Introduction
It cannot be ignored: there is a festive activity in the air.
The holiday season has arrived and shoppers have begun working on their Christmas gift lists. Now is the time to start planning your holiday marketing campaigns if you want a share of the business – 2023 is expected to be a very profitable season for retailers. Last year, holiday retail sales increased by 4.8% from the previous year, and they are expected to rise by 4.5% this year.
Below is a massive list of holiday marketing campaign ideas, including gift guides, examples of email marketing campaigns, and holiday apps to make your store ready for the holiday shopping season.
1. Develop Holiday-Specific or Limited-Edition Products
It’s late for many brands to develop new seasonal products unless they are using a dropshipping or print-on-demand model. Handmade brands may also be able to create new products.
For all other brands, stores can give the impression that they have new offerings by making some adjustments to packaging or editions (such as changing the color of holiday socks to a holiday-inspired color or naming a pine-scented perfume a Christmas label).
2. “Transform” Your Existing Product Line into Gifts
Bundle products into gift packs for the holiday season, update the packaging with holiday-inspired additions like “to/from” tags or ribbons, and add gift wrapping as an option right on the product page or at checkout. Everyday items from your core collection can generate new interest when bundled as holiday gift sets and sold as gifts.
3. Offer Digital Gift Cards
If you’re looking for a new business idea or holiday product but lack the time, digital gift cards may be the solution. They can be added to any store at any time of the year. You can easily update the design to reflect the season and promote it as last-minute gift ideas for your customers. Feature them prominently on your website and at the top of gift sets. Promote them on social media after shipping deadlines to keep holiday sales going until Christmas Eve.
4. Create Holiday Gift Sets
Create new sets around holiday themes, categories, or gift recipients. This will help visitors navigate your website easily for holiday shopping. Bundle essential products into sets like holiday party dresses, gifts for dad, or toys for little kids. This is an easy and free holiday marketing strategy for small businesses that lack time or budget.
5. Consider “Holiday Drops” at Specific Times
Build anticipation around new products or different editions of products by teasing “drops” to your social media audience or email subscribers. An example of this idea for a Christmas sale campaign is to run a 12 Days of Christmas campaign, where you unveil a new featured product each day leading up to the shipping deadline. Or delight customers with a virtual advent calendar that reveals a new holiday promotion every day.
6. Add Gift Wrapping as a Product
Selling gift wrapping services as a separate product means it will show up in searches and collections. You can choose to offer this service as a free add-on or charge for premium wrapping as a unique personalized shopping experience. Customers buying gifts will appreciate this convenience during the busy holiday season.
7.Create a Holiday Gift Guide
Help your customers navigate your store from a gift-buying perspective. Create gift guides on your blog, in email marketing, or on social media. As an easy alternative, create links from your social media or homepage to specific holiday collections named as gift guides.
8. Promote Holiday Sales and Products on Social Media
Reward loyal fans with discounts and exclusive offers shared only with your social media followers. Use a discount app to offer a gift with purchase, BOGO deals, or tiered discounts that increase the overall cart total. Consider experimenting with limited-time deals or daily specials to create a sense of anticipation and urgency.
9. Use Content Marketing to Increase Traffic
A good holiday SEO strategy can help increase the number of potential customers visiting your site. Think about the value you can provide to your customers at this time of year. Whether your target audience is looking for festive recipes, unique gift ideas, or DIY content, find relevant ways to attract them through this content and direct them to your products. Consider multiple formats such as gated eBooks or instructional videos.
10. Organize a Contest
Get into the spirit of giving by organizing a contest on your social media accounts. Ask your followers to perform certain actions like sharing your post or subscribing to your newsletter to enter the contest.
11. Update Social Media Headers and Images
You might want to update key social media elements like your Facebook cover photo or Twitter header for the holiday season to remind customers that you are a gift destination. Try a tool like Hatchful or Canva to create custom logos and seasonal social media elements. Also, update your bio to include holiday messages.
12. Send a Holiday Discount Code to Your Email List
Reward existing subscribers with an email marketing campaign to drive them to your site for their shopping needs. Be creative with your subject line – you’re competing with a lot of noise in your customers’ inboxes before the holiday season.
