As the holiday season closes in, digital marketing agencies are looking for ways to give their SMB clients an edge over their competition. Or in other words, ways to build a holiday marketing strategy or a holiday marketing plan that kicks ass.
We all know what comes with this time of year: snow, Santa Claus, holiday decorations... and a lot of online activity.
Yes, it's a good time to invest marketing efforts in dedicated marketing activity as users are already in the right mood which is an ideal chance to grab their attention!
Even service businesses can use this special time of year to re-engage past customers and turn prospects into lifelong customers.
Not to mention retail businesses and online stores. Upping your clients' eCommerce capabilities and capturing the attention of holiday shoppers is absolutely essential, as the global eCommerce market is expected to total $5.7 trillion in 2022.
To help you get your small business clients ready for the most hectic period of the year, we've compiled our top tips below for holiday marketing ideas – so grab some hot cocoa, put on some Christmas music, and let's jump right into it!
But first, let’s define what “holiday marketing” really is.
Well, it’s pretty straightforward, especially for digital marketing agencies like yours.
But for those of you who are unsure, here’s a proper explanation;
Holiday marketing involves creating campaigns that emphasize how your clients’ products or services can solve problems or add value during certain times of the year.
Think Thanksgiving meals, Halloween costumes, Christmas gifts for loved ones and New Year resolutions - all great opportunities to spread festive cheer and promote your clients' brands in the process!
Fun fact: our first ever DudaCon was a New Year's resolutions kind of campaign.
Now that we are aligned on the what, let’s move on to holiday marketing tips, starting with:
Creating holiday marketing campaigns? Great! Spice these up with a little bit of personal touch.
Going into the time of year when people want to feel nostalgic about past holidays and try to recreate that, it’s more important than ever to engage the target audience on an emotional level.
Focus on creating content that resonates with people and their stories, not just the holidays in general. A good way to do this is by sharing customer stories or highlighting how your client helped them during the year. This will help build relationships and boost loyalty amongst your clients' customers.
So don't be afraid to get creative and show off the personality behind your clients’ brand – it could pay off big time during the holidays!
It's no surprise that competition is fierce during the Holiday season, and that means higher prices for advertising – especially on platforms like Google Ads or Facebook Ads (and for B2B; LinkedIn ads).
Prepare your clients by telling them before they get started with their campaign so there are no surprises down the road.
Also, it’s a good time to adjust targeting and focus on local targeting. It's important to target potential customers in specific geographic areas so that your advertising dollars aren't spread too thin across too wide an area.
Another way to lower costs is by taking advantage of discount advertising - During the holiday season, many advertising platforms such as Google Ads offer discounts on advertising services to help you reach even more customers at a lower cost. Set up campaigns targeting your desired customer base, and take advantage of these special holiday deals!
Last year’s holiday data should inform your strategy and tactics.
Before diving into any new promotional campaigns, it's important to review last year's activities - what worked, what didn't work and why?
Doing so will help you identify areas of improvement and pinpoint exactly where you should focus your efforts this time around.
Additionally, don’t forget to closely track the customer engagement and conversion data you generate this year across your client’s website, social media channels and in-person activities. You’ll need it to inform campaigns going forward.
While hashtags are great for any kind of social media campaign, they become extra important during the holidays.
A well-thought-out hashtag can be used to help boost engagement and even attract new customers.
When creating hashtags for SMB clients, try to focus on ones that reflect their unique brand voice or product offerings. This will increase their chances of being found by potential customers and give them more visibility in the online sphere!
Just make sure you come up with hashtags that aren’t being used for other purposes - this will help ensure that the hashtags you create are unique to your business. Alternatively, you can use hashtags that already exist so that you can tap into conversations that are already taking place.
Finally, don’t forget to promote these hashtags! Make sure you include them in all of your client’s holiday campaigns, including email newsletters and social media posts. You can also use hashtags in ads or feature them on signs at physical locations. By doing this, you can help ensure that customers see and remember these hashtags - giving them one more way to find out about your clients’ promotions and offers.
Happy hashtagging!
While the basics of SEO remain the same year-round, there are a few key things you can do to ensure your clients' websites are prepared for the holiday rush.
Start by conducting keyword research for seasonal topics such as “Christmas decorations”, “Christmas gift ideas”, "Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” deals, “holiday party outfits”, and so on.
