Based on last year's data, small businesses experienced a 26.6% increase in sales from online shopping over the holidays. So, what does that mean for your holiday marketing strategy?
In order to increase your brand engagement this holiday shopping season, you'll need to turn your attention to your digital marketing strategy.
Further, it is imperative that you revisit your marketing strategy before the holidays and implement some of the following ideas in order to drive engagement and sales.
10 holiday marketing ideas to boost brand engagement
The holiday season offers small business owners a unique opportunity to connect with customers and increase brand awareness. Whether you're planning an e-commerce site, social media campaign, or holiday party, increasing your brand engagement can help your business grow.
Here are 10 holiday marketing ideas that will help your brand generate more engagement throughout the season:
1. Run a holiday-themed giveaway
Running a giveaway contest is a great way to generate brand engagement, especially during the holiday season.
With a giveaway, you can incentivize customers to participate in your marketing efforts by offering them free products, discounts, or gift cards as a reward for engaging with your brand.
2. Create a customer appreciation campaign
Running a customer appreciation campaign is another effective way to generate brand engagement, as it gives you the chance to thank your customers and turn them into brand advocates.
This tactic is especially beneficial during the holiday season, when shoppers are looking to reward their favorite brands with their business. Customer appreciation campaigns are a great way to build trust and form lasting relationships with your customers.
3. Encourage user-generated content with a holiday-inspired hashtag
If you're looking for a relatively cheap way to build brand awareness, encourage your audience to create and share photos and videos of themselves utilizing your products or services.
This type of user-generated content is a great way to spread brand awareness, and you can take it to the next level by creating a holiday-themed hashtag for your customers to use. This way, you can review all these posts in one place and have easy access to this content to use in your own marketing campaigns. Don’t forget to encourage feedback from your customers as well, as this will again help you connect with them on a deeper level.
4. Participate in a holiday charity
Giving back to your community is a great way to generate brand awareness, and it will also improve your customer engagement. Community involvement also helps you gain brand advocates and develop better relationships with your customers.
5. Collaborate with influencers in your niche
Influencers are individuals who have a large social media audience and who are able to sway their followers’ opinions and purchasing decisions. Collaborating with influencers is an excellent way to increase brand awareness and engagement, as they can introduce your products to their audience.
6. Boost engagement through gamification
If gamification is your thing, then you're in luck; the holiday season makes this tactic even more appealing to consumers. For instance, you can create an interactive app that lets children create and send gift lists to their parents or interactive cards to their family and friends. This is a great way to encourage people to engage with your brand without pressuring them into a purchase.
7. Run holiday-themed email remarketing campaigns
Email remarketing campaigns allow you to specifically market to previous customers to encourage them to make another purchase.
You can use email remarketing campaigns to highlight holiday discounts and seasonal products and services. This will drive more traffic to your site and boost sales.
8. Create a holiday-related checklist
Everybody needs a little help staying on track during the holiday season. So, why not create a fun, free downloadable holiday checklist for your customers?
Freemiums are created with the user in mind, and they keep your brand at the front of the customer’s mind during the busy season. They're also the perfect vehicle for your customers to share with their friends and family.
9. Design campaigns that target users’ emotions
It's human nature to express more emotion during the holiday season, and by targeting your audience's emotions through your marketing campaign, you will help them feel more connected to your brand and influence their purchasing decisions.
10. Include free gifts with purchase
Another great way to increase brand engagement is to include free gifts with purchases as part of your holiday marketing campaign. This will not only improve customer loyalty and inspire future purchases, but it will also help you create brand advocates.
Get more holiday marketing tips from the BBB
The holiday season can be a hectic time for your brand, but it's also a time of great opportunity. If you're looking to increase customer engagement through your holiday marketing strategy, the BBB® has the tips you need.
Get your marketing strategy holiday-ready with more resources from the BBB business news feed!