Marketing it for Christmas!

The Festive Season is nearly here and we are all looking forward to rest and family time. That extra mince pie, knowing our sweaters will hide it all, planning our big Xmas meal, getting our board games out, and organising special treats but how do we plan for Xmas for our biz?

At Marketing Nest, we think about this and prepare well before December. We have been busy creating strategies and developing clients’ campaigns for this Christmas.

Recently, a client asked me “What are my top 10 Christmas marketing tips?” It’s a great question! Read on how Marketing Nest does Christmas for you!

Here is where to start...See your business as a person, with the right to celebrate the season and share the joy with others, dressing up, going to drinks, and socialising. So, think about this...what is your business going to wear this Christmas? And how do you plan your Christmas campaigns?

Clear Aims & Objectives

You are probably bored of me going on about this, but like with any other marketing campaign, you need to know your aims and objectives. This is the first thing you need to be clear on so you know what you are building towards.

Do you want to drive business to your website, share information or do you want to drive sales?

What are your resources?

There is no point thinking of a big campaign if the only person managing it is you. Prioritise your activities and evaluate them against your aims and objectives to see which activity will likely bring you closer to achieving what you want. 

Next, work out what is doable for you. Can you make time for the extra tasks required to get the campaign off the ground? Are you able to give all of your attention to keep it running...while running your business? Especially at this busy time of year! Do what you can for now and for the rest, there is always next year.

Unique Selling Point Vs Biggest Pain?

What is your Unique Selling Point and your client's biggest pain point? 

It’s not good enough to just know your selling point, you need to know what your client really needs. Don’t just shout “I’m amazing” and create beautiful merchandise. Be the answer to their problems, share your solution, and reinforce your branding.

Christmas sales don’t just magically happen, they need to be nurtured. Let your brand stand out whilst being the answer to your customer’s problems. 

Be Social this Christmas!

Push on Social Media, share your Christmas offers, your Christmas plans and why not launch a Christmas product? At the base of everything remember to HAVE FUN. If you enjoy planning a campaign people will, most likely, enjoy participating in the fun too! 

Enjoy being social and playing online games with your audience. Here are a few ideas for some fun ways to engage your audience. 

Games: How about sharing a picture where you hide your logo/product and get your audience to find it? 

Jokes: How about some Christmas jokes? Are you a dentist? How about a picture of someone putting on a denture with baubles on it. 

Whatever you choose…Just go for it, trust me, it’s better to laugh together.

It is the best time of the year to add some humour!

Packaging and Infographics 🎅

Whether you sell a product or service, think about revamping your packaging and any graphics for Christmas. Give it that Christmas cheer and be consistent. First impressions are vital. When a client opens your package or looks at your digital material let them see the real YOU.

People buy from people they like, make sure your personality/values translate in every aspect of your brand.

Email Marketing & Newsletters

To mail or not to mail that is the question… the other question is how often?

You have a mailing list so what’s next? Well, make sure you inform your readers of any news or updates you can share and give them preferential bonuses or first access to some offers. Nurture your subscribers and make them feel important. They have chosen to share their email address with you after all.

Imagine you have an email list of 1000 and you offer a freebie to the first 10 that contact you. That is a quick direct sale you can do to people that are already interested in your product. You do not need to convince them you are good, they know it - you just need to nudge them in the right direction.

FREE Fast Delivery

If you are competing with the big brands one way to be on the same level is to offer FREE fast delivery or guaranteed delivery. Now, this is highly dependent on your pricing structure and with the assumption that in your pricing you have included a margin for promotional offers.

Make sure you have a cost analysis first so that your offers do not eat into your profit.

Are Gift cards still in?

Now more than ever Gift cards are the way to go, people might want to share a present with someone far away and a gift card is the easiest present to send. 

Gift cards have always been popular and they are a great way to get your brand known by new people. Let’s take a step forward. How about you personally gift something for every gift card purchased. So imagine the person gets a gift card and 10% off their next visit? That allows you to hook two clients at once. The person can choose to keep the 10% or gift it to the receiver.

Fun Countdown to Christmas  

Here is that word again, FUN, but yes, plan for a fun Christmas countdown. Have a few activities arranged and this can translate to social media, your blog, your newsletters so you can use them across a variety of channels.

We all love counting down to New Year’s eve, so why not Countdown to Christmas? At Marketing Nest, we have loads of sparkly and unique countdown ideas we can share with you just contact us. 👶

And what about the 24th, 25th, and 26th?

We have all done it, we create good campaigns leading up to Christmas, and then Christmas comes and we stop.

What we don’t realise is that while we are sitting on our mum’s couch with a belly full of food and we go on social media to see what is going on, other people do the same.

We all know those lastminute.com people (yeah, I was one of those😉) especially when an unexpected present was received, you have to rush to find something, anything! So...think what are you really missing out on when cutting out those days?

FINAL RECOMMENDATION:

Managing a marketing campaign (Christmas or otherwise) takes time and effort to make it worthwhile and effective. 

And, like any job, when it’s done properly - it gets done right.

Be honest with yourself about how you are managing your time and where you can outsource.

Just thinking about cleaning an email list and sending subscriber offers can send anyone running for the hills!! 

Can you really keep an eye on your social media presence, posting, and engagement while running your business day-to-day? 

Adding another task (or tasks) to your to-do list eg. Christmas packaging or logo options can leave you working even longer hours than before, especially at this time of the year.

At Marketing Nest, we really do care about what we do to get the best results.

Don’t hire us if you have bags of time and can comfortably manage your marketing campaign. You don’t need us. Well done to you & Merry Christmas. However, should you like to try a new direction or fresh approach, we’re here when you’re ready.  

If you don’t have bags of time and you can’t comfortably & confidently manage all aspects of your campaign. If you are looking to update or a fresh approach. YOU NEED US!

We want you to enjoy the season and have a very Merry Christmas. We would love to help you and we're a joy to work with! 

**I have hidden a couple of Christmas emojis in the text above...

...put them together to make a famous Christmas song

Share your answer on socials for your chance to win a special MN Christmas design enhancement to your logo!

My early Christmas Gift to you

So there you are...my 10 glittering marketing tips to help you before Christmas. Call them my Merry Christmas gifts to you!

Feel free to call me and thank me and definitely share it online. There are so many other things I could have written but it’s far more social to call or meet up for a proper chat (especially at this time of the year). For now, though, I would love you to get started on any of the tips above...

What do you think?