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December Marketing Ideas to Get Ahead of the Game for the Holidays

Thursday 24th October 2024

Blog Author Beth Perrin by Beth Perrin

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In the marketing world, it’s always best to plan ahead and prepare your campaigns in advance - especially when it comes to key events like the festive season. Knowing what kind of ads you want to run and what kind of content you want to post means you won’t be caught short at the last minute, and gives you time to make the necessary arrangements with your internal teams.

Research from Convince & Convert shows that social media traffic rises by a massive 73% during the holiday season, and throughout December, consumers want communications from brands to be festive (37%), funny (21%), nostalgic (20%) and value-focused (20%) - so if you aren’t using your online presence to get into the spirit, you could be missing out on a major opportunity to reach wider audiences, connect with your community and incentivise those all-important conversions.

Read on to discover our top tips and suggestions for your winter marketing strategy that will help you get ahead of the game for the holidays.

 

Black Friday

Black Friday takes place on 29th November this year, but you can continue your deals and discounts into the first week of December in order to extend the buzz of the event and give your customers some extra time to take advantage of your special offers. According to data from McKinsey & Company, 40% of shoppers said they were planning to do ‘most’ of their Christmas shopping over the Black Friday weekend last year, so it’s a great idea to make shoppers aware of gift ideas and combine the event with your festive promotions.

84% of consumers agree that a positive experience with a retailer during Black Friday would encourage them to shop there again, which means you’ll have a chance to turn newcomers into long-term, loyal customers if your strategy is a success.

 

 

Advent Calendar Countdown

A fun way to build excitement and anticipation for Christmas is to run an advent calendar campaign throughout December leading up to the big day, with daily announcements, giveaways, gifts and offers hidden behind each door. It’s a good idea to include a ​​campaign-specific hashtag, such as your brand name followed by ‘advent’ or ‘Christmas’, or think of a festive pun containing your brand name. This will help you raise awareness of your campaign and drive engagement - plus, if you’re asking your audience to share UGC as a form of entry for a giveaway, a hashtag will allow you to gather it all in one place.

 

 
 

Festive UGC

UGC (user generated content) refers to photos, videos and testimonials posted by your customers regarding your product or service, which you can then share onto your brand’s social media pages to boost authenticity and show gratitude. Just make sure to ask for permission first, and tag the customer in the caption of your post to give credit.

Not only does sharing UGC make your followers feel valued, it also has a big impact on other users’ shopping choices - in fact, 93% of customers believe UGC is very helpful when making a purchasing decision, and 48% claim that it’s a great method for discovering new products. Plus, when it comes to paid ads, those that incorporate UGC get 4x higher click-through rates and a 50% drop in cost-per-click than those that don’t.

The festive season is an ideal time to ask your audience for UGC, as it demonstrates to existing customers that you really appreciate their feedback and enjoy seeing them using your product or service, while also giving prospective customers a glimpse of what they can expect from you. It’s a genuine way to show how your products and services can be used in the real world, rather than a super polished photoshoot or unrelatable marketing campaign.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by NEXT (@nextofficial)

 
 

Decorate Your Social Media Pages

The holiday season is an excellent time to give your social media pages a temporary makeover. Update your profile pictures across each platform to festive versions with snowflakes and stars, add a Santa hat to your logo, or upload a new cover photo promoting your Christmas product range or limited edition items.


3sixfive's Christmas Facebook cover photo

 
 

Gift Guide

Trying to conjure up Christmas present ideas for friends and family can sometimes be a tricky task. To give your customers some inspiration, consider assembling a gift guide or digital catalogue outlining your top products, which items to pair them with, and who they’re suitable for. Don’t forget to take advantage of product tagging and other shopping tools on social media which can facilitate direct sales and make it even easier for your followers to purchase items without having to leave your page.

