Trying your hand at Christmas content marketing this year? We have some content marketing tips that add some sparkle and shine to your newest campaign.
It’s the most wonderful time—the busiest, craziest time—to market your business, especially if you are in retail. But marketing is non-negotiable of you expect to compete against industry giants, and focusing your efforts with content is key to winning more customers.
2017 was record-setting in terms of online sales. Between November 1 and December 31, sales hit $91 billion. Yes, that’s billion.
Last year, there were some remarkable holiday content campaigns that surely helped generate that type of revenue—such as REI, Dollar Shave Club, and Coca-Cola just to name a few. With the holidays in full swing, there are plenty of ways to use content marketing for an edge on the competition.
For example, blogging for business is one piece of the content marketing puzzle that can help promote your brand, build trust with your customers, and increase sales during the holidays. Blogs are considered as the 5th most trusted source for online content, and businesses that blog 16 times per month can see an average of 1,200 leads per year.
Ultimately, your company should be blogging this holiday season.
But how can you create content that is catered to the holidays while keeping the interest of your customers?
It takes some creativity, but these content marketing tips can truly add cheer to your content this year:
1. ‘Tis the Season for Storytelling
If you think about it, the holidays are based on stories that happened centuries ago. This is even the case for Thanksgiving. Who can forget the tale of pilgrims and Native Americans setting their differences aside to enjoy a meal together?
They’re stories that we learn from childhood and pass onto our own children.
Storytelling is powerful, and it’s one of the blog writing tips that can take your holiday content marketing to the next level.
Need an example?
John Lewis is known for their holiday marketing campaigns.
Last year, Buster the Boxer was featured while watching cute wildlife critters enjoy a child’s trampoline. The next morning, the child woke up to discover a trampoline in her backyard, but Buster beat her to the punch and jumped trampoline first. The trampoline was enjoyed by the child, dog, and wildlife—with the underlying message gifts that everyone will love.
This message is delivered at the end of the story, giving customers a reason to explore their store online or in person (if you’re in the UK).
The point is that there is power in storytelling, especially during the holiday season. You can create your own story for the season or even piggyback off a timeless classic—which brings us to #2 on our list of holiday blog writing tips.
2. Jingle Your Way to an Unforgettable Content Campaign
Jingle Bells? Silent Night? Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer?
All of the classic Christmas songs we know and love can help us translate our message in a unique and exciting way. This takes a bit of creativity as well, but hitting the right note can make your business stand out during the busiest time of year.
If you’re tone deaf and scared that singing will scare customers away, there’s no need to worry. You only need to write the content in the tune of your favorite jingle.
Why do jingles work so well? When you combine a unique jingle with the magic of Christmas songs and carols, you’ll strike a chord with your customers on several levels.
First, jingles are nostalgic. Nearly anyone who grew up celebrating Christmas knows a jingle or two that reminds them of happy times during the holidays. This instantly takes your audience back to fond times in their life, which helps establish a connection with the reader.
Second, jingles are easy to remember. Once you learn a Christmas tune or two, they’re quite hard to forget. When readers understand where you’re going with the marketing twist to a classic Christmas jingle, they’ll remember the tune and apply your copywriting right along with it.
Third, jingles create an emotional connection. When it comes to marketing your business, there is nothing better than connecting with a customer on an emotional level.
You can share your jingles on your blog, social media, videos, and more.
3. Letters from Santa: Launch a Holiday Email Marketing Campaign
Whether you’re B2B or B2C, e-mail marketing can be an effective content marketing technique to grow your business and increase sales. However, you need to remember that your customers’ inboxes are likely flooded this time of year. This means that you need to make a big effort to standout—and you can do so with a creative e-mail marketing campaign.
Cloudways, a cloud hosting platform, increased e-mail conversions by 1700% by using holiday-themed e-mails. They also grew their e-mail list by 229%.
Furthermore, according to MailCharts, Black Friday through Cyber Monday offer some of the most lucrative opportunities for e-mail marketing. This chart indicates that 60% of e-mails were opened through this time period.
Whenever you decide to launch your campaign, try to aim between now and November 15. GoDaddy recommends that holiday marketing campaigns should begin between November 1-November 15.
Holiday E-mail Marketing Campaign Hints
A holiday gift guide can break feature products into bite-size e-mails for your campaign. Each e-mail can feature a specific product with a unique marketing message included. You can apply the aforementioned jingle idea, or come up with a quick and jolly message for your customers.
Another great e-mail marketing idea for the holidays is creating a guide to finding the right gift. You can set up a week’s worth of e-mails with instructions on how to find the perfect present for friends and family—and of course, link back to your own products and content for customers to learn more.
