Have a quick glance side-to-side before we do it. Some of us are not fans of preemptively using the C-word, but seen as November is here, we need to ask…Are you ready for Christmas marketing?
If you fail to prepare early enough you could miss the biggest sales period of the year! In this blog, we are going to take a look at what your business could do to make it stand out from the crowd. With years of marketing, branding and advertising experience, we are here to help you create something special for the festive period.
When to start?
The first question is actually a fairly easy one to answer. If you are an e-commerce business, start immediately, if you haven’t already! You don’t have to start throwing the C-bomb around right now but get your graphics in place and ready to run. Create hype around certain products and think about their placement in your sector.
If you are in the service sector, use December 1st as a starting point. Your consumers will make their way online after opening day one of their advent calendars, which despite their age we guarantee they still have, and start looking to get things done before Christmas. Place yourself front and centre, like a child looking to help the teacher in the classroom. Raise your hand and shout ‘me, me, me’.
If you take a look at Google trends, it would suggest that Christmas related searches begin in November and run until Christmas Day itself. Which pretty much sums up most parents, one is shopping months before getting everything in order, the other is looking for the perfect present on Christmas eve.
Enjoy your marketing!
One of the main and most obvious tips to be Christmas marketing ready is to not only have your graphics and marketing prepped in advance, but also to have fun with it. Christmas is a time of year that’s bright, happy and joyous. Using bright colours within your branding is always a winner. Touch on themes within the elements of your marketing, whether it’s candy canes and sweets or baubles and Christmas trees.
People want to see your business having fun just like everyone else. Don’t overthink being a corporate entity and enjoy yourself. Customers are more likely to buy from a business they believe in, showing little to no character over the Christmas period could be a setback you don’t expect.
Product pairing ️
One thing you’ll find most businesses do within their Christmas marketing campaigns is product pairing. Reselling products they already produce but with a slight Christmas twist. For example, those huge Nutella tubs that you can get personalised at Christmas, which are either gone by January or they sit in your cupboard until next December.
If you keep your eye out, you’ll notice even more this festive period. Whether it’s popular figures turned into Christmas tree decorations or beauty product advent calendars. Pairing a product with a Christmas tradition is a sure way to bulk up those sales.
What if I don’t sell products?
It’s not the end of the world if your business operates in the service sector, in fact, it’s far from it. When it comes to marketing throughout the Christmas period you needn’t give away products or even reinvent them with a Christmas twist. Your business operates on knowledge, how about you share some seasonal advice with your potential and existing clients.
For example, if you’re an insurance broker, why not highlight the key hazards of winter that could affect your insurance premiums? Sharing knowledge is as valuable as giving something away for free, and in some cases, it’s even more valuable. Don’t reinvent the wheel, just put a little helpful twist on your current business offerings.
Give and give again
Stock up on your freebies. It has always been a popular tradition in the service sector to send free gifts to your biggest clients, and we recommend doing this no matter what your business does. Everyone loves receiving something for free, especially around Christmas!
The key to your gifting is to make it memorable, something personalised maybe? If you can sneak your company name or logo in there somewhere it’s even better. Christmas is the time for making others feel valued. Getting prepared today could save you a lot of stress in deep, dark December. So the question remains, are you Christmas marketing ready?
Christmas is coming up fast and the team at Create8 are excited and ready to get started on your next marketing project. Bring on the jingle bells and fairy lights, get in touch with our Manchester-based teams any time! Web design, branding and marketing, we’re all here and ready to chat.
Take a look at some more of our blogs for helpful tips, tricks and advice:
