On the first day of Christmas, dmt gave to me… 12 marketing tips for your festive campaigns! Alright, so we know it may not seem like *the* most exciting thing in the world and that most people would probably prefer a puppy or chocolate, but Christmas marketing tips really are the gift that keeps on giving. Take it from us.
Whether you’re completely clueless about where to start or just want to polish up your Christmas strategy, we’ve got some top tips for making the most of the festive season.
Let’s get started, shall we?
1. The Final Countdown
A key tactic to get your audience interested is to introduce a countdown onto your site. Nothing strikes more fear into a shopper than the risk of a sale ending or seeing the dreaded ‘only one item left in stock’. Shivers. A countdown could be as simple as alerting your customers to the final date to order in time for the big day or used as an incentive to push customers towards a purchase. Whichever way you choose to adapt it into your strategy, it’s instrumental in boosting engagement, creating urgency and is a powerful visual tool.
2. Introduce Christmas packaging
Christmas packaging can create a high amount of traction for brands in a number of ways. Limited edition packaging is a great call to action because it creates excitement and FOMO. Additionally, it helps to encourage cross-selling; a simple way to do this is to group together products and package them together in a gift box. Naturally, introducing seasonal packaging will create good brand recognition and visibility.
3. Organise a Giveaway
Giveaways are an effective way of boosting your social media traffic. Firing off the word ‘FREE’ or ‘GIVEAWAY’ into the void of social media is enough to turn users into a frenzy. Who doesn’t love free stuff? Especially on the run-up to Christmas.
Organising a giveaway during peak shopping season will no doubt drive attention to your brand and is, therefore, a great way to shine a spotlight on your brand’s upcoming offers, promotions and products, as well as creating brand visibility.
4. Include Personalisation
Incorporating personalisation into your marketing plan is key to a successful Christmas strategy. It’s estimated that over 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase brands that offer personalised experiences. Use techniques such as retargeting to show customers products tailored to their interests, consider SMS messaging and set up email flows to make your brand feel more personable!
5. Optimise your Website
Optimising your website in preparation for Christmas could be a make or break for your festive sales. As seasonality naturally sees an increase over the holidays, it’s never too late to leverage your site to its best potential. Making short and sweet changes can make a huge difference. For example, optimising your website for mobile use is a great place to start. It’s estimated that roughly 66.7% of people use their mobile devices to place online orders, and you’d be surprised at how many brands neglect their mobile sites!
6. Brush up on Your Blogging Skills
For many brands, blogging might seem somewhat of an afterthought, but (if we say so ourselves) blogging is way more important than you might think. Thanks to our good ol’ pal, SEO, blogging is a simple way to drive traffic to your site and increase your visibility in the tsunami of Christmas content by using high-ranking keywords. For example, if you’re a fashion brand, producing blogs centred around current trending topics, such as ‘Christmas party looks’, ‘AW22 Outfits’, and ‘Christmas gift ideas’ will help your site get more reach and, as a result, more purchases. It’s a win-win!
7. Plan for Last Minute Shoppers
There are two types of people in the world; those with their whole Christmas shopping list wrapped and ready to go before November ends. And those who drag their sorry selves to the high street every year on Christmas Eve, despite promising themselves that this year will be different. No matter what side of the scale you fall on, having a plan in place for last-minute Christmas shoppers is always a good idea.Last-minute shoppers take up over 30% of online holiday sales. Leveraging tactics such as retargeting shoppers, reminder emails for delivery cut-offs and offering promotions is a simple way to push customers to checkout.
8. Utilise Christmas Day
Many people might assume that Christmas isn’t much of a shopping day. However, that’s not always the case. Although there will be fewer purchases, users will still be on the lookout for how to spend gift cards and money… Or maybe even a sneaky exchange for a present they don’t want. Nevertheless, it always helps to have your paid marketing running throughout!
9. Gamification
What on earth is Gamification we hear you cry! It’s not as complicated as you think. You’re probably already using it every day without even realising it. Gamification is simply a way of appealing to your audience via the leverage of gameplay. This doesn’t always need to be as black and white as running a Christmas competition; it could also be used in ways such as loyalty cards and points systems. McDonald’s, for example, has perfectly incorporated gamification into their marketing strategy with its annual Monopoly scheme.
10. Create Specific Product Pages
Creating specific product pages during the Christmas season is something that will benefit you as much as it will your customers. Organising products into categories, for example, ‘gifts under £10’ or ‘Christmas dresses’, will encourage users to spend more time on site, rather than clicking off when they can’t find what they’re looking for within a few seconds. By incorporating different pages onto your site, you’re more likely to increase your click-through rate and sales.
11. Add CTAs Everywhere
Add CTAs everywhere! It might seem simple, but using the right call-to-action at the right time can encourage your customers to follow through with a purchase. Adding CTAs into paid social and PPC copy and incorporating them into any designs will help direct your audience, increase your purchases, and eliminate customer fatigue.
12. Launch & Learn
And last but not least… Launch and learn. In the world of marketing, you’re not going to get things right every time! With the chaos of shopping season, it’s important to allow room for trial and error. Being reactive to trends, following competitors' moves and monitoring customer demands is a great place to start.
Need more tips and tricks on how to navigate the Christmas shopping season? We’ve got you covered. Get in touch with us today to find out what we can do for your brand.
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