’d like to feature for Christmas holiday sales, create a whole page on your website dedicated to them. This “showroom” will give your customers a one-stop shop to see all your feature items – and boost the chances they’ll buy multiple items for you. Etsy does a good job of Christmas showrooms, but there are many other examples out there as well.

Thank Your Customers for Another Great Year

Christmastime is also end-of-year time – and a great time to thank your customers. This is separate from a marketing campaign – in fact, you shouldn’t be selling at all. But sending out a thank you at this time of year by email or any other method will help put you back in the minds of your customers. Besides, it’s a nice touch. After all, you wouldn’t be here without them!

Let’s Come Up with Some Holiday Email Marketing Ideas Together…

These are some of the many ideas you can use to put together a great holiday campaign. But if you don’t have the time to do it on your own or you want some more specific help to promote your small business or nonprofit organization, contact Elite Marketing + Promotions or call us directly at (215) 491-0400. Our marketing professionals can help you in all aspects from campaign development and management to social media marketing, print marketing, website updating, and more.