For example, if your client is a toy store, you might want to optimize for keywords like "holiday gifts for kids".
By targeting these seasonal keywords, you'll be able to attract more holiday customers to your clients' websites and increase their chances of making a sale or offering a service.
Make sure to include the keywords in your clients' website content, titles, and meta descriptions.
Another way to strengthen your clients’ SEO strategy is to create dedicated landing pages for your clients' holiday promotions and deals. This will not only make it easier for users to find what they're looking for, but it will also give your clients' websites a boost in the search rankings.
Don’t forget to keep an eye on the competition. It's always a good idea to stay on top of what your competitors are doing, but it's especially important during the holiday season. Monitor their websites and social media channels to see what keywords they're using and what promotions they're offering. You can then adjust your clients' strategies accordingly.
And, of course, adjust your clients’ local SEO, which brings us to our next point.
Local SEO is one aspect you shouldn’t neglect.
During the holidays, people are often searching for services, gifts and other holiday items in their immediate area.
Make sure your clients' websites are optimized for local keywords and update their Google My Business (GMB) listing with festive details that will help customers find them during their holiday shopping.
Let people know about any promotions or discounts they may have for the season, and include the business's holiday hours as well as photos or videos of holiday-themed decorations that highlight the atmosphere in the business.
Doing social media marketing during the holidays is a lot of fun because social media is the perfect marketing channel to communicate holiday messaging in a non-formal, playful way.
It’s also a great opportunity to test out relatively new social media channels like TikTok.
But before getting into optimizing new channels, review the old ones.
Give your clients' social media profiles an extra festive boost by updating their profile pictures, banners, header images and even photo albums with seasonal themes or colors.
A simple update, like adding a Santa hat to your clients’ logos or cover photos updated with holiday promotions can make a big impact.
You can even go as far as updating your clients’ bios with a holiday-themed tagline or messaging.
As for social posting, the possibilities are endless; you can talk about next year’s trends within your client’s industry, feature a cool contest, and more.
Speaking of contests, you can also try some User Generated Content (UGC). Encourage social media users to share their experiences, memories, and stories. This will create an organic connection with your client’s brand while also broadening its reach.
Read all about it in the next section.
UGC is more than just a fancy acronym; User-generated content is a powerful tool for holiday marketing. It's a way to tap into the collective creativity and enthusiasm of your client’s customers and followers and leverage it to drive brand awareness and sales.
Here are a few ways to make the most of user-generated content this holiday season:
As a digital marketing agency serving SMBs, it's important to remember that while holiday email marketing can be a powerful tool, it's all about striking the right balance.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when planning your holiday email marketing strategy:
Whether your client has an eCommerce store or a brochure website, the holiday season is the perfect time to give it a makeover. Clients will appreciate that you’ve gone the extra mile and added a bit of humanity to their digital presence.
Add festive holiday banners and images, update product descriptions with special offers and discounts, and use holiday colors - like reds and greens - throughout the site to create a feeling of cheer.
As for copy, now is also the time for digital marketing agencies to help their clients spruce up their website copy. Update ‘About’ pages with details about any seasonal services offered, or add holiday greetings that welcome visitors to the site. As part of your content marketing efforts, you can even post unique content related to the season – such as recipes for Thanksgiving dinner or a list of great holiday gifts – to get more visitors reading.
Plan to customize your client’s websites for every holiday so it feels both festive and timely.
Video marketing is a great way to get your clients noticed during the holidays. Considering that videos are easier than ever to produce, it’s a real no-brainer.
Use creative ideas to create funny, entertaining videos related to the season that can be shared on social media and on their website.
Here are some tips to get you going:
Not sold on the video idea? Check out this blog post about The Power Of Adding Videos To Your Clients’ Sites.
Look at the various holidays as an opportunity to re-engage with your client’s loyal customers and reach new ones.
Successful holiday marketing campaigns can really move the needle for your clients.
Plan around them as you create your yearlong advertising and marketing campaigns. Use data to inform decisions, try things, and innovate.
Remember, customer experience is everything, and the holiday shopping season is a great opportunity to offer a festive experience that will make an impact.
In closing, we want to be the first to say, from our family to yours, happy holidays!
