Trying to make your holiday marketing campaign stand out from the crowd? You're not alone. Every year, brands get more and more creative with their content, hoping to find that perfect combination of shareable and engaging that'll make their campaigns go viral. And while some are better than others at doing just that it can be difficult to know exactly what makes a campaign memorable. That's why we're here: To help you understand what makes an effective holiday marketing campaign so great and how you can create one yourself!
They incorporate the past, present, and future
How do you know a great holiday marketing campaign? There's no secret formula, but there are some common threads. Holiday marketing is about traditions and nostalgia. It's about the joy of giving, receiving, and family — all things that are deeply important to us as human beings.
Holiday marketing campaigns take advantage of our past experiences during the holidays with their brand (for example: Coca-Cola Christmas trucks). They also appeal to our present desires by telling stories (like Starbucks' "Give Good" campaign). And finally, they speak directly to our future selves by showing how these products will make us feel when we buy them (like Apple's "Designed for You" line).
They focus not just on the holidays — but the season
When we think of holiday marketing campaigns, it's easy to get caught up in tiny details. After all, there's only so many ways you can celebrate Christmas before you run out of new ideas and start repeating yourself. But if we look at this season through a broader lens, we see that it's not just about one holiday—it's about the whole season leading up to Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and sometimes beyond.
It all hinges on traditions: what you do every year during each time period leading up to a major holiday. The most important ones are often things like Thanksgiving dinner, Hanukkah gift exchanges, Christmas cookies and trees/decorations/lights. These are rituals that people look forward to every year—or maybe even multiple times during the same season!
They use emotions
Emotions are powerful motivators. They can be used to increase brand loyalty, sales, customer retention and satisfaction. Emotions work every time with both B2B and B2C brands because emotions are the most memorable experiences we have as humans. Even if people forget the details of a product or service, they remember how it made them feel. And that's what marketers need to be thinking about when crafting their holiday marketing campaigns—how will this campaign make customers feel?
They keep their branding consistent
Consistent branding is important for holiday marketing because it allows you to tap into the emotional power of the holidays, which can be difficult to do if your messaging and imagery are inconsistent. Consistency also gives customers a sense of familiarity with your brand, which can lead them to trust what you have to say more than they would otherwise (and thus buy more).
Consistency can be challenging when it comes to creating holiday campaigns that match what’s already out there in terms of messaging and imagery—there’s always going to be something different about yours that makes it stand out—but this challenge is one worth taking on because the payoff will be huge.
Did you know Honey & Hive offers positioning and messaging exercises?
They're inclusive in their messaging and marketing
Inclusivity is the key to a successful holiday marketing campaign. Your customers are diverse and have different needs, so it’s important that your messaging is inclusive of all of them.
If you’re not sure what inclusivity means, here are some examples:
Include everyone in the holiday spirit by representing diversity in your messaging and marketing. Your customers will feel included if they see themselves reflected in your images, videos, or words.
Be inclusive with products and services as well as marketing materials—for example, having an easy-to-use online shopping cart feature for those who don't want to use cash or credit cards during the holidays would be super helpful!
They touch every buyer in the customer journey
A good holiday marketing campaign touches every buyer in the customer journey. It doesn’t just appear when your customers want to buy a gift or make a purchase, but at times before and after the holidays too. It makes them think about your brand, so that they'll then associate your business with the feeling of holiday joy and excitement.
Don't forget to have fun with your holiday marketing campaigns! You should be building memories with your customers and making their lives better, not just shoving products in their faces. Your brand's purpose should always be at the forefront of your mind when you're planning any type of marketing campaign.
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