Since the holiday season is right around the corner, consumers are busier than ever with last-minute shopping and preparing for vacations. To keep up with this once-a-year opportunity, marketers face fierce competition in order to get a slice of the market.

In 2021, the National Retail Federation reported persisting growth in the retail sector despite the pandemic, exceeding $886.7 billion in value. Now that the world is easing up, make sure your campaign takes the spotlight with these five holiday marketing ideas.

1. Leverage Social Media Platforms

With the average person spending 147 minutes per day on social media, it’s almost guaranteed that what you put out online will be seen by your customers. To capture the market during the holidays, below are some strategies you can consider.

As you dress up your brand for the holidays, make sure to include your social media pages in the seasonal redesign. Use a different visual style to reflect the season without altogether forgoing your critical branding elements. For example, certain food and beverage brands release time-limited products or cater packaging that contains symbols and color palettes that evoke memories of the season.

In doing so, you give the impression that your brand is timely and dynamic, which could help grow your reach. Additionally, it serves as a good foundation for other social media-based marketing campaigns, such as announcing promotional events and hosting giveaways.

2.  Team Up With Influencers

Still in the digital landscape, influencer marketing has become a rapidly-growing option for companies. Influencers have a massive reach within their respective niches and platforms. For example, fashion influencers on Instagram are a different group than tech influencers on Facebook.

Influencers act as a bridge between the brand and the market since they are perceived as also coming from the consumer class, earning trust from the people. For the holidays, influencers can help push your products, services, promotions, and advocacies as a part of their content creation efforts. Influencer marketing materials range from simple static posts to full video materials, depending on the platform and your arrangement.

By connecting with an influencer that’s relevant to your holiday campaign, you can present your brand in a way that is meaningful to your target customers. With materials presented by someone they relate to, they identify with your brand as well. It allows you to align with customer success plans, and you improve the customer experience. In return, you build customer loyalty and increase your chances of successful conversions.

3.  Review Sales History and Data Analytics

Regardless of the nature of your business, gaining access to relevant analytics empowers decision-makers to create impactful decisions. Since the holidays such as Black Friday and Christmas occur at the same times of the year, you can always review your sales performance. You can also review the response of the market with regard to your previous marketing campaigns.

If you’re in the retail business, leveraging analytics can even tell you what products to stock up on for the holidays. In case you don’t have historical data to work with, you can always conduct surveys or rely on third-party surveys to identify customer preferences. Best research practices indicate the use of industry-standard metrics such as the net promoter score (NPS) and customer churn rates.

Additionally, analytics can help you organize your logistics and supply chain. If your business deals with suppliers, and if prior records show potential delays or issues as the holidays arrive, you can make the proper adjustments to your purchases and deliveries.

4.  Launch Rewards Programs

As the star on top of the proverbial holiday tree, offering rewards can be the deciding factor. Most brands usually launch an early bird program, which entices consumers to shop or avail of their services early. On the other hand, other companies opt to launch last-minute sales to attract buyers short on time. Either way, timed rewards programs often persuade consumers to make purchasing decisions driven by a fear of missing out on good deals.

Still, the main appeal of launching rewards programs is to drive customer loyalty. In exchange for a reward, consumers are incentivized to choose your brand. Beyond increased sales, a well-executed rewards program could also drive registrations that could grow your network

Also, more than just capitalizing on the holidays, you can use the upcoming season to test-run a loyalty program that can run all year round. 

Since the holidays are a time for giving and gratitude, you can use the opportunity to boost your team’s morale. Christmas or year-end rewards could improve employee experience and even support productivity well into the upcoming year. There are multiple employee marketing strategies for the holiday season and you can go beyond the usual year-end parties and bonuses. By taking care of your employees, in the words of British business magnate Richard Branson, you also take care of your business.

Final Word

While the competitive holiday season is a challenge to marketers and business owners everywhere, you can still make the most out of it with the right campaign strategy and the right preparation.

More importantly, it pays to recognize that the upcoming holiday season is not just a temporary period for increased sales. There are a lot of long-lasting opportunities available should you pull off a successful marketing campaign during this quick yet busy period.