5 tips for planning an epic Christmas marketing campaign

Did you know American consumers spent $211.7 Billion⁠(opens in a new tab or window) on online retail in 2022? If you’re wondering how you can maximize your sales over the holiday season, it makes sense to invest in a Christmas marketing campaign. Here are some tips to help you make the most of the holiday sales period.

One of the best ways to set yourself up for success is to note and then challenge the assumptions you have about your customer. Covid-19 has dramatically changed consumer behavior, perhaps most notably it has seen a huge increase in online shopping. A recent Meta survey revealed that 31% of American online shoppers spent more on holiday shopping in 2021 than the year before. And while we might assume certain things about consumer behaviour, there is a wealth of data online that can be used to better understand your customer.

It’s also important to use your own data you have about your customers. While historical data or more general data can be helpful to understand the current state of play in your industry, understanding and using the data you have about your customers will be most relevant and useful.

Recent Meta research⁠(opens in a new tab or window) shows that 74% of American online shoppers use their phone or computer for gift ideas and inspiration. This highlights a huge opportunity to position your brand in front of your customer when they’re searching for gift ideas for the holiday season. The best way to do that is to create a marketing campaign you can run through your social media and digital marketing channels. After all, a marketing campaign is just a reason to talk to your customer about your product or service. If you’re active on social media and through digital marketing, you will maximize the likelihood of getting your brand in front of your customers when they’re looking for personalized gift⁠(opens in a new tab or window) ideas for the holiday.

Start planning your campaign as early as possible to maximize potential to reach your customers. One of our favorite campaigns this year came from Coke Zero, and launched almost six weeks out from Christmas. The company created an online sweater generator, and asked people to create their own tacky Christmas jumpers. Coca Cola got some great coverage of their promotion (FastCo⁠(opens in a new tab or window), PSFK⁠(opens in a new tab or window), AdWeek⁠(opens in a new tab or window) and others) and generated lots of social media buzz.

One thing to keep in mind with a longer campaign is to ensure you create enough content to keep things fresh and engaging. You can do this by creating different marketing assets under the same campaign – an easy way to do that is change up the color palette or create multiple designs using the same text and campaign imagery. Creating multiple Christmas videos⁠(opens in a new tab or window) is another great way to keep your customers engaged.

Instead of putting the hard sell on your customers, try offering value to them. A simple way to do this is by solving a challenge or problem they may have. Around Christmas time, that means gift ideas. A holiday gift guide is a simple and effective way to deliver value to your customers while also spruiking the benefits of your product or service.

Another simple but effective way to help your customers is clearly communicating your holiday hours. Updating your customers with this information keeps them in the loop. It's also a good excuse to reach out to your existing customers. You can easily give great offers to your customers by identifying their buying process of a product or service with customer journey map⁠(opens in a new tab or window).