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According to the National Retail Federation, consumers plan to spend an average of $832 this year on the holiday season, a small increase from last year. While shoppers are willing to splurge a bit this year, they’re shopping earlier to budget for rising inflation costs. Most consumers started holiday shopping right after Halloween, according to the NRF. Shoppers are already in the buying spirit, but there’s still time to pull off a few last-minute campaigns. Need some inspiration? Try one of these holiday marketing ideas:

5 last-minute holiday marketing ideas to try

The following ideas can be done with little time. 

Team up with an influencer for a product promotion

There’s still time to ask an influencer to promote one of your products this season. Need to find an influencer fast? The Creator Marketplace® can help. Search creator profiles and listings and filter them by platform or content category.

One of the easiest influencer campaigns to create is a simple endorsement photo where an influencer shares a snap using or modeling your product. Scott Perez, for example, sports a winter-ready boot in this campaign for DWS.

Host a customer appreciation event

You can put together a customer appreciation event fairly easily. 

If you have a brick-and-mortar store, consider staying open for a few extra hours and invite your most loyal customers to shop. Give them the incentive to stop by. For example, you can add a 20% off coupon to the event invitation. You could add a few holiday cookies or treats to a table and give customers a cup of hot cocoa. 

If your business is service-oriented, invite your top 10-20 clients to a happy hour. Pick up the tab for a few drinks and some appetizers or keep it low-key with a Friday afternoon happy hour in your breakroom. 

Both events focus on customer retention and keep loyal customers engaged with your brand. 

Host a giveaway 

The holiday season is a great time to drive social engagement through contests and giveaways

Put together a box of your most-loved products to give away. To enter, ask participants to follow your page and comment on a post. Randomly pick a winner or winners on the scheduled date and share it on social media. Encourage the winners to share their feedback or pictures when they receive their free treat. 

If you’ve worked with an influencer in the past, reach out to see if he or she can help you with the giveaway. You can expand your reach beyond your core followers by including an influencer

Influencer Aku-Sika Beoke teamed up with Go Slo Ghana, a company that makes premium ice cream made in Ghana, for a holiday giveaway. Participants were asked to follow the influencer and the company and answer a brand-related trivia question in the comments.

Grant VIP access to a flash sale

A holiday-themed landing page and a promotional email are all you need for a flash sale. 

You can invite specific segments of customers to the online event, starting with your most loyal customers. Send them an email invitation, an SMS message, a coupon, and a direct link to the landing page that features a small handful of products that are on sale for a limited time. 

Add a countdown clock to the landing page to leverage a sense of urgency and offer free shipping. Why? Sixy-six percent of shoppers expect free shipping. You want to entice consumers not to abandon their carts.

After offering the products to your VIP crew, consider offering them to another segment. Work in small groups so you can monitor the campaign’s success and decrease the chances of overloading your site.

Dust off an old marketing campaign

Do you remember the social ads you ran last year that were successful? There’s nothing wrong with breaking them out for a rerun this year. Repurposing influencer content is always a great idea in a time crunch.

If you have time, give the campaign a new color palette or change its promotion product.

Getting a few extra miles out of a previously-used campaign is perfectly fine. 

If you’re looking for a few more marketing campaigns to run over the holiday season, these ideas can help. For many companies, the last few months of the year are big money-makers. Adding an extra campaign or two, even if it’s last-minute, can help close the year strong. 

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