It’s the most wonderful time of the year - especially for creators of festive holiday ad campaigns! Over the past 20 years, the debut airing of the first Christmas TV advert always signified the start of the festive season. Excitedly we would ask family and friends whether they had too witnessed the magic of these adverts, discussing them in detail. Each year we would watch as the adverts morphed into short films with big businesses competing and trying to outdo each other.
Fast forward to 2021 and the world is a somewhat different place. Our viewing habits have changed - in a survey conducted in 2020 (Source: www.finder.com/uk/tv-streaming-statistics) surrounding the UK’s streaming statistics it was found that 13 million UK households are subscribed to at least one streaming TV service.
How does this relate to Christmas digital marketing?
Well (keep up here!), if people are paying for on-demand/streaming services there is less ‘live TV’ being watched, which in turn, means there is a smaller audience for the traditional big TV ads. In order to reach the most amount of people possible, companies have had to get smarter with their festive marketing. It is now no longer good enough to concentrate on a big budget TV advert without taking the time to invest almost as much money into the digital marketing to run alongside it.
With many high street businesses suffering from dwindling sales due to the COVID19 pandemic, online competition and costly rates for prominent store locations, big names, including M&S Clothing and Home, have taken the plunge and canned their festive TV advert, opting instead for advertising on online and radio channels only in a bid to save money (Source: www.thedrum.com/news/2020/11/06/ms-clothing-and-home-shirks-tv-digital-and-radio-focussed-christmas-message).
So, in a bid to help you with your Digital Christmas Marketing, we have put together a guide of things to think about in order to maximise your user engagement and sales.
Email Marketing
Never underestimate the power of email marketing, seen as a less glamourous sibling to social media marketing, the beauty of email marketing is that you are able to control and target specific consumers depending on what you are selling. If you have been using your website & social media platforms to capture data (i.e subscribers) you will already have a list of people with whom you know are somewhat interested in what you are providing - it is the ultimate up-selling tool.
“90% of emails reach the correct consumer’s inbox, but only 2% of Facebook followers see a business’s posts in their News Feeds.”
Data provided by ‘The Manifest’ (themanifest.com/email-marketing/blog/email-marketing-statistics).
Apps like MailChimp are brilliant for organising email campaigns, with scheduled content you can build an entire Christmas campaign in one go, pinpointing exactly when emails should be sent and who they should be sent to.
Example: Email Advent Countdown - emailed every week (or even every day if you are feeling confident) offering advice or deals to your subscribers and customers.
More info: Email Marketing for business growth
Selling Solutions
It’s great seeing all these fantastic products & services but more often than not we want to see how they will benefit our lives. If you were to buy a new vacuum cleaner, for example, you would probably want to see how it will save you time and effort - why is it better than your existing one?
“60% of businesses use video as a marketing tool.”
Data provided by Biteable.com (biteable.com/blog/video-marketing-statistics/)
Online explainer videos are a brilliant way of showcasing not only products, but services too - think of the old style ‘infomercial’ with a modern twist. Done correctly, they can make the target audience feel engaged, informed and positive about whatever you are selling. This creates a connection and feeling of trust which can be successful in improving conversion rates if the information is relatable and engaging.
Example: Top 5 Christmas products - short explainer video showcasing some of your best products and how to obtain them with links back to your online store. If you are selling a service, it may be a good idea to detail how it can benefit users over the Christmas period.
More info: Video Marketing - Benefits and SEO
It’s all about the image
We all love a festive snowy scene, but how many of us in the UK actually remember a white Christmas? Most of these memories have come from numerous adverts and marketing campaigns, cards, movies, books etc, however this doesn’t make us feel any less sentimental about it!
Imagery has a huge part to play in selling products and there is no better time than in months before Christmas to update your photos and imagery for a more festive feel. With Instagram based solely around images and photos, social media is the perfect platform to seasonalise your business.
If you have a sale on over the Christmas period then changing the imagery on your website and sharing on social media can quickly notify customers of any deals to be had. Being able to add links back to your website or online store brings customers directly to you. People are more likely to read short snippets of text accompanied by a relevant image than a longer paragraph of more relatable text on its own.
Changing imagery and associated content on your website is also a great way to kickstart google into reviewing and ranking your site content and we all know Google loves fresh content! In terms of users, if people see a social media profile full of relevant, bright eye catching products then they are more likely to think you are a trustworthy source and commit to buying from you. There is nothing more off putting for a customer then going to a Facebook profile and seeing pictures of Easter deals during November.
Example: Christmas Competition - Create festive imagery highlighting free shipping during December on all gift products or a free 20 min consultation. Engage users to share on social media by running a competition based on likes and shares for a specific post.
More info: Getting started with Instagram for Business
Review your festive SEO and PPC
One of the best things to start getting on top of early is to start thinking about your Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing and who/what you want to target in the months leading up to Christmas.
For example in 2018 (no less relevant despite being a few years old!) using Google Trends researchers at MyVoucherCodes.co.uk published the most searched for Christmas terms and it was very interesting reading indeed!
“The most popular ‘Christmas present’ related searches were Personalised snow globe (+350 per cent), Christmas present for girlfriend (+50 per cent), Christmas present for wife (+50 per cent), Wife Christmas present 2018 (+50 per cent) and Mums Christmas present (+50 per cent).”
(Data provided by MyVoucherCodes.co.uk via www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/here-are-most-popular-christmas-related-online-searches-2018-43570)
Looking at the excerpt above illustrates perfectly some small changes that can be made to your PPC words. You may sell craft products and gifts all year round but using the search term ‘Craft gifts’ will not get you as high on the rankings as ‘Christmas craft gifts for children’.
Knowing your target audience and platform is key to a successful PPC campaign, different demographics use different platforms. Making sure you have the right offers and promotions targeting the right users means a higher chance of a good ROI.
Example: Used PPC before? Review last years results and analyse what worked and what didn’t. Take into account recent trends and utilise these keywords.
More info: Getting to grips with Pay Per Click and Google Ads
And remember..........
Your digital marketing doesn’t stop on December 26th, a successful campaign on any platform requires consistency and regular work. Always look towards the next quarter and decide how you want to target users and gain conversions. Don’t stop at Christmas, use the momentum you have created to publicise any sales or new year deals. Perhaps you have Valentine products or discounts available. The earlier you start with any online marketing means the more likely you are to start increasing exposure and rankings.
We understand also that this all sounds hard and time consuming, here at Rumble Digital Marketing we make it sound easy right? That’s because this is what we do, so if you need any advice on email marketing, video marketing, content marketing, social media or pay per click advertising then please do get in touch. Alternatively if you just want advice or are looking for resources to help our website has some great free downloads.