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Maybe it seems a bit early to be talking about the holidays. After all, Halloween was just last week. But realistically, the time to be thinking about how you’re going to capitalize on the time ahead is now. There are more than 25 major religious holidays between November and mid-January every year. Depending on where you live and who your audience is, some of those celebrations may be more prevalent and relevant, but regardless of locale, ’tis the season to make merry, and there’s no reason your brand should be left out of the festivities. How can you join in?
1. The old standby — send specially designed holiday cards to your clients and prospects. It lets them know you’re thinking about them and humanizes your brand by linking it to a very human time of year.
2. Don’t have the physical addresses of your audience? Consider putting together a holiday email blast to send your best wishes digitally. It might not be as personal as a card by snail mail, but it’s still a warm gesture.
3. Stay fresh in the minds of big potential clients by sending them holiday promotional products or samples of your wares in custom holiday packaging to add value and cheer.
4. Consider adding something special to the unboxing experience for your customers by incorporating holiday packaging or small gifts to their shipment. It’ll provide a little boost of joy to the grand unveiling as they open things up, which boosts the odds of them being thoroughly satisfied.
5. Offer holiday-centric promotions. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the week before Christmas, the day after Christmas, and New Years all offer great framing mechanisms for discounts and giveaways, and represent periods of high retail trafficking.
6. Swap out your standard logo for a holiday version. It might just be temporary, but it draws more attention to your brand, makes you memorable, and can bring a smile to your audience’s face.
7. Have a little holiday fun with video. It’s the single most engaging media format out there for social, and a great way to humanize your team. Whether you “elf” yourselves or rewrite a carol or just feature your team members wishing everyone a happy holiday season, it’s a nice way to reach your audience while building your brand equity.
8. Launch a holiday contest to encourage audience interaction with your brand. Ask them to snap pictures of themselves enjoying your product or service while in the holiday spirit and post it to social media with a designated hashtag. Give the recipient of the most likes or retweets a special gift as a reward!
9. Give back this season by donating a portion of your proceeds to an organization in need or offering to match dollar contributions by your customers at checkout to your favorite non-profit.
10. Brainstorm possible campaigns connecting your brand to the themes most frequently associated with the season: merriment, gratitude, love, magic, and family. By linking your brand to such ideas during this time, you get to join in the conversations taking place and keep yourself in the minds of your customers through weeks where they’re probably preoccupied with the holidays.
11. Host a digital holiday party. Ask your audience to tweet images of them celebrating during a designated time, and randomly select folks as winners of special holiday gifts. Join in yourself with pictures of folks in your office celebrating as well.
12. Send your customers branded 2017 calendars before the year is up. Include the traditional holidays, but also mark days important to your brand, encouraging them to head to the site for discounts or purchase tickets to an event.
13. If you’re in the B2B space, skip the traditional box of chocolates. Feed your folks’ sweet tooth by sending branded holiday cookies to their office. It’s something folks will enjoy and remember while those impersonal boxes of chocolates lose brand association in the kitchenette.
How do you plan to leverage the holidays this year? Let us know in the comments! And if you need some design help along the way, we’ve got your back.
