During the holiday season, there are opportunities galore for digital marketing. This is the time when people set out to buy gifts for friends and family. And while they’re doing that, they might also decide to buy something for themselves. Who can resist the displays, the discounts and the urge to indulge in some retail therapy while everyone else is doing the same? Holiday shopping increased by 12.1% between 2014 and 2015 and there's no reason to believe there won't be an increase again this year.
You can use digital marketing to boost in-store as well as online sales. The idea is to tweak your usual digital marketing campaigns to reflect the holiday season. Think about this with your email marketing and your inbound marketing campaigns too. At the same time, make sure you don’t change your look or your message so completely that people won’t be able to recognize your brand. Here are a few digital marketing tips for the holidays:
Layout And Images
You can start by changing up the look of your website, blog and social media pages. The first place most people are going to look for you is your website. So try to make it look more festive. Here are a few ideas:
- String some virtual lights or tinsel around your website. Add some sparkle.
- It’s also a good idea to use brighter colors and eye-catching patterns in your layout.
- If possible, you can also post photographs of people in festive attire.
Do this for your blog and social media pages too, so that the first impression your customers take away is one of celebration and good cheer.
Your Blog Can Help Your Digital Marketing Efforts
Make sure you publish some holiday-themed blog posts. You should start doing this at least a month before the holiday season begins. For example, if you sell clothes for teenagers, here are a few things you could publish blog posts about:
- You could do a series of posts about what to wear for parties.
- Show your potential customers new clothing combinations.
- Write about how to accessorize holiday clothing.
- Write about what type of makeup looks good with holiday clothes.
- If you’re featuring discounts on certain pieces of clothing, write a blog post about that.
- You could also write a blog post with gift suggestions for friends and family.
The possibilities for holiday blogging are endless! Take advantage of this platform to spread the word while promoting your brand at the same time.
Social Media Marketing
Just as you’re updating your blog, you also need to add new, holiday-themed information to your social media pages. On Facebook and Instagram, you can post a number of holiday-themed photographs of your products, especially if you’re selling products that are visually appealing, like clothes, accessories etc. If you sell cars, for example, put a bow on top of a few cars and photograph them for your social sites. Make your social media marketing “Pop” with the holiday spirit.
But even if you’re selling something that doesn’t easily lend itself to visual media, you can still come up with good images. Take PayPal, for example. Even though PayPal isn’t a tangible product you can feel or touch, they still come up with great images for their website. They just use photos of people doing everyday things because the idea is that PayPal’s product is money and being able to use money easily. And money, after all, is something that you need for everything you do. So get your products into the “Holiday Spirit!”
With a little bit of ingenuity, you can come up with great holiday-themed images for social media.
What Not To Do
It’s a good idea to make some changes to your website, blog and social media pages to get ready for the holiday season. It’s not, however, necessary to change your digital marketing approach completely. Make sure any changes you make are in keeping with your brand. You should still be using the same logo and the tone or “voice” of your content shouldn’t change, except to sound more festive. You've spent a lot of time and money establishing your brand. Now is the time to put your brand in front of people, not change it up for the holidays.
If previous customers come to your website and don’t recognize it, they might start to think they’ve come to the wrong place. And you don’t want that to happen. Keep your customer in mind whenever you make any changes.
Contact us for more digital marketing tips for the holidays.