Making some holiday marketing magic brightens your holiday season and warms up your business outlook. What makes holiday marketing different from regular marketing? It’s not just about the time of year and all the cheer. It comes down to your ability to make your marketing efforts match the spirit of the season and bring in new and returning customers.
You can create holiday marketing magic in many ways. You could revamp your podcast cover art for the season for all types of podcasts. Refining your SEO best practices for holiday advertising is definitely a good plan. Stunning holiday deals throughout the season will help you bring in new customers and clients.
Working with Mr. Thrive Media and utilizing our key marketing services can help you find your way through the holiday hustle and bustle. Read on through this Mr. Thrive blog to get started learning about the steps that lead to holiday marketing magic through this joyous season.
5 Tips for Marketing for Primary Winter Holidays
The three primary winter holidays are Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Together these form the trinity of holiday marketing magic. These five tips for marketing for the primary winter holidays apply to any of the three big occasions of the season. You can also celebrate “Chrismahanukwanzakah” as the combination of all three holidays with these marketing plans.
1. Create a Holiday Gift and Experience Guide
Creating a holiday gift and experience guide can be built to the exact specifications of any of the big three holidays. Making this industry-specific, with gifts and event or service ideas suited to your industry or one you market into, will add that special touch.
2. Add Festive Details to Your Website
Adding some festive details to your website can be as minimal or maximal as you like. You could have your web designer add a row of holiday lights or a menorah to the homepage. You have the option to go all out on designing holiday landing pages. Whatever you choose, keep it as a color cousin to your brand guidelines.
3. Start Marketing Before Each Holiday
The ideal time to start thinking about holiday marketing initiatives is a few months before the holidays. This gives you time to plan and set campaigns in motion. For the December holidays, many businesses start their marketing efforts in September.
4. Offer Holiday Giveaways
Giveaways are a classic of the holiday season, and all giving seasons! You can do a social media giveaway, an email newsletter event, or an in-person sign-up if you’re working with a brick-and-mortar business model.
5. Make Your Advertisements More Personal
The more you can personalize marketing and advertising, the better. This is especially true in the holidays when people are drawn toward things that tug at their heartstrings. Maybe it’s about telling the tale of how your business started. Perhaps you’ll add personal notes to each online order. Make it personal to make a connection that lasts beyond the season.
5 Inclusive Holiday Marketing Tips
With the big three winter holidays and all the other ways people gather this time of year, it’s important to be inclusive in your holiday marketing efforts. You can use non-specific seasonal greetings and cheers. Educational content is a good way to move forward with information for everyone in an unbiased way. These five inclusive holiday marketing tips will help you along the way.
1. Offer Holiday Packing Offers for All 3 Major Holidays
If you offer specialty holiday packaging during this season (which you should) be sure to include packaging offers for all three of the major winter holidays. This can be as simple as having wrapping paper for each holiday, and small cards for each as well.
2. Highlight Shared Winter Holiday Values
Despite their differences, the key winter holidays all have shared values. These include kindness, the sharing of gifts and love, and gratitude. By highlighting these values in your holiday marketing, you can remain inclusive while embodying the entire holiday spirit.
3. Focus on Charitable Initiatives
Charitable initiatives are one of the greatest ventures of the holiday season. They encompass all the holiday and seasonal values and are entirely inclusive of all holidays and people. Focus on charitable causes in your industry to tie it into your business and engage with your audience.
4. Provide Educational Content On Winter Holidays
Providing educational content is a stellar plan for any business at any time of year. You can provide educational content in the form of social media shares, blogs, or newsletters. Gear these to inclusive holiday celebrations by spreading awareness about the different holidays.
5. Embrace Multicultural Greetings
From Happy Hanukkah to Merry Christmas to “have a blessed Kwanzaa” multicultural and multi-holiday greetings are a must. You can use these greetings in email newsletters, in product packaging and notes, and in marketing campaigns and direct messages.
5 Unique Holiday Deals
Every business in every industry, from podcast businesses to retail stores, does some sort of holiday marketing. How do you stand out from all those slogans, ads, and holiday deals? With these five unique holiday deals and ideas, that’s how! Put your own spin on these plans, or use them as a jumping-off point for more exploration in your holiday marketing efforts. You can also utilize AI in business to generate suggestions and get creative.
1. Mystery Boxes of Deals
A mystery box or package is always a good way to surprise your customers and clients. For holiday marketing, a mystery box of deals could be a physical box of surprise products, a bundle of service discounts, or anything in between.
2. Holiday Service and Add-On Packages
Holiday service and related add-on packages are a small way to imbue everything you offer to customers with holiday cheer. This could be in the form of a holiday gift in each order, a free gift-wrapping add-on, or a holiday discount code.
3. Multiplied Referral Rewards
Having a referral program is something you can implement any time of year. When holiday marketing needs enter into the equation, multiplied referral rewards will spruce up the season. You can do this by doubling the effect of referrals or redefining your referral program.
4. Flash Sales
Flash sales are a niche area of marketing. They take minimal yet intensive advertising and marketing efforts. They buy into exclusivity and scarcity, which are two of the biggest drivers of sales. A flash sale around the holidays, but not on a specific holiday date, will boost your business.
5. Free Shipping Deals
You can’t go wrong with free shipping deals. Make these a regular holiday occurrence for a limited time–maybe a few weeks before the holidays.
Frequently Asked Questions About Holiday Marketing
What makes holiday marketing different from marketing during other seasons? How can you make your holiday marketing effective and unique? When is the right time to start holiday marketing? Does it change across different industries? All these questions and more buzz through the air when the words “holiday marketing” get tossed around.
Read on through our answers to these frequently asked questions to find your holiday marketing support and solutions. You’ll find support and ideas for the winter holidays and special seasons all year long.
How Do I Prepare for Holiday Marketing?
To prepare for holiday marketing, you should research and brainstorm your marketing plans for the season with your brand consistently in mind. Think about your target audience, the benefits of your products and services, and how they tie into the holiday spirit. All these facets of your brand will come together in your holiday marketing.
What are the Holiday Marketing Trends In 2023?
Many holiday marketing trends of 2023 revolve around the current market for the majority of the customers we’re aiming to reach. Offering experiential products and services is a big trend in 2023 and the near future. Catering your holiday marketing toward experiences people are seeking out will help you do well this season.
When Should I Start Holiday Marketing?
September is the month most sources recommend you start ramping up for holiday marketing. This may seem early. The benefit of it is you reach the market of customers looking to take care of their holiday shopping before the rush of the season. Starting any later than November gets you into a time crunch.
What are the Benefits of Holiday Promotions?
The key benefits of holiday promotions are boosted brand awareness, an expanded customer base, and a nice increase in your sales and profits. When you masterfully execute your holiday marketing magic skills, you bring in business to round out the year. That starts you on the right foot for the upcoming 12 months.
Finding Your Holiday Marketing Mix
Creating some holiday marketing magic this season brings you better sales and elevated customer and client relationships throughout the year. To make sure your holiday marketing efforts are put out into the best business digital ecosystem, take the time this year to audit your digital space with Mr. Thrive Media.
Mr. Thrive’s digital ecosystem audit for 2024 is running now through January 31, 2024. As an extension of our marketing consulting services, we offer this audit to examine your digital footprint and find new growth opportunities. Reach out and sign up for your free audit today!