We just passed Halloween, but in the business world the holiday marketing campaigns are likely already in full swing.
The retail world really gets going as November comes along. Things might build slowly at first, but as we get closer to the Black Friday and Cyber Monday days things are going to get intense.
Many companies plan out their holiday marketing efforts well in advance. In fact, one thing I learned in the retail world is that a good time to plan for the holidays is the previous year.
That means that right now, once the rush is over say in January, that it’s a good time to look at ideas for next year while the results from the current year are fresh.
Anyway, getting back on track.
You probably have ideas for promotions and discounts and things like that for the holiday season. One thing not to overlook in all the hustle and bustle, though, is the fact that you can ramp up your frequency with really all your marketing efforts this time of year.
Here are some tips for doing so.
Tip #1. “Warning” Email
Email is one thing you can definitely increase the frequency of heading into holiday. Many businesses do this already and you can certainly follow suit.
Most customers expect an increase in email, but there are a few important things to remember.
The most important thing to remember is that customers will only put up with so much if they’re not getting something out of it.
Things like daily deals are usually pretty valuable. Even if a deal one day isn’t appealing, customers will still stay subscribed to see what might come the next day.
If you are increasing email frequency also maybe send your customers a “warning” email. Let them know what is coming so they aren’t surprised when they start getting an email every day when they had been getting an email once a week.
And also tweak your unsubscribe options if possible. Still provide the basic unsubscribe option, but also add something that allows a suer to go back to the regular schedule of emails.
Tip #2. Repurpose Content
One way to increase frequency of all the marketing efforts you’re doing is by repurposing content on different channels.
Customers typically have their favorite channels. Some might only use Facebook. Others might prefer to use email more than social media. Others might like video while others like podcasts.
One of the obvious challenges with increasing frequency is that you need to create more content. You can repurpose content and spread it across different channels.
Let’s say you want to create a series of helpful tips for your customers during the holiday.
Start with producing a video. Then pull it out and create a podcast. Then have someone on the team take the video and create a blog post.
And from that take little snippets and create a number of different social updates or tips that you can use and reuse throughout the holidays.
Tip #3. More Than One Person For Social
Many companies have only one person on their team that handles all the social media. That’s pretty crazy for regular times during the year especially if you have more than one social profile.
But the during the holidays it’s really crazy.
Put more than one person on social media. You can maybe bring in an extra intern or have someone forego their other main job to focus on social media during the holidays. Or maybe someone can work overtime during the week and put in an extra 10 hours each week on social.
Things move fast in the social world and that’s really true during the holidays. The more content you share with your followers the more engaged they’ll be and that leads to more sales during this crucial time of year.
Tip #4. More Designers For Everything
Speaking of all hands on deck…designers are crucial for the holidays. You’re going to need more designs and graphics and images for your website, email, social media and all that kind of stuff. Maybe even an increase in print marketing.
Will your current designers be able to handle it all?
They’ll do their best and will be able to keep up with a lot, but you’ll still probably want more designers on the team.
The great thing about the world we live in today is that you can bring in freelancers and contractors to help during the busy times. There is still time to get people caught up and ready to go for the holiday push.
Now that I write this you can hire freelancers to help with social media as well.
Tip #5. Create Content Yesterday
If you want to create more content during the holidays then the best way to do so is to create much of the content way ahead of time. You have an entire year to start creating content.
Obviously the more newsy type content needs to be created on the fly, but there are things like guides and tips that can be created at anytime.
We’re cutting it close now with the holidays already here, but you can get a jump on things for next month.
And then as you move into the New Year you can start working on plans for the next holiday season.
Conclusion
The holiday marketing season is here and things are going to get crazy. It’s a make or break time of year for many businesses especially retailers and ecommerce companies.
You’re obviously thinking about the holiday marketing strategy now, but it’s really turned into something that goes year round at least in terms of how you plan, work and create.
There are some things you can still do now to create more content for this year while also planning now for next year.
Customers expect more content. It increases engagement and sales.
What are you doing to increase content this holiday season?
