When the word "holiday" comes to mind, does your mind automatically fast-forward to the end of the calendar year? The holiday season may have good reason to hold this grip on the public consciousness due to the mad rush of buying and selling clustered around November and December. However, smart business owners and marketers recognize their opportunities for building marketing campaigns around the many specific holidays, large and small, that pop up throughout the year. Here are three quick tips to get you thinking about your holiday marketing strategies and help you make the most of those special occasions.
1. Think About Your Target Market
Some holidays seem to affect practically everyone, while others might have special significance for specific populations. For example, Independence Day is a big deal across the U.S., but your customers in the UK or Japan probably couldn't care less about it. Cinco de Mayo holds a special place in the hearts of the Mexican-American population, especially here in Texas. Mardi Gras is an important holiday, not just for New Orleans alcoholics, but for observant Catholics in general.
The calendar is stuffed with days that commemorate major achievements or promote awareness for specific pockets of individuals. Ask yourself which of these holidays might have a special meaning for the buyers of your products and services. Then latch onto those days for dear life, dream up special promotions for them, and market them with appropriately compelling content.
2. Put Your Brand's Unique Spin on the Holiday
Don't fall into the trap of creating generic, forgettable marketing campaigns for your chosen holidays. This danger can prove especially tricky for those holidays that always seem to spur the same consumer responses. Say you sell flowers and Valentine's Day is approaching. How many of your competitors will produce essentially identical offers, marketed with the same bland sentiments? This might be your cue to go in a different direction by employing a different tone, going for a different emotional response, or promoting a somewhat different gift package than the norm.
Whether you're running a marketing push for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Labor Day, or whatever other day matters to your audience, make sure that your brand's inimitable style shines through. Never stop reminding those individuals or businesses of the qualities that make your brand what it is. The holiday may take the center ring, but you're still the ringmaster.
3. Start Early!
We often complain about seeing images of Santa Claus and reindeer the day after Halloween, and not without reason. Even so, don't those images get you thinking about Christmas -- and mightn't those thoughts get you to start filling out your holiday shopping list? If that marketing waited until the before Christmas to make its appearance, would it make any difference to your buying behavior?
Proper holiday marketing requires advance planning and early implementation. Early marketing touches might drop little hints about the upcoming holiday, with later ones revealing more and more details about your special offers and events. You have to build the excitement and awareness over time -- so there's no time like the present to lay out your strategy. Don't forget that high-quality marketing content also takes a certain amount of time and effort to complete. Contact your professional marketing copywriter to discuss ideas and get that content going!