13. Incentivize New Subscribers with a Discount
You can also incentivize new sign-ups by offering a discount to new subscribers. Set up a welcome message that generates a unique coupon code for new subscribers, or use a popup on your site to reveal the code upon sign-up.
14. Launch a Timed Email Campaign with Daily or Weekly Features
Consider launching a multi-email campaign consisting of new holiday offers and surprises every day or every week. Think about daily deals, discount codes, gifts with purchases, and new products.
15. Replace Regular Images with Holiday-Inspired Copies
If you have the time and budget to re-shoot some of your best products as holiday-themed lifestyle images, it encourages your site visitors to think of your products as gift ideas. Otherwise, browse free images on sites like Burst to find photos that can be used in category headers and more.
16. Decorate the Homepage
Add festive elements to the homepage to let shoppers know you are a destination for gifts or holiday-specific products. Some apps in the Shopify App Store provide an easier process even if you don’t have time to design custom holiday elements: create a snow falling effect on the homepage using Christmas & Snowfall Effect, or the Festive Decorations app that adds animated holiday icons to your store, or greet customers with seasonal background music using Custom Background Music: Xmas.
17.Add an Announcement Bar
An announcement bar can be used at the top of your website to advertise special offers or shipping deadlines to new visitors. An app like Hextom works with your Shopify store to add custom banners in seconds. Use this space to draw attention to free shipping, discounts, and other holiday campaigns.
18. Create a Gift Registry or Add a Wishlist Feature
Wishlist Plus and Gift Reggie are gift registry apps that allow customers to save favorite products and enable you to send personalized marketing messages. This is a great marketing strategy to help you build a customer list – customers create an account to save their favorite products, helping you re-engage them in future marketing campaigns. Even if they don’t buy now, you can notify them when items on their wishlist go on sale.
19. Enable Gift Wrapping Using an App
Instead of setting up wrapping as a separate product, try an app that integrates with your store. The Wrapped app adds a gift-wrapping option directly to product pages and checkout. Customers can choose from multiple options and add a gift message before adding it to their cart.
20. Add a Countdown Timer Bar
Apps like POWR: Cart Countdown Timer Bar and Order Deadline remind customers of purchase deadlines, with the countdown embedded on product pages. Clearly highlighting shipping deadline dates on your website can create a sense of urgency – a successful holiday marketing strategy you can use to increase sales.
21. Create a Shareable Shipping Calendar
Customers appreciate clear guidance on shipping to ensure their gifts arrive on time. Don’t make them search for it. A calendar infographic or table with important dates can be valuable assets you share across FAQ pages, email, and social media.
22. Promote Last-Minute Delivery Options and Order Pickups
If you sell to local customers, you may allow orders after the shipping deadline and let customers use curbside pickup for last-minute orders from your physical store, studio, or office. You might even offer a local delivery option just during the holiday period.
23. Enable Shipping to Multiple Addresses in One Order
The Giftship app is a fantastic feature for your customers. If a customer is making all their purchases in one place, they can ship items in the same order to multiple addresses.
24. Update Your Return Policy and Set Up Seamless Returns
Set your refund and exchange policies in advance, especially if your terms change during the holidays. Promising a stress-free return experience can give customers confidence to shop during the holiday season and increase conversion rates.
25. Organize a Holiday Marketing Campaign for Local Business Association
If you have a physical store, a great holiday promotional idea for small businesses is to band together with your neighbors for a holiday marketing campaign. Try a Main Street bingo card, or collaborate with other brands, treasure hunts in the neighborhood, or a “shop open” event with special hours and activities.
26. Host an In-Store Event for Loyal Customers
Stay open late for your loyal local customers and invite them to your space for an exclusive event with food, music, and sale items.
27. Try a Holiday Market
Whether you attend an existing holiday market or host one yourself, this is an opportunity for e-commerce businesses to test the waters with retail. Build networks with other entrepreneurs, meet the local community, and invite shoppers to visit your website.
28. Host a Workshop or Class
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scheduling events in-store around a holiday marketing campaign. For example, if you are trying to push a new product, how can you incorporate the product into a DIY project that you can teach? Fancy Tiger Crafts organizes a holiday events schedule every year, including embroidery classes.
29. Redistributing Last-Minute Gift Marketing Efforts
After your shipping deadline, allocate your marketing funds to promote gift cards and digital products that can be delivered at the last minute. October House adds a discount on holiday PDF downloads that shoppers can get the night before Christmas.
