In the world of digital marketing and ecommerce, Christmas equals social media and email marketing. If you are not focussing a large part of your attention and marketing efforts into social media then we believe you may be wasting your time and efforts elsewhere. People go social-crazy over Christmas and there is as much activity online as there is on the high street. The average person generally has more free time away from work; they spend a lot of time online shopping and enjoy talking with relatives from afar.
So when it comes to planning and implementing an effective social strategy in December, attracting attention is easier than at any other time of the year. Your audience is already sat there waiting for it. Why? Because they expect it. Around this time of year shoppers, browsers and idle gazers are all a lot more receptive to a higher frequency of advertisements, emails and other marketing materials.
Even those that find the onslaught of ads to be utterly annoying still accept the fact that this is bound to happen. Many of us even wait with eager anticipation to see the latest Christmas ad offering from some of the UK’s biggest brands. (Sorry Mr Lewis, we think last year’s penguin was much better!)
Don’t Be Afraid to Communicate
Generally high spirits, the openness towards and the acceptance of increased marketing efforts actually creates a lot more scope for you to send higher volumes of communications than usual. Your customers expect to hear from you around this time and they expect to hear an offer they cannot refuse. So don’t be shy, let your demographic know exactly what your plans are for this festive period – and then remind them again and again!
Steal the Limelight
With millions of people shopping online and interacting with each other via social media, the chance is there for you to steal the show and attract as much attention towards your brand as possible. You don’t have to stick exclusively to your specific social media channels either; instead bring the party back to your website and intrigue your customers there.
With all this in mind, we have detailed some top tips on how to attract and maintain attention to your website and brand around Christmas time. Try a few of these out for yourself or talk to one of our team members today to see how some of these ideas can boost your profits these festive season.
1. Naughty or Nice List
‘Do you want to be on our nice list this year? Follow us on Facebook’ – it’s as simple as that! What happens to those on your nice list is totally up to you; you can give them a free gift, provide a promo code or even enter them into a prize draw. Of course, no one likes to be left out and no one will want to be put on the naughty list! Whatever your gimmick is, this little Christmas themed capture is simple yet very appealing to those who are looking for a free gift or quick bargain. The best part? You gain lots of new followers!
2. Advent Calendar Giveaway
How you choose to perform this is up to you and your budget/time constraints. You can either have an interactive advent calendar online or a simple series of e-mail driven giveaways. Either way, the premise is still the same – you give something small away each and every day of December leading up to Christmas. Then on the day itself, really surprise your customers with something special.
People love something for free, no matter what it is. What you give away does not have to be one of your products or anything of any real monetary value either. You can provide some advice, an instructional video or a small gift. As your parents would always say, it’s the thought that counts! If you have a kitchen website, why not release a few unique recipes? Or if you sell bicycles online, provide some advice on how to best repair a puncture? The options are endless!
3. Send a Christmas e-Card
Who doesn’t like to receive a Christmas card? Card giving is a traditional gesture of kindness and goodwill that has transcended into the digital world via the use of e-cards. So you don’t have to worry about the cost of paper and ink, just send it directly to your existing and potential customers/clients.
4. Create a Winnable Wish List
Have your customers and followers create a wish list of items that can be won in a huge prize draw online. You can have them email the list in or fill in a form on your website; the choice is up to you. The list must only contain products/services that you sell, of course. A lot of brands and online retailers use this trick as a way of obtaining followers and more attention online. Promoting this on social media will attract more attention and more people will begin to send in their lists. Next thing you know, you’ve got more mail than Santa Claus!
5. Find the Figgy Pudding!
We’ve all seen or at least heard of an Easter Egg promotion online – where certain hidden elements on a website or email contain prizes or bonuses. The aim of the game is for the user to hunt these little eggs down, by completing daily clues sent via email/social media or by following a set of on-screen instructions.
Instead of an Easter Egg hunt you can call it Find the Figgy Pudding! This gets people interested in your website for sure and provides your audience with a real chance to win a high value prize. Want to make it really interesting? Double peoples by chances by getting them to share on Facebook and Twitter too!
5. Christmas Web Design
It is catastrophically important that your website design and social media channels have some sort of Christmas face-lift. Your business will seem like a collection of right Scrooges if you don’t jingle the place up a bit. It doesn’t take much either – look at Tesco, they just put a Christmas hat on top of the letter T! However you choose to redesign your site over Christmas, just make sure you get this done early! If people think you are not part of the party then they aren’t going to dance with you, are they?
6. Christmas Content Marketing
The same can be said for your content on site, it won’t hurt to put a few yuletide related quotes and mannerisms in there! Where content is massively important around this time is when it comes to your marketing material. Thousands of other business, many of them operating in your same industry, will be attacking the general public with their marketing bumf over the next month or two. It is up to you to ensure your marketing material stands out from the rest and doesn’t drown in the masses. You can’t bore your audience with the same old tripe, but you can’t go too far out there either as the public will know you are trying too hard. Finding the right balance is key to success here.
Tis The Season To Be Social
These are just a few ideas of how to spruce things up a bit over Christmas when it comes to your online marketing efforts. This is a great time to be fun, unique and creative so take the chance with both hands. This is the best time of year to generate sales and therefore your marketing efforts should push really hard around this time. If you would like some information on how you can get your Christmas time strategies off the ground and running in the right direction, give our team a call today.
Do you have any successful Christmas campaigns to brag about?
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or let us know on Facebook and we’ll give a shout out to the best one!
