6 highly effective tips for running a holiday campaign in 2020

The holiday season is the biggest time of the year for retail so it’s important to get your marketing campaigns on point. Start the planning process right now, and don’t be afraid to think big!

The holiday season usually begins with Black Friday so that’s the perfect place to start. Here are a few things to contemplate in your marketing plan:

• Remember, online shoppers all over the world now partake in Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. When it comes to setting out your target audience for marketing campaigns, you may want to consider targeting online shoppers from around the world, especially if your business ships internationally. 
• New customers and returning shoppers have varying purchasing behaviors. However, that doesn’t mean your marketing needs to be complex. Keeping things simple will help you adapt to these differences.
• Stick to one message. Your campaigns should deliver one major benefit and convey one emotion. 
• Use social media to enhance your connection with your customer, especially during the holiday season. Sure, a level of urgency can increase sales, but engaging your audience to feel like they’re a part of your brand helps to increase trust. And, buyers are more likely to part with their cash when they trust your business.

When it comes to planning any marketing campaign, it goes without saying that you need to know your audience and their purchasing behavior. Gen Z and boomers have contributed to the growth of online shopping so you may wish to consider these groups in your planning.

Boomers are those aged between 1946 and 1964. Although you may assume that this generation may not be technologically savvy, 66% regularly purchase online and they’re twice as likely as millennials to consider brand popularity when purchasing something new. 

Gen Z ( those born after 1997) tend to have a more disposable income, shopping frequently via their mobiles. According to Facebook, 70% of people spent more time on their phones during the COVID-19 pandemic, so making sure you utilize mobile shopping tools, especially on social media, is a good bet.

If you’re a relatively new business, or you wish to enhance brand awareness, partnering up with another business can be a great way to achieve more social followers and conversions. 

There are many ways you can establish a partnership with other brands. Some ideas include:

• Hosting a contest/giveaway
• Creating a bundle offer for services/products
• Collaborating on a product/service
• Working on a charity initiative
• Partnership marketing 
• Social media takeover
• Referrals or affiliate marketing
• Product shoutout
• Instagram pod

Rather than working with your direct competitors, consider working with brands that complement your product or services.

More and more brands are using a content driven marketing approach to reach new customers. Remember, the majority of shoppers are used to seeing the same strategies being used, especially during the holiday season. That means traditional sales tactics may not have the same appeal.

Giving your audience extra value in terms of content is an effective marketing strategy. Social media, in particular, is now more popular than ever – in fact, 45% of people spent more time on social media during COVID-19, so making sure your social strategies are on point is crucial. 

Even if your social presence is currently minimum, leveraging new formats can significantly increase your conversion rate. The holiday season is a great time to utilize user generated content – this is content created by social media users, such as influencers, rather than by yourself. 

User generated content and influencer marketing can provide a closer connection to your audience as it makes your brand appear more ‘human’. Getting started with influencer marketing and user generated content doesn’t need to be complicated either. With Insense, you can easily create user generated content and amplify it in paid social ads. Insense has over 8000 personally vetted influencers and seamlessly integrates with Facebook Ads Manager, giving brands an effortless way to generate better content.

Here are a few ideas to consider:

• Holiday gift guide
• DIY content
• Holiday meals
• Interactive unboxing
• Creative how-to video

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of content during the holiday season. It’s a great way to engage with your audience while promoting your products/services.

Automating your marketing campaigns helps you to get optimal conversion rates. Consider sending automated messages to your prospects in the form of promotional emails, SMS for abandoned carts, and browser push notifications to help encourage potential customers to stay on your website. 

With VBOUT, you can easily run powerful automations using ready-made templates made by marketing experts. Additionally, you can track automation analytics to help monitor and adjust your automations. 

Consider our top tips by contemplating your audience, in addition to using influencer marketing and a range of creative content to help skyrocket your brand during the holiday season.