When holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas roll around, you may be thinking more about what to serve dinner guests or how to decorate your home, not how to increase sales with seasonal marketing. (That is, unless you’re selling Christmas decorations or turkeys, then I’m sure that’s the most important thing.)
Christmas promotions are not just limited to important dates either.
You can cover anything you want: the seasons, festivals, and statutory days, to name a few. You only have to spend some time on social media platforms to see everything from International Coffee Day to World Teachers’ Day; be creative and find the ones that make sense for your business.
No matter what your product or service is, there are great ways to engage your target audience.
5 Seasonal Marketing Ideas to Promote Your Business
Gift cards/certificates
From clothing stores to supermarkets, many businesses offer gift cards, and not just seasonally; you’ll often find them year-round. Even if you don’t have a product or service traditionally associated with a special occasion like Christmas, with a little creativity you can make it work.
For example, you probably wouldn’t think of Subway sandwiches when you’re thinking about Christmas gifts, but if you saw this gift card, you may have an idea to give it to a friend or family member.
Perhaps you are a life coach or business coach who could design a festive-looking gift certificate for a certain number of sessions.
Or maybe you’re an interior designer or feng shui consultant who could sell an introductory session as a housewarming gift.
birthday
Have you ever received a free email or electronic greeting card on your birthday?
While some customers may avoid entering their birthdays on your website or email newsletter signup form, you can make it easier by not asking for the year and telling them why you’re asking for it.
Then send your birthday customer a seasonal discount or gift with your best wishes.
Here’s a tasty one: Family restaurant chain Red Robin is offering a free birthday burger as one of the benefits for signing up for their Royalty program.
free shipping
If you don’t offer free shipping year-round, making this a prominent offer on your website during the holidays can encourage visitors to buy from you.
If you already offer free shipping above a certain amount, consider lowering it for a special occasion.
You can remind customers that this is a special offer by asking them to enter a promo code at checkout or by showing them the normal shipping cost crossed out.
A photo contest on social media
Ask your followers on Facebook or Instagram to share festive photos with your product and tag it for a chance to win a prize. You could have followers send in photos from summer vacation, photos from Easter dinner, a favorite memory from the first day of school… you name it!
Tie it to your business and it’s a win-win situation: your followers get a chance to win a prize and you get exposure and user-generated content.
a simple thank you
It’s always a thoughtful gesture to thank the people who make it possible for you to stay in business!
I am very appreciative of our customers, and always want to wish you a happy holiday and let you know if we are going to be closed for a statistic or special event.
While this is not a tactic to get more sales, the more gratitude you feel and show to your loyal customers, the better. Take the time to send out a short newsletter when you feel it’s appropriate.
As a business owner, it is your primary goal and where you focus most of your energy. However, it can be challenging, especially when you are so close to your brand, to see what is missing and make the necessary changes.
Now that you have some ideas on what to do for your customers, I’m going to share how you can have a successful holiday marketing campaign.
1. Do your keyword research
It’s important to do keyword research every time you create content. You want to have a good balance of short and long tail specific keywords.
Don’t wait until the last minute to create your compelling content, especially for big holidays like Christmas. According to the National Retail Foundation, 40 percent of consumers start shopping on the 25th day before Halloween.
Instead of stuffing your content, you should write for your readers and sprinkle these well-researched keywords throughout your content. For special occasions, brainstorm the event + your product/service/timely offer + your location. Here are some examples:
â— Valentine’s Day + Gift Cards + Vancouver
â— New Years + Women’s Dresses + Mississauga
â—Father’s Day + Spa Packages + Edmonton
2. Provide valuable content
Think about what your visitors will find valuable when you are creating website copy and articles as part of your seasonal marketing.
People are looking for solutions to their problems, whether it’s how to make spring cleaning easier or how to buy birthday gifts on a budget.
You can create a “Top 5” list, collect the “Most Popular” products or services around an occasion, or post some “Easy Ways” to do something to grab people’s attention.
Turn your keyword research into well-written and researched articles and guides that your customers will want to share on social media.
3. Be flexible and data-driven.
It is essential to capture as much data as possible during your seasonal marketing campaigns. Do people interact with your social media posts? Is your website content converting visitors into leads and sales? Is a particular page getting more traffic than others?
As you collect data, you can review your campaign performance to develop your strategy for other important dates and holiday promotions.
You don’t want to miss out on a profitable Black Friday or New Years opportunity because you weren’t sure how your campaign was doing.
As you can see, seasonal campaigns are about more than just putting up decorations in the store or adding a greeting to your website’s home page. By creating meaningful campaigns that resonate with your target audience and following these three steps, your vacation can be happier and more successful than ever.