Is it too early to talk Christmas? If you’re a business the answer is ‘no’ and, if you haven’t done so already, now is the time to put your Christmas marketing plans in place.
As a small business, how can you cut through all the ‘noise’ at Christmas to ensure your brand and products stand out? Here are our top tips to help you implement a relevant and effective Christmas marketing strategy.
Brand Consistency
Make sure your plan is relevant to your brand. Ensure that any festive campaign focus aligns with your company’s brand values and that this aligns with the core message of Christmas. Your overall campaign message should filter through to your website landing page, social media activity and any direct mail or themed gifting. It’s important that each touchpoint offers a joined-up approach.
Website Ready
Check that your website is Christmas proofed. Statistically, today it’s much more likely that eCommerce customers will be interacting with your website from a smartphone or tablet rather than a desktop. Therefore, it’s vitally important that your website is mobile friendly and simple to navigate.
Another consideration is altering your website to add some festive flair in the run up to the big day. Whether you want to add some graphics, banners or even run a count-down clock, they all help your customers embrace the Festive feeling. There’s a vast library of themed icons and stock photography available to help you reflect the upcoming season.
Campaigns to help you stand out
Make your campaign stand out from the crowd. At Christmas there is so much choice for consumers, they are bombarded with mailings, offers and catalogues. How can you make your brand stand out from this? Christmas is a great time to thank your loyal customer base and what better way than to attract their attention and reconnect with them by sending a small token of your appreciation. This could be in the form of a gift, or perhaps an invitation to a private event. A local event also provides an opportunity to embrace the local community and again widen your reach.
Are you able to run a special edition of your product just for Christmas? Offering an exclusive will help you to stand out. That could be in the form of a special seasonal offer or if you are able to go one step further and offer an exclusive product, do check that you can meet fulfilment deadlines from your supply chain. Ensure that timescales are clearly communicated to your customers with last order dates for guaranteed Christmas delivery.
Social Media - Are you listening to the conversation?
Social media and its cost-effective advertising options have opened up the possibilities of reach with businesses both large and small. If you are on social media channels, are you joining in with the relevant conversations, in order to raise the profile of your company? Research relevant hashtags and make use of the latest developments on social media such as Insta Stories to reach a more rounded audience.
Have you trialled a Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign on your chosen social platform? If not it could be worth investigating as it can be a cost-effective way of reaching a very targeted audience (defined by location, age, gender and interests).
Do you need help developing a Christmas marketing strategy, PPC campaign or updating your website? Get In Touch with a member of our team, we would love to help.