Many small business owners wait all year for the increased sales and boosted visibility of the holiday season. For many, it’s truly the happiest time of the year.
Marketers usually have a similar holiday checklist for their holiday campaigns – it’s important to reach people on an emotional level, stand out from the competition, and seal the deal on sales with the exact right pitch. If that seems impossible to tackle, consider Sujan Patel’s Entrepreneur article “The 6 Musts of a Successful Holiday Marketing Campaign,” highlighted below.
Create a Personalized Campaign
While you may not have the capabilities and budget to create an OfficeMax “Elf Yourself” interactive style campaign, you can apply the same principle to a campaign that works for your small business. If there is a way to allow your customers to come into the experience, whether it’s through the creation of a new profile avatar or a graphic generator, do it. When your customers get to create something new and fresh, they are much more likely to share this cool asset with their own networks.
Bring in Your Staff
Did you know that there is only a 2 to 8 percent overlap between employee and company social networks? If you want your campaign to soar, ask for your employees’ help to spread the word and build momentum!
Tap into Emotions
People make decisions in various ways, but it usually comes down to an emotion with a rational justification. This is never truer than it is during the holidays. If it makes sense with your products and services, tailor your holiday messaging around feel-good themes such as thankfulness, family, love, charity, and gratitude.
Make it Easy to Share
It’s amazing that 74 percent of consumers rely on word of mouth as the top influencer of their purchasing decisions. While “going viral” is a lofty goal to set, give it your best shot by ensuring your campaign is effortless to share. When people see their trusted contacts supporting your message, they will be much more likely to listen.
Create Online Deals
Whether it’s Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, or even National Donut Day, leverage existing days, and create your own holidays to generate excitement among your customers. People love a good deal, especially when it’s paired with something fun and entertaining.
Make Sure the Experience is Consistent
During the holiday season, you are likely active on all your channels posting messages and deals. In order to prevent confusion or customer overload, make sure your posts, tweets, and pins speak in one voice. Even if you offer slightly different deals on varying social media channels, make sure they are complimentary and consistent. Your customers want to feel reassured you are still the same reliable brand. In that same vein, make sure your staff is fully up to speed on all your latest promotions and seasonal deals.
Leverage Your Best and Brightest All Year
If you find that any of these holiday promotions and messages were amazing sales- or brand- builders, why shelve these strategies along with the mistletoe? Use what works and tailor it accordingly, especially the personalized customer campaigns that will continue to set you apart from your competition throughout the year.
Did any of your campaigns start as a holiday push but ended up being permanent components of your marketing strategy? Let’s share what worked best for your small business!
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Reference: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/251532