It’s just a few more weeks before Christmas. After Black Friday sales, the buzz would almost completely be about Christmas events, sales and vacation, that is if it isn’t already. Then you’re going on holiday. Most in your team will also take their yuletide break. Pretty sure the same is true for your PR partner.
But business doesn’t take a break. True, most companies will shut down operations or reduce work during the Christmas holiday and volume buyers are less keen on making buying decisions for the next cycle. But business should run as usual. At least the interest in your business, product or service should flow as usual, if not rise even further, especially with consumers on spending mode and your business being on the retail side of the industry.
If you’re one of the lucky ones, your holiday content strategy would be up and running by now. If not, there’s still time to catch up.
Evaluate your current online strat. Christmas is an excellent marketing and sales period we know, and this is why there are loads of marketing campaigns during this time. But even when Christmas shopping is over and people go on vacation, you can still keep your business in people’s mind with sustained online content. In fact, the online platform is where you could make a strong impact during such time as online would be people’s go-to medium for news and updates and to stay in touch with loved ones or even check on about work. So strengthening your online presence during the holidays would mean a lot for business.
Differentiate your online holiday content from the rest of the year. Make it extra special to reflect how most everyone feel about the season. If you have products or services specially designed for the holidays or you want to highlight, put these at the center stage of your holiday content plan.
At the same time, use your holiday content to set the tone for the coming year. You’d expect your site’s online views to surge as you provide new and fresher content so why not hint at new launches or programs come 2023 as well? This would tickle the interest of your followers and urge them to keep coming back to the site.
Reflect and support the trends. Surely you’ve been watching the market, so you’d know what your buyers and consumers need. You would also know recent developments in the market in general. Factor these in when you plan your content.
For example, we all know how online shopping has become a norm. If you have new gimmicks to make online shopping more interesting or easy for your customers, feature this in one or a couple of your online articles. We also know that online sales have now become monthly instead of seasonal. If you’re taking the same route and having monthly or even weekly promos, talk about these in some of the first stories in your holiday content lineup.
Target your content. Be clear on what demographic you want to reach. These days, there’s no one-size fits-all online material. If your holiday goals include widening the net and reaching the different age groups or buyer types, plan your content in such a way that you have material for these different target readers and then spread the content across your calendar.
Target the medium to use for your content. There are so many platforms available now you can have a field day deciding on what to use — or you can use them all if you have the resources to manage all.
Younger netizens take to video, so you might want to consider video content supplementing the usual stories or articles. Pictures do still paint a thousand words. If you already have an IG site running, now is the time to flood it with new product photos or other related content. More platforms now allow product tagging, making it easier for business to not just promote but actually sell products.
Crosspost material that can be shared across platforms. This way, you’re sure to reach as many of your target audiences as much as possible.
Create engaging content. You’ve identified your target audiences. Now create content specific to these target viewers or readers.
But how exactly can you make your holiday content engaging enough? Many businesses, especially smaller ones, ride on current trends or whatever is going viral. To harp on the season, many others do content centered on finding the perfect gifts, planning the most memorable Christmas dinner and the like.
Find a way to relate these to your products or services, but do avoid hard selling. Try going for an educational, even aspirational, tone when featuring some products. If you have a product or brand ambassador, photos or videos of him or her using your products to make Christmas-related items or preparing Christmas dishes could be something that would resonate with your audience.
Showcase promos, deals and other holiday specials. Would be better to do this as early as possible, even as early as the start of Q4. Many commence working on their Christmas list soon as the ber months roll in. You may start mentioning or hinting on any holiday specials toward the end of Q3 and then create more buzz closer to the actual launch in Q4.
For these weeks leading up to Christmas, what deals are you offering your consumers? If you’re launching something early next year, this could be a good thing to promote on your upcoming content.
If you have a mobile app, new delivery services or any such developments, this can be a good topic for an article or two.
Highlight the personal touch. In today’s online world, you’d be surprised that many still long for the personal touch, in particular when it comes to gift-giving. Try to reflect this in your holiday campaigns and online content. This is why some businesses with physical stores still offer wrapping services. If you a have similar service, highlight this in your content, even show pictures or testimonials.
For purely online businesses, many now go beyond email confirmation and automatically include those who have made a purchase in their newsletter. This is a good way to continue building your database on top of strengthening your relationship with your customers. Mention holiday specials in your emails and newsletters to customers.
Maximize your content management tool. Advance your online posts so you’re sure your site will continue to have fresh content even when everyone’s sipping pina colada on the beach or hopping from one Christmas party to another. CMS tools now allow users to schedule posts ahead of time. Just make sure to check your website regularly or assign someone to do so to see if posts are actually going on live and if the articles do not have errors that could haunt you in the days to come.
Do the same for your social media accounts. Schedule advanced posts so your followers can remain updated about your company and your recent or upcoming activities or products and services.
Now you can be truly ready for that much-deserved holiday break.
