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According to Deloittes' annual holiday retail forecast, holiday retail sales are likely to increase between 3.5% and 4.6% in 2023, compared to 7.6% in the previous holiday season (November to January). So, what does that mean for your holiday marketing strategy?
You'll need to focus on your digital marketing strategy to increase your brand engagement this holiday shopping season.
Further, it is imperative that you revisit your marketing strategy before the holidays and implement some of the following ideas to drive engagement and sales.
10 holiday marketing ideas to boost brand engagement
The holiday season offers small business owners a unique opportunity to connect with customers and increase brand awareness. Whether you're planning an e-commerce site, social media campaign, or holiday party, increasing your brand engagement can help your business grow.
Here are 10 holiday marketing ideas that will help your brand generate more engagement throughout the season:
1. Run a holiday-themed giveaway
Running a giveaway contest is a great way to generate brand engagement, especially during the holiday season.
With a giveaway, you can incentivize customers to participate in your marketing efforts by offering them free products, discounts, or gift cards as a reward for engaging with your brand.
2. Create a customer appreciation campaign
Running a customer appreciation campaign is another effective way to generate brand engagement, as it gives you a chance to thank your customers and turn them into brand advocates.
This tactic is especially beneficial when shoppers are looking to reward their favorite brands with their business during the holiday season. Customer appreciation campaigns are a great way to build trust and lasting customer relationships.
3. Encourage user-generated content with a holiday-inspired hashtag.
If you're looking for a relatively cheap way to build brand awareness, encourage your audience to create and share photos and videos of themselves utilizing your products or services.
This type of user-generated content is a great way to spread brand awareness, and you can take it to the next level by creating a holiday-themed hashtag for your customers. This way, you can review all these posts in one place and easily access this content to use in your marketing campaigns. Remember to encourage feedback from your customers as well, as this will again help you connect with them on a deeper level.
4. Participate in a holiday charity
Giving back to your community is a great way to generate brand awareness and improve your customer engagement. Community involvement also helps you gain brand advocates and develop better customer relationships.
5. Collaborate with influencers in your niche
Influencers have a large social media audience and can sway their followers' opinions and purchasing decisions. Collaborating with influencers is an excellent way to increase brand awareness and engagement, as they can introduce your products to their audience.
6. Boost engagement through gamification
If gamification is your thing, you're in luck; the holiday season makes this tactic even more appealing to consumers. For instance, you can create an interactive app that lets children create and send gift lists to their parents or interactive cards to their family and friends. This is a great way to encourage people to engage with your brand without pressuring them to purchase.
7. Run holiday-themed email remarketing campaigns
Email remarketing campaigns allow you to specifically market to previous customers to encourage them to make another purchase.
You can use email remarketing campaigns to highlight holiday discounts and seasonal products and services. This will drive more traffic to your site and boost sales.
8. Create a holiday-related checklist
Everybody needs a little help staying on track during the holiday season. So, why not create a fun, free downloadable holiday checklist for your customers?
Freemiums are created with the user in mind and keep your brand at the front of the customer's mind during the busy season. They're also the perfect vehicle for your customers to share with friends and family.
9. Design campaigns that target users' emotions
It's human nature to express more emotion during the holiday season. By targeting your audience's emotions through your marketing campaign, you will help them feel more connected to your brand and influence their purchasing decisions.
10. Include gifts with a purchase
Another great way to increase brand engagement is to include gifts with purchases as part of your holiday marketing campaign. This will not only improve customer loyalty and inspire future purchases, but it will also help you create brand advocates.
Get more holiday marketing tips from the BBB.
The holiday season can be hectic for your brand, but it's also a great opportunity. If you're looking to increase customer engagement through your holiday marketing strategy, the BBB® has the tips you need.
Get your marketing strategy holiday-ready with more resources from the BBB business news feed and Biz HQ!
Prepare your business for the holidays.
BBB of Southern Piedmont and Western N.C. contributed to this article.