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Top tips for executing a successful festive season marketing strategy

Struggling with your marketing strategy for the upcoming festive season? With so many digital channels and changes to platforms and data privacy this year, it can be difficult to know where to start. 

Struggling with your marketing strategy for the upcoming festive season? With so many digital channels and changes to platforms and data privacy this year, it can be difficult to know where to start. 

Here at SOAK, creativity and strategic marketing is our jam and we want to make the festive season less stressful for businesses. Read on to learn how to freshen up your marketing strategy and how to execute it.

The festive season presents a world of opportunity 

Festive season marketing can give sales and brand recognition a real boost for many reasons: 

The festive season is only for a limited time 

Meaning there’s an increased sense of urgency from consumers to purchase what they want and need. 

Consumer’s intent to buy is higher than usual 

People are actively looking to buy during the festive season. This is your opportunity to be accessible and relatable with your content.

It’s an excellent opportunity to grow your customer base 

For many people, they only go looking for something during the festive season. It’s a perfect opportunity to attract new customers that otherwise might not know you exist. Offering exclusive discounts to new customers can be an efficient way to grow your customer base.

Plenty of opportunities to build trust and loyalty with your existing customers 

It’s the perfect time of year to thank your customers for their loyal support with a gift or exclusive discount. 

People are happier at the end of the year 

People are more positive and looking forward to some much-needed rest and relaxation with family and friends. Channelling this energy with emotion-driven initiatives can be a real winner. 

You can put a human touch on your brand 

Sharing the festive cheer and celebrating a time of year in which everyone is joyful can help humanise your brand and better resonate with potential customers. 

An innovative strategy helps you stand out

It goes without saying that your design, messaging, and intent need to be on point. There’s an array of innovative tactics and technologies available to make your strategy really pop!

Here are some of our personal favourites. 

Video content for YouTube

YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine and an excellent platform for delivering “infotainment” style pieces of content. YouTube content can also be shared across multiple digital platforms and condensed into video content for IGTV.

Personalisation

We can’t say this enough. Personalise your content, especially when it comes to email marketing. A recent survey by Customology showed that 45% of people don’t believe brands are communicating with them in a relevant way. Know what your audience want and how they prefer to communicate.

Sustainability

Are your products sustainable, or does your business operate sustainably? If yes, publicise it! Consumers are increasingly basing their purchasing decisions on whether the company and product value sustainability. 

Charitable alignment

The festive season is all about giving, so why not take the opportunity to donate a percentage of every sale to a worthwhile charitable cause? Not only will it complement your brand image, but it might just be the difference between securing a deal and not. 

User-generated content

The festive season is an excellent opportunity to highlight the people who make it all worthwhile – your customers! Showcasing user-generated content like highlight reels, customer comments, and digital interactions can be a great way of highlighting you listen to your customers and truly value them. 

Free shipping

It might sound simple, but it works!

Other promotions

Free gifts and exclusive customer discounts will always be a smart and innovative way to boost your festive season marketing strategy. Think new customer discounts, returning customer promotions or a ’12 days of Christmas’ giveaway!

Think more creatively, understand the digital marketing channels available to you, and understand your audience. Do your research when it comes to festive marketing. There are so many ways to be innovative. 

Simple steps to get your festive season marketing strategy up and running

Here are some of our top tips to help you elevate your marketing strategy in time for the festive season.  

1. Review past activities

Review last years’ digital activities to see what worked and what you can improve on. 

2. Set defined goals

Leaning on past activities, set some defined and realistic goals. These can be sales dominated but don’t underestimate the power of growing your brand and customer loyalty during the festive season. 

3. Select your channels

If resources and finances are tight, make sure to select the channels that your target audience are engaging on. These channels will provide the best reach and conversion. 

4. Develop a timeline for execution

A strategically staged timeline that encompasses raising awareness, promotion, and follow-up for conversion will make a massive difference to the overall success of your strategy. Avoid simply creating an EDM or display ad and hoping it sticks. 

5. Segment your audience

Have a look through your customer database and segment your audience. Categorise customers into those who engage or purchase often VS those who don’t. This means you can better personalise content to certain audiences.

6. Develop messaging and content

Design your content around your defined timeline for execution and selected channels. Be sure to adapt messaging to suit the different stages and don’t forget to do the same for your audience segments. 

7. Go live!

It’s not a set and forget scenario though, so be sure to continually track engagement and click-through rates. Review your strategy once a week to ensure any necessary optimisation opportunities are not missed. 

Struggling? Let’s talk.

We understand that time and resources are slightly stretched over the festive season. If you’re struggling with your marketing strategy, talk to us!

We can make people notice, remember, and care about your brand by delivering immersive brand, creative design, and digital marketing solutions. Get in touch with our team today.

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