Christmas is a time of year when many people in the UK are thinking about what they want to buy for friends and family. With this in mind, it can be an excellent opportunity for businesses to market themselves! In this blog post, we will explore some different marketing strategies that you could use to market your business this Christmas.
Is Marketing Important Over The Festive Period?
According to a study, a typical British individual will spend £476 on Christmas presents this year. This implies that the UK is anticipating spending £24.2 billion on Christmas presents.
This means lots of opportunities to sell your products or services to happy shoppers this festive period.
Marketing is important all year round, regardless of the time of year. However, Christmas can be an excellent chance to gain new customers and increase your brand awareness through marketing efforts. It’s worth considering that different businesses have different needs at Christmas – whilst some may benefit from advertising online or on TV for example, others may find success selling via social media or generating local campaigns to engage with customers.
Best Ways to Market your Business this Christmas
Depending on the type of business, people might also expect discounts and offers at Christmas as well as gifts such as vouchers or loyalty cards that they can redeem for Christmas presents, discounts, etc. It’s worth considering these factors when choosing your marketing strategy so you don’t undervalue your business!
There are plenty of opportunities to market your business at Christmas. The most popular ways to advertise are;
TV advertising – particularly good for big organisations who can afford it and want a high impact campaign (e.g Costa Coffee)
Social Media ads, email blasts & Digital Online Campaigns – great for businesses that have an online presence or customers with internet interest. These are also great ways to target your perfect audience.
PR stunts – make your Christmas campaign stand out from the rest by creating a big buzz around it (e.g M&S ‘Christmas with Love’ where they invited 100 Twitter users to their HQ and gave them exclusive gifts).
Outdoor advertising – this is great for getting brand awareness and driving in customers through the door of your shop or business.
Imaginative – Be creative with what you do!
Be Bold – Don’t be afraid of trying something new or different even though it’s not always easy (e.g last year Santas Grotto was moved outside due to COVID but still generated lots of revenue).
Have a clear strategy and plan – how much money are you going to spend, what’s the best way to do it (e.g digital marketing is perfect for reaching people who don’t usually see your ads), and where will be running your campaign (locally or nationally).
Shut down if possible – Of course, you’re closed on Christmas and New Year’s Day. But try to keep your offices closed for longer than that. Allow everyone some rest time.
Give – this is the perfect time to give to your most loyal customers or biggest spenders. Let them know that you appreciate their custom and that it doesn’t go unnoticed.
Plan your Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales – Consumers adore sales at this time of year, but if you want your sales to be successful, you’ll need a strategy. What type of sales are you conducting? When do the various sales go live? How will you advertise your major sales seasons? Make a timetable and start drafting marketing emails now so that you’re ready to send them when the time comes.
Prepare your inventory – Between now and the height of the festive season, it may seem like you have plenty of time, but with Christmas approaching faster than ever before, you’ll be up to your elbows in presents in no time. Order or arrange for your peak-season inventory now.
What Not To Do When Marketing At Christmas
Be Reasonable – Don’t go overboard with your Christmas marketing campaigns. Make a careful plan and stick to it.
Customers! – Don’t forget about your customers, they are the most important thing! Keep in touch with them throughout Christmas. This way you don’t lose any of your current followers or risk losing new ones too.
It’s Never Too Early To Start
All in all, there is lots to do at this time of year. However, you can relax knowing that keeping up to date with these best practices will give your business the gift it deserves this Christmas!
Get your business into gear to catch the Christmas market by getting in touch with our digital marketing team today.
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