6 great Christmas marketing ideas

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Yes, it really is that time of year again. That’s because, the secret to a good Christmas marketing campaign is planning well in advance. Many business start working on their Christmas campaigns in September or even earlier.

Set your Christmas marketing objectives

First, it’s useful to decide whether you want to:
• boost existing customer spend
• attract new customers
• boost brand awareness
• educate prospects on what you do well
• build a following on social media.

Of course, you may decide on a combination of some or all of the above. Then choose the appropriate channels and set out a calendar of activities in the run up to the festive season – not forgetting to allow extra time and money to make it happen. Need some inspiration? Here are some ideas to enhance your Christmas marketing.

Christmas marketing idea #1 – embrace social media

Social media is the perfect place to get a buzz going about your Christmas campaigns. Consider creating special ‘Twitter only’ offers for followers, or tweeting your special deals. Cater to last minute buyers by reminding them of what you offer, or of your longer opening hours and fast shipping deals. Of course, if you’re not sure what your customers really want, social media is the perfect place to find out. Conduct some early Christmas marketing research. Ask them about what they’re looking for and what they think of your products or packages.

 “If you’re not sure what your customers really want, social media is the perfect place to find out. “

Twitter and Facebook are also perfect places to raise brand awareness by creating Christmas campaigns around the way people use your product. For instance, if you sell alcohol, how about getting people to post their favourite mulled wine recipes, their best Christmas cocktail recipes or naming their favourite wine to accompany Christmas dinner?

Christmas marketing idea #2 – make your website ‘Christmas ready’

Is your website looking tired? Autumn is often the best time to revamp and reap the rewards over the Christmas season. Consider adding carefully crafted landing pages especially for your e-shot campaigns. There’s nothing worse than clicking on a link in an e-shot only to be directed to a company’s homepage rather than the offer you’re interested in. Many customers will lose interest and move onto something else if they don’t find a landing page for each offer. Make sure your Christmas opening and closing dates, as well as Christmas deals, shipping deals and last ordering dates are clearly displayed on your website too.

Christmas marketing idea #3 – go mobile

Mobile shopping is growing fast, with more searches taking place during the morning commute than static searches in the same time period. Customers need to fit their Christmas shopping around already full-to-bursting schedules, so why not make it easy for them? Make sure your site is mobile compatible and displays well on a small screen. Go one step further and create a mobile site with:
• larger fonts and less copy
• ‘buy now’ and ‘click to call’ buttons
• fewer levels of navigation
• QR codes and maps.

 Christmas marketing idea #4 – plan Christmas SEO around Christmas keywords

You need to be easy to find at Christmastime. Gear Google Ads campaigns and your Christmas marketing landing pages towards useful Christmas specific keywords and write them with these in mind. Longer search terms are often more useful at this time of year, so with a luxury bath gift set, instead of ‘bath set’ or ‘bath gift box’ you could use ‘Christmas luxury bath gift set’.

Christmas marketing idea #5 – plan a really effective e-shot campaign

Many of the customers on your mailing list will actually welcome e-shots if they find them a useful way to shorten their present list. In November and December, you can send two emails every fortnight, each relating to a specific deal and related products e.g. Christmas party dresses.

Send the first e-shot out to tell them what’s on offer. Send the second out a few days before the offer ends as a ‘last chance to buy’ mail. Repeat for as many offer cycles as you’re making. Don’t forget to make sure your e-shot is well designed to include your logo, tight copy, a good informative subject line and links to a landing page that’s well written and specific to each offer.

Christmas marketing idea #6 – don’t forget offline

Of course all the traditional methods of Christmas marketing still work really well. Remind customers to do business with you all year round by sending them a calendar with your logo on it. Thank them for their custom by sending a specially designed Christmas card. If you’re a restaurant or hotel, you’ll want to print up brochures featuring your festive season packages and menus for late November. You may want to mail out Christmas brochures, a gift guide or Christmas coupons in December or display them in-store. You can also plan special events around Christmas to give your customers present ideas or encourage them to pamper themselves.

If you need help creating Christmas marketing e-shots, company Christmas cards, Christmas menus, Christmas gift guides, or Christmas offer landing pages, give our design and print experts a call on 01884 255999.