It might be hard to believe, but the holiday season is right around the corner. In the next two months, we’ll cycle through Halloween, Hannukah, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas and New Year’s Eve/Day! According to a Google consumer survey, 50% of consumers plan to shop online and the National Retail Federation is predicting a 13-15% growth in online holiday sales is expected this year.
Last year, 60% of online retailers started their marketing efforts before Halloween. Is your content marketing strategy prepared? We’ve put together a list of holiday content marketing ideas to help lead your brand to success.
Gift Guide: Maybe you’re in a new relationship and don’t know what to get your significant other for the holiday season. Maybe you’ve been through so many holidays together that you’ve run out of creative ideas. From one end of the spectrum to the other, and everything in between, gift guides are a great piece of holiday content. “The Top 10 Gifts for the Tech-Savvy Woman in Your Life” or “50 Gifts Under $50” are examples of gift guides you could use. Some themes to keep in mind include price, gender, niche, age and color.
Create Urgency: Early bird and last minute shoppers are looking for the best deal in a short amount of time. Create a sense of urgency with these consumers by offering one day sales, or even a flash sale for an hour. Offer a steep discount that would draw in not only loyal customers but new fans. Another tactic is to plan to raise prices after the first of the year, so let your customers know that they need to shop now in order to save.
Make an Emotional Connection: The holidays tend to bring out that warm and fuzzy feeling inside everyone. Your customers are spending time with their friends and family, so make a personal and emotional connection with them at this time. If you’re a local business, offer 10% of sales on a certain item to a local charity or soup kitchen for a week.
Show Holiday Spirit: No matter what your industry is, theme your content around the holidays. For example, if you are a bar, make an infographic titled Kris Kringle’s Christmas Drinks From Around the Globe. You can feature drink specials on the infographic that are all themed around Christmas, such as Santa’s Stiff Hot Chocolate or Rudolph’s Red Nose.
Change Up Your Timing: During the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping, weekends and evenings become more popular times for consumers to be on social media or their smartphones. Shift your content marketing strategy to include a push in the evenings and on the weekends, when people are out of work and rushing to the mall. Due to the increase in mobile usage, make sure your content is optmized for mobile devices and tablets.
Holiday Hashtags: Run a contest during the holiday season using specially-crafted holiday hashtags for a fun and interactive way to celebrate. Also, you can interact with others and join topical conversations using holiday hashtags. Some popular hashtags from 2012 include #blackfriday, #smallbizsat, #winterwonderland and #holidsayssavings. Do your research to find out what’s being used both locally and nationally to help get the word out about your brand.
Thank Your Loyal Customers: Show your customers you care! This is the time to reward those loyal customers and brand ambassadors. Brand loyalty is easily forgotten around the holidays with the bombarding of promotions and discounts to consumers, so make sure your customers know you appreciate their business. Send a thank you email with an exclusive coupon code, or offer a limited edition of one of your popular products to your brand ambassadors.
What strategies do you use for content marketing during the holidays?
