Christmas Marketing Tactics for Success

Christmas Marketing Tactics for Success

It is currently July, so why are we blogging about Christmas marketing? For some industries planning for the festive period began in January, so some might say we are late to the party! Marketing your business at Christmas can be stressful. With many business owners relying on the sales they make over the festivities to see them through the following year, it is mission-critical to ensure that your marketing plan is on point and ready to go. Morgan Branding is here to help with our top tips for a successful Christmas marketing campaign.

Christmas Marketing: It Is All in the Planning

Like with any successful marketing strategy marketing your business at Christmas all comes down to the planning, and planning takes time, so rushing around on December 1st attempting to come up with successful marketing campaigns to see you over the festive period is just not going to work. It might surprise some business owners to learn that the planning for the Christmas season can start as early as January in some industries like hotels and restaurants! So it is never too early to have a plan in place!

A successful Christmas campaign will be well thought out, planned and executed with precision and timed to cover the entire period; given that most people start their Christmas shopping well in advance in October, it is best to be prepared. It has to be said that although some do start their shopping in October – some people with an ever-increasing sense of urgency famous at this time of the year will still be preparing for the festivities last minute late on Christmas Eve!

So when should you start your Christmas marketing planning? Well, this all depends on how many marketing strategies you are planning to implement. 

The earlier, the better is advisable if you are planning to have several marketing aspects such as email marketing, social media marketing, ads, and in-store experiences. July/August is a good time to start planning and getting a good idea of what you want in place and allowing plenty of time for planning, sourcing, and implementation. 

Revisit Last Year’s Strategy

An excellent place to start when planning your Christmas marketing strategy is to see what has worked well for your business in previous years. Avoid rinse and repeat tactics, which have been done before, but see what worked and work similar tactics this year. For instance, if video worked well last year – it might be worth focusing more efforts on those types of posts over text ones which might not have worked as well, or if Facebook drove more engagement than Twitter last year, then again, investment in the proper channels will aid your overall strategy. 

Determine Your Theme & Audience

The key to a good marketing strategy is consistency, so getting this sorted from the start will help your plan to do well. A good theme is not just branding colours or logos; it will be things like:

• The message you wish to spread
• The context of your marketing
• The images used and how they link up
• The end goal

Try not to overcomplicate this or make your ads or posts too overpowering. Keeping it simple, light, and to the point usually works best in these types of posts – as your audience will be seeing a lot of marketing around this time, ensure yours resonates with them directly and stands out. 

Optimise Ahead Of Time

As touched on above, marketing is all in the planning, so knowing what you will use, where it will be, and when is vital. Just as essential is ensuring that all your marketing channels are ready, such as products on your website being where they need to be and the right messages in place ahead of time. It can be easy to slide into a routine of thinking just to update your social media accounts when promoting a specific event as it is easier to get things in place and quicker, but not all your customers are on social media. Updating your website alongside your social media accounts is vital to ensure that you reach your entire audience. 

Get your content ready to go, loaded ahead of time, so nothing is left to the last minute. That way, you are not missing anything off the list, leaving one marketing channel out of the loop, or rushing to get it ready at the last minute. 

Measure the Results

Keeping an eye on the results is an excellent way to know if things are going well, and keeping a log of all the results will help you in future marketing campaigns to understand what worked and what didn’t. All social channels now offer up the raw data to know what posts are doing well. Your website should have Google Analytics installed or similar visitor tracking, which will allow you to track the progress throughout the campaign. Keep this data and compare it to previous years, drill down into what worked best, and apply the same tactics to other marketing efforts. For example, like mentioned above, if video continued to be your most significant engagement too and lead to lots of conversions – you will know to apply this in the future. 

Final Words

When it comes to marketing your business at Christmas, it is essential to allow your brand personality to shine through. Good marketing is not always about being corporate and professional. It can work better if you are more connected with your audience on a personal level, speak to their wants and desires and more so at Christmas time – focus on what matters. 

If you are finding your marketing slowing down or not producing the results you expected, do not be afraid to mix it up, even if this is midway through the campaign. As the old saying goes – don’t keep flogging a dead horse! If it is not working – change it up and see if that helps. 

Need further advice? Get in touch with us here at Morgan Branding we have a fully dedicated team ready to help you and your business get ahead online. You can get in touch via our contact page or get social with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn! 

More From The Morgan Branding Blog