4 Strategies for Proactive Holiday Marketing

Holiday marketing is quickly approaching. No matter what industry you’re in, the holidays present an opportunity to engage with your audience, raise conversion rates, and establish impactful messaging that sets a successful foundation for the coming year.

Yes, we know it’s not even October. You haven’t even carved the Jack O’ Lantern; the Thanksgiving centerpiece is still in the china cabinet; and Christmastime feels oceans away.

There’s an important reason why we’re skipping forward a couple of months. Cyber Monday is coming. Black Friday, too. And it’s not uncommon for companies to run Halloween- and Thanksgiving-centric marketing campaigns.

Whether it’s a limited-time discount or a longer campaign that spans the month before Christmas, both eCommerce and service-based industries will maximize holiday marketing in one way…

The work must begin now.

That means strategic planning, scheduling automated emails, and creating the marketing content you need for success.

Here’s how you accomplish this with ease and grace…

Draw up an audience member profile.

The recipe for a successful holiday marketing campaign begins with a re-evaluation of your customer avatar. Yes, chances are that you’ve already discovered the specific pain points your average prospect experiences. You know what they need and how to engage with them.

The question is: what’s changed since the last time you thought about your customer avatar?

Think about industry shifts, technological upgrades, and changes to the economic climate. All of these factors mean that your market will evolve, and it’s up to you to evolve in tandem.

Once you’ve figured out how your market has changed over the past months, you can more effortlessly formulate your holiday marketing plan.

Figure out your big picture goal.

What is the overall goal of your holiday marketing? Get specific. Do you aim to…

• Increase your opt-in rate by a certain percentage?

• Debut a new product or service?

• Ramp up the sales figures on an existing product?

• Offer free content that grows your marketing list for the coming year?

When you start with your big picture goal, it becomes easier to see all the moving parts you’ll need to engineer success.

Lay out the pieces of your strategy.

And leave nothing out of the equation. One email may be the difference between a 10% and 20% sales increase.

Here are a few items to take into consideration:

• Your landing page(s) and how you plan to drive traffic there. 

• Your advertising strategy, including what platform is best and how you will stand out among the sea of holiday offers and sales.

• How many marketing emails you’ll need, how you’ll segment your list, and when to schedule dispersal.

• Social media marketing, including when to start, how often to post, and how you plan to engage your followers and fans.

• Any offline marketing you’ll need—event fliers, signage, etc.

• Content that generates leads if you plan to market to an audience who hasn’t engaged with your business yet. 

Start creating marketing content early.

You’ve created the goal.

You’ve laid out the pieces of the puzzle.

Now comes the part when you actually create the marketing content. It takes time to map out a strategy, create the exact amount of comprehensive content you need, and implement and test your content. 

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