It’s January 2022; Christmas finished last month with many companies reaping the benefits from their online sales and holiday season marketing campaigns. Companies are always keen to take advantage of establishing a USP compared to their competitors and when it comes to Christmas advertising, companies might resort to finding video production services in London to shoot their iconic Christmas videos in one of the UK’s most vibrant cities. Nevertheless, just how soon is too soon when it comes to planning campaigns for Christmas marketing and advertising?
When to Start
The best time to start planning your holiday marketing strategy is now! Even though Christmas finished last month, you can start planning already for the forthcoming year by reviewing what managed to work well and what didn’t.
If things didn’t work out in one year, then you can always switch things up, plan ahead for the following year and evaluate how much was spent on planning particular Christmas campaigns that might not have been successful.
If a campaign wasn’t successful, was it because it was under or over budget? Some of the best and most successful Christmas campaigns have been expensive and for some businesses, it’s worth the investment in Christmas campaigns as they’ll be able to reap the benefits in the long term.
For example, Sainsbury’s earned a profit of £24 for every £1 spent, and in 2016, the John Lewis ‘Buster the Boxer’ advert earned £8 for every £1 spent.
With the increase in competition, you cannot expect to keep your content the same year after year. Consumers have become accustomed to a certain level of creativity in advertising and they will take notice when a brand drops the ball.
Therefore, businesses need to make the most of their Christmas advertising planning and follow these tips.
1. Get the most out of the digital shopping experience with email marketing
Email marketing is a great way to send prospects and customers useful content before the holiday shopping period begins.
However, you’ll need to create an email sequence that provides value and builds up anticipation for Black Friday sales. You can do this by thinking about what your audience wants most from Christmas shopping.
2. Keep branding consistent across channels
Your brand needs to be visible before, during, and after the holiday shopping period. Keep a consistent theme throughout your commercial advertising, emails, and social media posts.
When you’re creating a campaign for November-December ahead of Christmas, it’s important to remember that excitement can quickly turn into disappointment if your brand doesn’t keep to its promise.
3. Use social media marketing
Don’t shy away from paid ads on social media networks, especially Facebook Ads which work great for e-commerce stores that aim for traffic growth and conversion during the holiday season. It’s all about keeping your audience engaged with your brand, product, and advertising.
4. Promote your products on Instagram hashtags
Instagram is a great place to capture people’s attention this holiday season, especially when it comes to fashion-based posts that are likely to attract customers looking for high-quality gifts.
You can find out what your audience is interested in by using Instagram insights to track what hashtags are seeing the most engagement.
5. Utilize the power of video marketing
Videos are a great way to show off your products in action, especially on social media where people expect to see short videos that they can easily share with their friends if they enjoy them.
You can also use pre-recorded videos to explain how your products are made, what materials are used in their construction, or where the products are sourced from.
6. Get more value by combining email marketing with online ads
Online advertising is a great strategy for driving traffic to your website and getting prospects interested in your products. Use email marketing to capture customer details while they’re shopping on your site, then use paid ads to convert them into customers.
7. Remember the power of mobile marketing
Mobile marketing is huge right now so don’t forget about it when you are creating your 2022 holiday marketing campaigns. More people shopping using their smartphones than ever before so make sure that all your ads are mobile-friendly.
8. Get the most out of Pinterest this Christmas
Pinterest can be a great way to show off holiday gift ideas, especially for fashion brands that want to inspire customers with new ways they can dress. You can even create Christmas-themed boards to help people find the right gift ideas.
9. Go big on Instagram Stories
You can use Instagram Stories to promote your products, give tips on holiday shopping, and create a sense of community around your brand. The whole point of using Instagram Stories is to share content that entertains, engages and informs your audience.
Conclusion
Let’s face it, planning Christmas marketing campaigns are hard. But don’t let that stop you from getting your holiday campaign started this year. If you want to be successful in 2022, make sure your marketing campaign is as creative and unique as possible.
It can never be too harmful to start planning campaigns already for the forthcoming year’s Christmas. It’s better to prepare plans for the foreseeable before leaving it too late.
Source: https://www.mikegingerich.com/blog/christmas-ended-last-month-so-how-soon-can-advertising-planning-campaigns-start-again/
