Plan Your Holiday Marketing Now – And What Steps to Include This Year
Retailers and other SMBs map out their holiday season far in advance these days, which means their marketing campaigns need to be in place even sooner. All of that takes time and, more and more often, assistance from a partner that can handle the more challenging elements of your campaign:
- Determine where to market and what trend to follow
- Identify buyer personas – and who influences them
- Help you find fresh new customers who are buying local
- Skew your activity to the right medium
- Create thematic content and experiences
To create the kinds of ideas that bring in new business, build new relationships and connect with your existing customer base, you’ll need at least three months to lay the groundwork.
Create Multiple Ways to Capture Attention – And Link Back to Your Original Strategy
Did you know that most local searches consumers make on their smartphones result in store visits within one or two days? And as much as companies are told to wrap existing digital media trends into their campaigns, many don’t take enough advantage of this technology, despite the opportunities to target people contextually based on their interests. A branding expert will have the tools to plan out the smaller steps that help you connect with those shoppers without wasting time – like a recurring promotion with retargeting pixel and increased ad spend during peak shopping hours.
A multi-pronged approach could include a variety of ways to capture your audience’s attention:
- Bold and disruptive holiday themed images
- Fun and engaging marketing through photo contests, polls and strategic discounts
- Brand communication via email promotions and social media posts
- Develop landing pages, pop-ups, and integrated content for your website
- All while leveraging Facebook and Google’s large data pool
6 Tips for Scheduling Out Your Marketing to Stand Out from Your Competition
By scheduling out your steps with time to spare, it will be easier to make adjustments as you go. Keep in mind, there could be a change in suppliers or material shortages causing an unexpected delay. Some food for thought that will take a little advance planning:
1. Post More Often
Social media schedules tend to become tighter this time of year. This is because a lack of posts won’t be seen amidst the competition. A digital marketer will know how often and on which platforms to post – for instance, by shortening the time frame by half to twice daily.
2. Order Holiday-Themed Branded Merchandise Early
No matter the industry, companies will need at least a couple months to tailor high-quality T-shirts, knit caps and other products with holiday themes. A full-service agency can handle merchandise as well as the digital marketing elements.
3. Engage Visitors with Dynamic Ads
Businesses are using mobile apps to create engaging ads and promos that are more tailored to the individual shopper, from the images to the written copy to your landing pages.
4. Offer Discounts and Giveaways
Everyone is a sucker for a sale, and when people are ready to spend they are also more likely to take advantage of discounts, sales, coupons and giveaways.
5. Include Video Content
Possibly the best way to get attention, creating video content can also be the most time consuming. If this is part of your plan, find someone experienced in video marketing to help you wrap up your Tik Tok, Roku or video short.
6. Communicate the Details
Don’t underestimate the power of information to expand your reach. You may even feel you are over-communicating, but consumers will want to know the latest deets regarding products, sales, and your brand.
HYPTE Branded Solutions Will Help You Design Your Fall Season Campaign
As the broader holiday season gets started in October, HYPTE Branded Solutions will help you get all of the necessary parts in place so you’re ready to launch as soon as the crisp fall weather arrives.
Contact HYPTE for help getting started. Call us at 708-343-9730 to set up a free consultation!