Tips to Get Digital Holiday Marketing Right
Whether it’s the most wonderful time of the year for you or not, one thing is certain: the holidays are a boom time for many brands. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t brands that can get left out in the cold. With so many companies clamoring for limited consumer attention, not every piece of content produced this season will have the impact marketing teams desire.
In recent years, digital marketing has evolved and while not every brand or company works the same, there are some ways to ace your digital holiday marketing campaigns regardless of industry or company size.
Use Feelings of Nostalgia
The holidays are packed with memories and there is a lot of emotion tied up in Christmas trees, turkey carving and family gatherings. While family, friends and loved ones are at the heart of these holidays and gatherings, consumer-facing brands also play an important role.
How does your brand breakthrough? Where does it fit? Is this connection strong enough to resonate with audiences? These are all important questions to ask and answer as they help shape campaign messaging.
Skittles did this very well recently with their online Halloween spot flipping the classic premise of witches luring youth to their demise with candy. It tackles nostalgia with humor and even briefly features an older Halloween Skittles ad that their younger audience may still remember. The result? Check it out for yourself: https://youtu.be/NB3gs2ZP_8c?t=8.
During the holidays your brand should look to inform as consumers are looking for something that will solve their holiday problems. This may include gift-giving, travel plans, or hosting duties. These scenarios present opportunities for online searches. Here is where presenting great and informative digital content is key.
Let’s say your company sells a snack food item. Some great marketing tactics for the holidays can include a how-to for a gift basket that includes your product, targeted ads touting the snack’s portability, or a video that shows consumers how to throw the perfect holiday bash.
With more consumers turning online to inform their purchase decisions (especially through video content), your brand can position itself as the answer to their burning questions. It is also an opportunity to present unique uses that consumers may not have thought of before.
Be Present for Micro-Moments
The holidays can be stressful. Chasing down gifts while rushing from store to store, planning dinners, parties, and organizing travel all pile on top of everyday responsibilities. During such highly active times, most consumers will turn to their smartphones for some reprieve.
It’s these fleeting moments that present opportunities for marketers. These moments occur for many reasons. Maybe they are looking to do something productive or distract themselves. It’s possible they are looking to learn about something or make a purchase. This is the point where brands can insert themselves and be visible.
The key to profiting from these moments is the type of content you produce. These moments are bite-sized and scattered throughout the day. Your content must match. This is the time for some creativity. How can you make content worth engaging with that does not eat up consumer’s days? It’s a tough challenge, but a fun one.
Clorox is a company that has utilized these micro-moments for better interactions. As stated in this article from Think With Google, consumers see different content based on their intent in the moment. For example, searches for the flu in their city lead to the Clorox Cold n’ Flu tracker, while searches for cat videos lead to cat videos made by the Fresh Step Litter brand.
Engage in Conversation
When it comes to the digital world, everyone is talking. It’s the world’s largest soapbox available to anyone that can access it — a number that increases by the day. Savvy brands and marketers see the daily social chatter as an opportunity to strike up a conversation with consumers.
Around the holidays, there is a lot of conversation to be had. It’s a time of year where consumers are already seeking out brands for various reasons. Take advantage of these wishes with meaningful interactions. Social media remains the best platform for these engagements as it offers the ability to have conversations in near real-time. The beauty of social media means these conversations can happen with more than just the intended recipient. An engaged brand is a well-received brand.
Having these conversations are easier said than done. At first, it may be difficult if your brand or company’s following is smaller. However, regardless of the size of your social audience, continued engagement and interaction with consumers has value long past the holiday season.
The holidays mean a lot of things to a lot of people. To marketers, it must mean opportunity. Clever planning, strategy, and tactics that cut through the noise of Thanksgiving Day parades and holiday carols in the digital space.
