Five Simple Steps to Successful Christmas Marketing

“He’s making a list, checking it twice.”

As early as July, Santa Claus is busy defining how he’ll interact with his public at Christmastime. You’d be wise to take a page from that jolly old elf’s playbook, because he’ll be coming to town before you know it!

Santa has Mrs. Claus, eight reindeer and a host of elves to help him deliver the goods every Christmas, but we’ll focus on just “Five Simple Steps to Successful Christmas Marketing.”

1: Define Your Message

The holidays are the most emotional time of the year, and tapping into those feelings can help you craft a message that will resonate with your customers. Consider:

• The holiday emotions (joy, love, stress, anxiety) you want to evoke.
• The solution or benefit your business can provide.
• A new product you want to introduce or an old one you want to re-illuminate.

2: Define Your Channels

Instead of putting all your eggs, or snowballs, in one basket, use a mix of channels. Digital, print, broadcast and direct mail all have their merits, but here are some particular points to consider:

Your website should be decorated for the holidays, drawing attention to seasonal savings.

• Email can kick things off with pre-holiday discounts, but be sure to clean up your lists first.
• Social media provides a great platform for special offers and holiday interaction.
• A good, old-fashioned Christmas card can still get attention, especially if it’s clever.

3: Define Your Schedule

 To make this easy, start at Christmas and work your way back. Be sure your schedule includes:

• How many times you’ll communicate through each channel.
• Two dates for every communication: when you’ll create content and when you’ll release it.
• Opportunities to cross-promote through various channels.

4: Define Your Success

What constitutes “victory” for you? Answering that question means setting a goal and measuring results. You’ll need to:

• Choose your call to action (CTA), what you want your customers to do.
• Decide how many sales, phones calls, website visits, etc., you want to generate.
• Measure your results to see if you’ve met your goal.

5: Define Yourself

Unlike Santa Claus, you can’t be all things to all people. You can avoid losing track of who you really are during the holiday rush by doing a couple of simple things:

• Stay consistent with your brand and voice.
• Don’t force a marketing angle that doesn’t fit.

We’ve made our list and checked it twice, so there’s no need to watch out, cry or pout this holiday season. To ensure your place on the “nice” list, just follow IdeaBank’s “Five Simple Steps to Successful Christmas Marketing.”