Dos and don’ts for launching a marketing campaign during the holidays.

As the holiday period is rapidly approaching, it is easy to get lost in the excitement and forget about marketing your business. Even though holiday time is about rest and relaxation, it can also be the perfect time to launch a new marketing campaign.

So to keep the momentum going with your marketing efforts during the ‘silly season’, what should you do when launching a marketing campaign during the holidays and what should you avoid?

Do these

Start early and consider timing

Plan well in advance and set a strong strategy. Ideally, holiday planning should begin around three months prior.

Also consider your timing of the campaign. For example, if you are implementing a social media content calendar, adjust your posting schedule to account for key days in the holiday period. Remember the holiday season has three social media traffic peaks – pre, during and post. Make sure your holiday strategy launches in multiple waves to keep your customers engaged.

Encourage a dialogue

Encourage your customers to engage with your brand during the holiday period, this is important as they have more time to engage with you. Take time to answer questions and ensure your campaign has a call to action. Setting up a contest can be a great way to enhance engagement. Asking consumers to participate in contests has proved to be the most successful tactic for encouraging a dialogue, while discount-related posts tend to fail.

Pick a theme

Choosing a theme will help you select relevant branding, promotional language and images. Ensure the images you use to promote your theme are in line with your typical branding. If your logo becomes unrecognisable, this won’t assist your campaign or business.

Consider the mediums you will use to get your message across. If your theme is long lasting, say Easter or summer holidays, you could approach your customers via direct mail. Or, for shorter holidays like Labor Day and ANZAC Day, campaigns featuring text messages and EDMs are an easy way to share your campaign.

Don’t do these

Use the holidays as an opportunity to get more sales

Your customers should be engaging with your brand rather than being sold to. This ensures a longer-lasting relationship that can fuel your business into non-holiday periods. Holidays tend to involve cultural, religious or family significance to many people. You need to consider how your audience will respond to the messages. It is important to be respectful of this when using language and images. Err on the side of caution and focus on brand awareness rather than sales.

Go overboard with company celebration pics

While it is tempting to share the softer side of your business and show your employees enjoying the holiday period, don’t go overboard. Again, be sensitive to your customers and their perception of the holiday. You don’t want to make light of a religious or cultural event. In saying that, you can make the holiday period a little bit more personal. Your strategy should focus on the customer connection rather than customer service.

Recycle content from the previous holiday period

Come up with fresh content each holiday period. If you have run a contest in the past, do not rehash old guidelines or incentives. Show your customers they matter by creating exclusive and unique messaging. People’s taste change over time, so don’t run the same promotions and campaign every year.

Launching a new marketing campaign during the holiday period can be easy if you follow these guidelines and consider how your messaging will be received by your customers. With careful planning and a clear strategy, your holiday marketing campaign has the potential to be very successful and set your business up for the year ahead.