Lastly, subject lines matter when it comes to e-mail marketing—especially with mobile devices. Make sure your e-mail subjects are clever, seasonal, and relevant to your product and brand. Otherwise, your e-mail will become another unopened marketing message during a busy holiday season.
4. Spread the Holiday Spirit with Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing puts the bow on top of your content marketing package. Using Facebook, Twitter, and other areas of social media to promote your brand is beneficial this time of year—especially with holiday marketing creativity that abounds.
The good news is that you don’t need to continue with the same old social media marketing campaigns that you’ve used all year long. This is a time of year to refresh your social media and add some holiday spirit.
Here are a few ideas of how you can get your social media marketing and profiles ready for the holidays:
Strategize Now
We are knee-deep in the holiday season, and if you have yet to strategize for a holiday social media campaign, the time is now. Research trending holiday content on Twitter, and you can even use Buzzsumo to find today’s top trending content surrounding social media marketing. Build a publishing calendar between now and the end of the year so you won’t hit a wall during the midst of the holidays.
Do a Holiday Countdown
Counting down to one (or multiple) holidays will give you a consistent stream of content to publish. A lot of people love a Christmas countdown, and if you combine this marketing technique with attractive graphics it becomes quite shareable.
Even if you don’t necessarily feature a product, adding your logo to the countdown is great for branding. When customers simply want to share how many days are left until the next holiday, they will share your brand name and logo right around with it.
PS – Here are a few WordPress holiday countdown widgets you can add to your website.
Incorporate Holiday Hashtags
This is a no-brainer, but it’s easy to forget when you’re busy creating content and running a business. You can use trending holiday hashtags to give your content a boost—but be sure your content is relevant to the hashtag in question.
This can help you get your brand name and product in front of a new audience.
Share Industry-Related Holiday Tips
Your customers are searching for all kinds of holiday-related content, so why not incorporate your product or service into the mix? For example, a cleaning service can share tips on how to organize your home for the holidays. A restaurant can publish holiday baking tips, and an interior designer can offer advice on decorating for the holidays.
Share Interesting Christmas Facts
Who doesn’t love random (yet interesting) facts? The holidays are a fun time to share this type of content, and it’s a great way to create even more shareable content.
A quick search on Google will help you find all kinds of interesting facts about Christmas. Be selective on who you choose, as you want to link back to credible sources.
Want a few fun facts to get you started?
- Christmas trees grow for about 15 years before they are sold
- Alabama was the first state in the US to recognize Christmas in 1836
- Evergreens are a symbol of rebirth and eternal life
- Santa Claus is based on a real person. He was born in modern day Turkey and lived in the fourth century
5. Giftwrap Holiday Announcements with a Press Release
If you are offering a special promotion this holiday season, don’t forget to put out a press release. This is essentially the giftwrap for announcing sales, promos, and packages that your customers are bound to love.
Here are a few helpful tips on launching a press release during the holidays:
- Use the press release as an opportunity to write a timeless holiday story that ties in with your brand
- Be creative with your PR headline. There are thousands—if not millions—of mediocre press release headlines online. Write a snappy, festive subject that grabs attention. Be sure to use an active voice and paint a picture with your words
- Add statistics or useful information for substance to your holiday PR. The idea is to make it interesting yet informative to your audience
- Answer questions. Your audience is sure to have questions concerning your press release and promotion. Include all relevant data and a contact person for additional inquiries
6. Use The Holidays for 2018 Blog Planning
We might be focused on holiday content marketing tips, but 2018 will be here before you know it. This is the time to start preparing for your 2018 blog planning so you can jump right in as soon as the clock strikes midnight on January 1. According to Content Marketing Institute, the most successful content marketing campaigns are very organized.
Use the holidays to:
- Take a look at your 2018 content marketing budget. Recent benchmarks from CMI indicate that marketers are increasing content marketing budgets by 8% in 2018
- Consider what type of content you want to include in your calendar. In the same study, the top 3 most effective formats for content marketing purposes are e-mail (79%), blogs (60%), and social media platforms (41%)
- Research topic ideas that were popular at the beginning of last year. How can you improve on those topics or add a new spin?
- Plan out the first month (or even quarter) of blog topics
- Research keywords that you can use in your content to help SEO
- Give yourself a content audit and determine how you can improve low quality content. Remember that Google recommends that you update low quality content rather than deleting it
Start 2018 with a Bang
Creating and promoting holiday content can help you build up to a successful new year. Use these content marketing tips to end 2018 with a bang. Contact Busy Blogs Plus for help with blog strategy, blog writing services, social media management, and more.
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