3 Practical Holiday Marketing Strategies to Win More Sales
Holiday season presents a wonderful opportunity for any business serious about attracting more clients and customers.
One successful campaign during these joyful times is all it takes to turn a struggling business into a thriving one.
Yet this is not some hidden secret known to few only. On the contrary, brands (especially successful ones) go all out during the holiday season to grab as many clicks and sales as they possibly can.
From digital advertising to content marketing to steep discounts, you name it and someone’s already doing it.
Many businesses see this competition as a daunting challenge. Something only the “big boys” can afford to splurge on. The reality, however, couldn’t be any further.
You see, wherever there’s competition, there’s opportunity.
If you look closely, you’ll find businesses similar to yours running such campaigns consistently each year. While that doesn’t always indicate profitability, most of the time it does.
So don’t look at the holiday season as the time to sit back and relax — instead, pump your chest, take a shot of caffeine, and push your business to the next level with a winning holiday marketing strategy!
The 3 Winning Holiday Marketing Strategies
As we mentioned before, there are a lot of brands trying to take a slice of the holiday marketing pie.
The good news, however, is that most of those brands opt for obvious strategies, making their campaign average at best.
To stand out, try any of the following three strategies:
1. Run Retargeting Ads
Have you noticed how some websites stalk you all over the internet with their ads? And it all starts soon after you leave their website?
That’s retargeting in a nutshell.
To use this strategy, you need to plan in advance as you have to place the ad network tracking pixel (Google, Facebook, Reddit, etc.) on your website BEFORE the holidays.
As soon as you have placed the pixel on a page, every person who opens it is added to a list. You can then advertise to that list once the holiday season is in full swing.
Here are a few ideas to jumpstart your creativity:
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- Start engaging users a few weeks before the holiday season
- Promote any holiday themed products or services
- Push your latest holiday themed content to build the critical initial traction
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2. Offer Gift Certificates
Holiday shopping is like a blazing fire and discounts are it’s fuel.
There’s a reason why all the major brands take part in this practice: Prospective buyers look forward to the holidays for special offers.
A smart way to execute this strategy is that instead of offering your services at a discount, keep the pricing unchanged but throw in some attractive extras for those who spend over $250, for example.
Don’t put the extras just for the sake of it, but instead pick something enticing.
You can then promote these gift certificates by sharing on your website, social media, and handing out to all past and new customers.
3. Hold a Photo Contest
User generated content is one of the most effective ways to engage people in your business. It works because nothing can beat the power of authentic customer interactions on social media.
To leverage this strategy, consider holding a photo contest on all your social media, with Facebook and Instagram being the prime targets.
Don’t know where to begin? Follow these 4 simple steps:
1. Pick a Prize:
Since this is probably your first time, we highly recommend to avoid going overboard with the prize and stick to something relevant to your business.
Some great ideas include gift cards, free small services, and free upgrades. Not only will these keep the cost under control, you can also make the competition more enticing by selecting multiple winners.
2. Pick a Timeframe:
As a general rule of thumb, stick with one to two weeks for maximum entries.
3. Choose a Judging Criteria:
It is extremely important to be as transparent about the judging criteria as possible.
The most common (and effective) way is to create a poll and determine the winner through direct voting. Alternatively, you can also count the number of likes a photo gets.
4. Launch:
It’s time to launch the competition and ask your customers to share photos of themselves related to your industry and the holiday itself.