30. Say “Thank You”
Don’t forget to say “Thank You”! Keep your customers engaged with your brand and don’t get lost in the noise. After the shine wears off, send thank-you cards or follow-up offers with an incentive for their next purchase. PostPilot helps you cut through the cluttered inbox with physical, personalized postcards sent directly to your customers.
31. Promoting Boxing Day Offers
Wrap up your holiday marketing campaign with Boxing Day (or Box Week) offers. Send hints about these offers before Christmas to hit inboxes early.
5 Tips to Make Your Holiday Marketing Ideas Successful
Now that you’re loaded with inspiration, it’s time to put it into action. Here are some key tips to keep your holiday marketing ideas thriving this festive season.
1. Plan Early
We’ve just seen summer’s end, making it hard to focus on cold, dark nights. But to reap the biggest rewards from your holiday marketing campaigns, you need to start working early.
Research shows that 57% of people hope to finish their holiday shopping by December, which means you should start planning now. Begin planning now so you have all the content and resources you need by launch time. The last thing you want is to be scrambling to create Instagram graphics or email copy the night before your launch.
Think about your holiday campaigns now and build excitement through October with teasers. By the end of Thanksgiving and as Christmas approaches, your customers will be ready to pull out their wallets and shop – and you can relax knowing you’ve prepared well in advance.
2. Set Goals for Holiday Sales
Setting goals is crucial to know how successful your holiday marketing efforts are – did you achieve the results you wanted? Before mapping out what you will publish and where, consider what you want to accomplish. Start by analyzing last year’s results to see what’s possible, then set goals based on your overall business objectives.
Make sure your goals are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example, “generate 10% additional sales in December through email” is better than “get more customers.”
3. Create a Holiday Marketing Strategy
There are plenty of ideas here, but that doesn’t mean you should use them all. Instead, choose the ones that are most relevant to your brand and audience and work to incorporate them into a holiday marketing strategy. Think about what you’ll publish, where you’ll publish it, and when.
Mix and match your channels to expand your reach. Send emails, promote offers on Instagram, and add new landing pages to your website now.
4. Personalize Your Marketing Efforts
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Customers are likely to purchase if they feel that the brand understands them and knows what they want. Use previous purchase data to deliver personalized marketing messages to customers this Christmas. This can include sending personalized product recommendations or offering discounts to your best customers.
5. Show Your Personality
A lot of holiday shopping is driven by emotion. According to research, 80% of shoppers’ decisions are triggered by emotions. Take advantage of this by showcasing your personality in your holiday marketing campaigns. Be personal and human with jokes, using an informal tone, and sharing your unique values.
Wrap Up 2023 Successfully
Marketing during the holidays is quite different. First, your customers are typically shopping for others, not themselves. There are shipping deadlines that create a sense of urgency. Use these tips and tools to adapt your efforts to the unique nature of the holiday season and deliver a positive experience for your customers that will bring them back in the new year.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Holiday Marketing Ideas
What is the best form of holiday marketing?
The marketing campaigns and channels that work best for your brand depend on several factors. During the holiday season, you’ll want to use consistent messaging and branding, but with a festive twist. Holiday marketing campaigns should consider increased competition and shipping deadlines. Engage your target audience with a holiday promotion, such as a free gift with purchase. Or run a contest on your most popular marketing platform.
How can I attract customers during the holidays?
A successful holiday marketing campaign starts with understanding your target audience. If you want to attract new customers, know their needs, understand which social media platforms they use, and develop new products and Christmas gift guides and advertising campaigns that speak to them. Invest in customer experience to build loyalty after the holiday season.
What are some creative holiday marketing campaign ideas?
Some creative holiday marketing campaigns you can try include: a “spin to win” holiday contest, targeted gift guides based on customer personas, promoted products or gift bundles using influencer marketing, in-store events or workshops, and promoting free shipping on featured products.
When should I start marketing holiday items?
Don’t leave it until the last minute. Most people hope to finish their holiday shopping by December, so plan ahead and start early. Make sure you have enough time to create your holiday campaigns and time to execute them across various channels.
Source: https://www.shopify.com/blog/holiday-ecommerce-tools-apps
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