 

 
 

Promote Seasonal Products

If your brand has launched a limited edition product, collection or menu especially for the festive season, spark excitement and inspire urgency by promoting it on your socials - perhaps with a series of teasers during the run-up to its release, followed by a full announcement on the day it becomes available. Make sure to let your customers know that it will only be around for a short time, so they need to be quick and treat themselves before it’s gone. As mentioned above, you could even incorporate your Christmas item(s) into your cover photo on Facebook or your header image on X so it’s the first thing people see when they visit your page.

 

 
 

Trending Festive Sounds

When a sound clip or song is trending on TikTok or Reels, this means it’s currently being used by lots of creators, giving you an opportunity to participate in a viral moment and therefore boost your reach - plus it shows that your brand is switched on to what’s popular right now. Naturally, throughout December, festive soundbites and Christmas songs trend, so pay attention to the most commonly used ones and make sure to incorporate them into your videos.

On Instagram, trending audio is indicated by a little upwards pointing arrow beside its name in the bottom left corner of a Reel. When you visit the audio library during the Reel creation process, Instagram displays the number of Reels that have been made using each track, so you can monitor trends here too.

On TIkTok, you can visit the trending songs section of the Creative Centre to browse the most popular clips from the last 7 days. You can even view detailed analytics for each one and filter out those that aren’t approved for business use.

 

@matalan Crisis averted 😉 #matalan #matalanchristmas ♬ original sound - Matalan Online

 
 

Behind-the-Scenes Content

December is a great time to humanise your brand by showing your followers what goes on behind the scenes during the holiday period. Post photos and videos of your team members getting into the festive spirit, whether that’s putting up your office Christmas tree, decorating their work-from-home space, or transforming your store or restaurant for the season.

For eCommerce businesses, Instagram stories are the perfect place to show your team packing orders or wrapping gifts. For restaurants and other hospitality brands, you could share some photos of your chefs preparing festive meals for guests, or your bartenders making their favourite festive cocktail.

Christmas is the best time to be generous and give something back to the community, so consider participating in fundraisers and carrying out other charity activities. For example, Christmas Jumper Day, an event that raises money for Save the Children, is a fantastic day for your team to show off their best (or ugliest!) Christmas jumpers and share some fun photos on social media.

 
 

Enhanced Customer Service

With customer enquiries increasing by a huge 75% over the Christmas period, the need for a comprehensive customer service strategy becomes even more important than usual in December. Because of this, it’s a good idea to expand your social media customer care team before the rush begins, in order to prevent your current staff from becoming overwhelmed by the sudden rise in message volumes.

Depending on the size and nature of your business, you may need to adjust your customer service hours during the festive period if you currently only operate from 9-5. This could involve some extra support at the weekends, or an around-the-clock strategy that covers everything from early mornings to late evenings.

If you’re unable to do so, consider outsourcing your Social Media Customer Service or Live Chat to an external agency like 3sixfive. Our dedicated team of experts can take control of your social media inboxes and website live chat plugin, responding to every enquiry promptly and using your brand’s tone of voice for a seamless experience. It’s an ideal option if you don’t have enough time or resources to handle your customer service in-house, allowing you to focus on the rest of your Christmas marketing activities - plus it can result in tangible ROI for your business.

 
 

Summary

With Christmas just 2 months away, now is the perfect time to start planning your content and preparing your social media strategy for the holidays. Whether you choose a classic advent countdown, a giveaway, a UGC competition or a handy gift guide, you’ll find plenty of opportunities for engagement, interaction and community building in December - as well as a chance to boost website traffic and increase sales. We’re here 365 days a year (including Christmas Day and New Year’s Day!) so contact us to find out how we can support your brand with Sentiment Analysis, Community Management and more expert services throughout the duration of your festive campaign.

If you need a hand with Social Media Community Management, don’t forget we’re here to assist your business from 8am-10pm, 365 days a year. Get in touch with 3sixfive today to discover how we can level up your interactions and support your marketing campaigns.


 
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