How To Create Successful Holiday Marketing Campaigns in 3 Steps

It’s never too early to start brainstorming for your holiday campaigns.

Adobe Analytics reported that online shoppers broke records by spending $211.7 billion between November 1st and December 31st in 2022.

That’s 3.5% more than people spent on holiday shopping in 2021.

One-third of business owners say they make the most money during Quarter 4— a.k.a the holiday season. It’s the best time of year to push deals and drive up profits because — well— people are more inclined to spend money this time of year.

Don’t let your chance of making record profits slip by this year. Start brainstorming your holiday marketing campaigns now, so you’re ready to launch by November 1st!

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What’s the Point of Holiday Marketing Campaigns?

Holiday marketing campaigns aim to increase sales and revenue for businesses during the holiday season.

These campaigns often focus on promoting special deals and discounts, limited-time offers, and creating a sense of urgency for consumers to purchase.

You can use holiday campaigns to build brand awareness and establish a solid emotional connection with consumers. This part is key, so we’ll repeat it:

Creating emotional marketing content during the holiday season can lead to long-term brand recognition— and customer loyalty.

Best Holiday Advertising Examples to Learn From

Let’s talk about how you can build these emotional connections with your target audience by looking at some examples of the best holiday advertising commercials (that you probably still remember).

1. Apple's "Share Your Gifts" holiday campaign

Apple’s campaign is all about storytelling (okay, and great animation).

From the beginning, you watch this girl going through her life, getting more agitated with each scene— but you have no idea where it’s going.

So you keep watching.

The anticipation to see how the story plays out holds your attention. Apple doesn’t even mention its product.

Instead, they focus on their target audience’s point of view and then encourage people to share their talents and passions with others during the holiday season (by using Apple products, of course).

2. Hershey’s "Christmas Bells holiday campaign

Out of all the holiday campaigns you’ve seen over the years, you probably remember this one the most.

And that might be because it’s been repurposed every holiday season since its debut in 1989.

That’s right. This commercial has been shown every season for over 30 years. It’s why it’s considered one of the best holiday advertising examples. It truly revolutionized holiday marketing.

The simplicity of this commercial makes it easy to remember and create. This shows you that you don’t need a huge budget to make a lasting impact.

Coca-Cola’s 2020 commercial “Holidays are Coming” is another example of how minimalist holiday cheer can create excitement around your product.

But you don’t need to create a big-budget commercial like Coca-Cola’s. Simply centering your product or service around staple holiday signals (children, Santa, snow, Christmas lights, etc.) is enough to get that emotional connection.

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How To Create Successful Holiday Marketing Campaigns in 3 Steps

Now that you have an idea of what successful holiday campaigns look like, let’s dive into how you can make this work for your own business.

Take these 3 steps to get the outline for your upcoming campaigns. This will ensure you can have them ready and perfected in time for the holiday season.

Step #1: Prep Your Holiday Marketing Campaign

You’ve seen the memes online: as soon the clock strikes midnight on Halloween night, it’s November 1st.

Which means it’s Christmas time!

You should have these memes, posts, and emails ready to launch during this pivotal period. Try to have a bank of holiday content created and polished by October 1st.

Omnichannel marketing is also crucial during this time. It’s not enough to advertise your seasonal specials on your local Facebook page.

Plus, it’s a chance to increase your online income. Every year, the number of online holiday shoppers gets bigger and bigger.

Statista’s report shows that 57% of holiday shopping happened online last year. A 15% increase from 2015 shopping habits.

Here’s what you should have prepped and ready for your holiday marketing campaign:

• Create30 social media posts: One for every other day between November 1st-December 31st.

• Write 10 Emails: One for every week with some extra holiday special deal announcements.

• 4 Seasonal SEO blogs (such as “Holiday Guides”): Publish these in June because it can take 6 months for these to hit page 1 of Google

• Video Ads: Like the ones above!

Step #2: Create a Sense of Scarcity

Creating a sense of scarcity around the holidays can effectively encourage customers to make purchases quickly.

However, you should do this ethically. It shouldn't give a false sense of scarcity or deceive the customers. It's even better to do this with other marketing strategies, such as creating emotional appeal and providing a value proposition (more on that next).

Here are some ideas:

1. Limited Time Offers: This is a great time to give discounts or coupon codes. Towards the end of December, try to tell customers it's their last chance to take advantage of your 2023 year pricing (as prices will increase in the new year).

2. Limited Stock: This creates a sense of urgency. Use language that encourages customers to act fast, such as "Last chance," or "limited stock," or "only a few left."

3. Package Deals: Like those boxed gift sets you see in Target. Create one of your own. Make sure to mention it's a Limited Edition or Seasonal Offer.

Step #3: Get Emotional

Your holiday campaigns should be more about creating an emotional connection than trying to offer a limited-time deal.

If you focus more on the sale than the feeling your customers will get from partaking in your holiday special, you’re not going to get many conversions.

Instead, focus on creating a bond with your ideal customer. After all, isn’t coming together what the holiday season is all about?

Here’s how you can create genuine relationships with your audience in your holiday marketing campaigns:

1. Nostalgia: Create content that evokes nostalgia by showcasing holiday traditions or reminiscing about Christmases past.

2. Tell a Story: See the examples above. Don’t tell your story. Tell a story from the point of view of your audience. Make it relatable.

3. Get Into the Holiday Spirit: Create content that evokes a sense of magic and wonder, such as showcasing a holiday event, wearing ugly Christmas sweaters in your videos, or taking a leaf from Hershey’s book and keeping it simple, yet festive.

Need some help with your holiday content? We can help you be ready in time for the holidays! Tell us your ideas during your first free consultation.

About High Tide Creative

High Tide Creative is an award-winning agency that provides a full range of digital marketing and advertising solutions that include strategic planning, creative services, brand and logo development, media planning and placement, social media marketing, digital advertising, website development, search engine optimization, video production, public relations and more. Our client list has included: UNC Health Lenoir, Hutchens Law Firm, Equifax, Georgia Pacific, Citi Group, Weyerhaeuser, The Atlanta Hawks, Randstad Staffing, Craven County Tourism, America Knits, Guardian Repellent, and The Shizzle Jerk Marinade.