As a marketer, you can never start planning too early for the holiday season. Research shows many brands make between 27-35% of their sales in the fourth quarter of the year, driven largely by holiday sales, according to Statista. From department stores and bookshops to sporting goods and liquor stores, a wide variety of companies cash in during this time. Here are several holiday marketing items you can plan now:
Plan several holiday promotions, especially for the ‘big days’
Shoppers are always looking for a good deal around the holidays, but there are a few days that stand out, including:
- Black Friday
- Small Business Saturday
- Cyber Monday
- Giving Tuesday
Sit down with your marketing team and develop several enticing promotions for these days. Ideas might include:
- Offering a coupon
- Discounting a product that’s usually not on sale
- Launching a BOGO deal
- Inviting shoppers to a secret sale
Of course, you can segment your audience and deliver tailored promotions too. For example, you might send a deeper discount to your most loyal customers or send deals based on a customer’s previous purchases. The shoe lovers, for example, get a coupon for footwear.
Pick a date for these promotional deals and set reminders in your content calendar now. Set dates to create collateral and publish it too.
Offer gift inspiration
Every shopper has a person (or six) on their list that’s hard to shop for. So, offer some gift inspiration by creating a gift guide. As a brand, you can highlight a handful of your most popular products and share them with customers.
If you plan to create such a guide, you’ll need time to create the asset. For example, you could create a blog post that highlights each gift and create a complementary social collage that features each product. However, that takes time, so break out your calendar and make a plan for it.
If you’d rather not create a brand-specific product guide, consider asking influencers to add your product to a gift guide that they put together.
For instance, LARQ, the creator’s of a water purification pitcher, teamed up with influencer Allison Anderson and asked her to promote its one-of-a-kind product in her holiday gift guide.
Plan a flash sale
Pick a hot product (or a couple) and plan a flash sale. Since a flash sale only lasts for a short period (usually a few hours), it can help your brand create a sense of urgency around the product, which often entices people to buy.
Think about who you’d like to invite to the flash sale. You can narrow it down to those who purchased in the last six months, for example, and invite them via email. In your email, consider adding a countdown clock like the one pictured below to drive urgency.
Again, you’ll need to figure out when this promotion will occur and put milestones and reminders on your content calendar.
Arrange an influencer unboxing campaign
There’s no better time to collaborate with influencers than the holidays. There are many campaigns you can create with the help of industry-aligned influencers. To simplify things, you can ask an influencer to endorse your product on their social channels.
However, one of the more popular campaigns to consider for the holiday season is an unboxing video. As a brand, you’ll find the right influencers and send them free products to unbox via a video demonstration. Usually, the influencers not only open the package and present the product but also talk about what they love.
You can ask influencers to share a link to your product or give them a special promo code to share with their followers.
Chanel teamed up with beauty and lifestyle influencer Dacob to promote its signature scent, Chanel No. 5, for the holidays. Take a look at this 15-minute unboxing video that’s an authentic endorsement of the luxury perfume:
Planning an influencer campaign takes time. Finding the right influencer is often the more time-consuming piece and for obvious reasons, one of the most important. You need an influencer who speaks to your target audience and aligns with your brand’s morals and mission. To expedite your hunt, use an influencer marketing platform like The Marketplace to search for influencers and filter your results quickly.
You could launch an influencer campaign now to establish a relationship and then simply send them a product or two during the holiday season.
Marketers are always juggling many tasks, which is why it’s best to plan holiday campaigns throughout the year. Since so many people shop intentionally during the holidays, it’s a wise time to invest your efforts. Use the campaign ideas above to get your planning underway.
