Top tips for planning your Christmas marketing campaign
Dee Overfield - 28 September 2020
The countdown to Christmas is on – we know, we can’t believe it either! You may be feeling far from festive, but you can now buy mince pies in the supermarket, so it’s time to get your Christmas marketing campaign in full swing and make sure it truly sparkles this year.
This Christmas period will look a little different to those over the past few years, with more customers predicted to shop online and brands looking for a boost after the disruptions caused by COVID-19. With this in mind, it’s more important than ever to perfect this year’s festive marketing strategy.
Let’s take a look at the key steps to follow when developing a Christmas marketing campaign your customers won’t forget.
Review last year’s performance
The first step to planning a Christmas marketing campaign like no other is to review the performance of last year’s campaign.
You could begin by reviewing:
- When did sales peak?
- Which emails resulted in the most conversions?
- What social posts earned the highest engagement?
- What products stood out as the most popular in December?
It’s important to identify what worked well and what could be improved upon. Asking questions such as these will help to inform your campaign and ensure you improve on last year’s performance.
Create a plan
Once you have reviewed last year’s performance, planning is key. Think about your target audience, review the channels you plan on using, consider your themes and define your Christmas marketing message.
The more detail you go into within your strategy – and the more granular in terms of timelines – the easier it will be to create timely content, ensuring you meet your goals at each stage of the process.
Remain flexible
2020 has been a year like no other and who knows what the build-up to Christmas may bring!
Whilst it’s important to plan ahead, remember to check your automated emails, scheduled social posts and any other content you’re producing before it’s sent to customers or published to ensure it’s still relevant and appropriate. Be mindful of government changes to COVID-19 rules, regulations and local lockdowns, and make sure the content you’re producing in the build-up to the big day reflects this.
Lay the foundations for seamless online shopping
There’s nothing more frustrating than being met by barriers whilst trying to online shop.
With online sales on the rise year-on-year, and the impact of COVID-19 set to magnify this, it’s now more important than ever to provide your customers with a seamless online shopping experience. And with a mobile experience that is equally easy to navigate.
Spend time evaluating the user journey on your website on both desktop and mobile devices. Make sure your product information is legible, your pages load quickly and all your images are hi-res. A hassle-free online and mobile shopping experience should be a priority in order to support your Christmas marketing campaign and maximise conversions.
Run festive competitions
Everyone loves a competition, especially around Christmas time!
Festive competitions are a fantastic way to get your customers involved, encourage brand awareness and most importantly, spread Christmas joy after what has been a challenging year.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- A daily advent competition – with a new winner each day in the build-up to the 25th
- A restaurant voucher – given to the customer with the best festive recipe
- A new branded stocking – awarded to the child with the most creative Christmas list
If a competition doesn’t work so well with your product or service offering – or suit your target audience – consider other types of Christmas deals that could be used to tempt your customers instead.
Encourage customer engagement
Harness the power of social and be creative in your activity to get your
target audience thinking about your brand and engaging with your online content. Consider utilising the following:
- Instagram polls asking questions about what your followers want to see
- Behind the scenes Instagram and Facebook stories to keep customers up to date with new announcements
- Social media competitions encouraging followers to share user-generated content
- Daily advent countdowns and surprise announcements
- TikTok and Instagram Reels videos to showcase your personality
- Dedicated hashtags to create a bank of content from which to remarket
Update your business information
The internet is the place to go for customers seeking information about your business, including current offers and opening times over the holiday season. Display your important business information clearly on your website, social media accounts and your Google My Business listing.
Remember to ensure the information you share is concise, easy to find and consistent across platforms.
Dedicate time to customer service
Providing quality customer service should be at the heart of your business and is especially important during the festive season when purchasing is at an all-time high.
Being on hand to promptly answer queries and making your customers feel special goes a long way. It demonstrates you are a supportive brand, with your customers’ needs in mind, and certainly worth buying from again.
Plan your email marketing
Just think about how many emails flood your inbox throughout the Christmas period with fantastic new products, special offers and other enticing deals. Your email marketing strategy needs to stand out from the crowd, providing your customers with incentives to shop and push conversions.
For more information, take a look at our guide to email marketing at Christmas.
Don’t forget Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Black Friday and Cyber Monday also present huge opportunities for brands and you need to be a part of it! Incorporate these key dates into your Christmas marketing strategy, consider which discounts and offers you want to run and prepare for a big influx of potential buyers on these dates.
Let’s make this your business’s most successful Christmas yet! Get in touch today to work with us on your festive marketing strategy.
Christmas may still feel like a long way off, but to ensure your business has everything in place ahead of time, and to maximise your opportunities this year, it’s time to get cracking with 2020’s Christmas marketing campaign.
