Christmas is an important time of year for almost every business and presents itself as a fantastic marketing opportunity. It can either lead to a huge increase in sales, or a quiet spell as people focus their attention elsewhere. No matter what the festive period brings to your business, it is vital that you have a festive marketing plan in place in order to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. According to Deloitte’s annual holiday retail forecast, sales are projected to “result between $1,147 billion and $1,552 billion during the November-January period.” With an increased portion of this falling online due to Covid reducing footfall in shops.
Let’s take a look at the basics of putting together a Christmas marketing plan.
- It’s never too early start
It’s seems strange to start thinking about your Christmas Marketing plan in September, but the truth is it is never too early. Your larger competitors will have their festive marketing plans drawn up and ready to implement, with the aim of securing vital coverage for the must have gifts. The idea here is that your festive marketing plan takes time to research, write and implement, and it should be part of your early autumn calendar every year.
- There is no one size fits all
When planning your festive campaign, there is no one size fits all, you have to change up your approach and see what works for your business. Some of the most effective holiday campaigns use a mixture of blogs, videos, social media, competitions, giveaways and more. Look back at what worked over the year and tailor it to fit in with your festive marketing campaign, whilst mixing in success stories, tips and helpful content.
- Understand what your customers will be looking for at Christmas
The first step in drawing up an effective festive campaign is understanding how your potential customers are going to behave in the run up to the big day. You have to understand how your customers behave throughout the year and refine this for your Christmas planning. Ask yourself questions such as what their spending priorities will be? Will they be more interested in products or services? Will they do their Christmas shopping early or late? Once you know the answers to these questions your marketing plan will begin to form itself.
- Stay on brand but lighten up
The festive period is meant to be light and fun, of course stay in line with your brand image, however, it is a great opportunity to give your clients that feel and childlike wonder. You can stick with your tone, feel and brand colours but make everything more festive and inspiring. Change up your social media account, as this is a prime location to advertise your holiday discounts, specials and competitions
Once you are ready to implement your marketing plan, putting it into action should be relatively straight forward. However, it is crucial you monitor the results of your plan so you can see how it shapes up against the targets you set.
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