Last Minute Holiday Marketing Tactics You Can Implement Today

If you recently looked at your calendar and realized, “holy crap, it is November,” and you haven’t started your holiday marketing plan, the world isn’t going to end. While we typically recommend our clients begin planning for holiday promotions in August per news editorial schedules, we also understand that many of our clients are busy running their businesses and holiday marketing may not be at the top of their priority list.

Never fear—there are some last minute holiday marketing tactics you can do to remind your audiences of the value your business brings during the gift-giving season.

1. Start a Facebook Cause—Instead of promoting your business’s products or services, try setting up a Facebook cause fundraiser to show your fans that you care about the community and making a positive impact. According to a recent infographic from Conscious Company magazine, 80 percent of global consumers agree that business must play a role in addressing societal issues and 87 percent of global consumers believe that business needs to place at least equal weight on society’s interests as on business’s interests. This 5-step guide to set up a Facebook cause page is a good place to start.

2. Update your newsletter theme—Easy tools like Canva can help you template your newsletter themes to stay relevant with the changing seasons. Try creating a “winter edition” newsletter theme that can be used now through January 2018. Canva’s easy drag and drop functionality makes it so practically anyone can “design” on a dime—or in this case a dollar if you select stock imagery for your design. You can also create Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn cover images too to further drive home your business’s holiday spirit.

3. Focus on a New Year campaign—Instead of rushing to launch a holiday marketing campaign, focus on the opportunities to generate more business at the top of the New Year. Plan a content calendar and series of videos for your Facebook page that focuses on how the New Year is an ideal time to invest in your business’s products or services.

4. Create limited-time offers—Update your website and social media with time-sensitive offers to notify loyal customers and prospects about your great deals. It creates a sense of urgency and exclusivity too.

5. Host a holiday party—If you’re more of a social butterfly, this shouldn’t be a problem. You don’t need to plan a big, expensive event to gather some coveted customers and colleagues together for a low-key holiday party. We know there’s tons of them out there, so try hosting a tree lighting ceremony with complimentary hot cocoa and a visit from Santa to create a fun, memorable event that doesn’t break the bank—and brings people into your store. And make sure your customers leave with your product/service catalogue or sales sheet in their goodie bag.

6. Spoil your colleagues with a unique gift—as a business, we know that a successful company is driven by the talent of its people. The holiday season is a great time to not only show your colleagues that they are valued, but you can also use this as an opportunity to inspire them with a gift that will surprise them!

Think outside of the box with a gift that…

• They can use during the holidays.
• They can hang in their home or office.
• They can use in their holiday meals.
• They can use to recover from the holidays.
• They can get behind (support their favorite organization).

And don’t forget…

To ensure your efforts are successful, don’t forget to set goals. If you run a Facebook cause campaign or host a holiday party, set some goals from the beginning and ask yourself what you want to get out of the effort. Maybe you want to raise $500 for your Facebook cause beneficiary OR gather 100 of your closest customers and colleagues to your party. Whatever the goal, just make sure you set one so you have something to work towards.

Furthermore, don’t forget to measure your results. Calculate your ROI on hosting a holiday party to see what worked and what you can change up for next year. Look at Facebook Insights and other analytics to gauge how website traffic was affected by your social media marketing efforts. Doing a little digging to understand the big picture will go a long way.