12 Days & 12 Ways for Irish Businesses to Promote Themselves this Christmas
The Christmas period is fast approaching and you may be wondering how to make the most of your digital marketing at this time of the year. We’re here to help, with our 12 Days of Christmas marketing ideas guide, giving you the step-by-step plan to maximise your impact online and increase your sales during the festive season.
We’ll share our top tips to raise the profile of your business and spread your brand message to a wider audience. Bringing in new customers is ideal, but building on the connections you already have with existing customers is also a great way to increase engagement and sales during seasonal occasions and we can show you how to do this effectively. Not all of these tips will be suitable for every business but we’d love to hear what works best for you and your team!
1. On the 1st Day of Christmas… show your last shipping dates
Some people have all of their Christmas shopping done by March, but most of us will leave at least some gift purchases until the end of the year, and then worry about postal deadlines. A great way to encourage shoppers to spend their hard-earned money with you is to make your last shipping dates for Christmas very clear on your website. Clarity is key for organisation and customers will be much more likely to buy if they can see that their gift will arrive in time. Promote your last shipping dates on all your social media platforms and in your ad copy, and add a banner or announcement bar to your website to ensure no one misses the opportunity to order before your deadline.
2. On the 2nd Day of Christmas… decorate your website
Christmas decorations brighten up your home and put an element of festivity into your workplace, so don’t forget to decorate your website for the same boost of positivity and fun! Engage visitors to your website by making the most of the celebrations, and you’ll share the Christmas spirit and encourage shopping for Christmas gifts, too. We suggest adding a Christmas banner to your homepage and making use of animated design elements such as falling snow or twinkling stars. It’s also wise to create a Christmas landing page, bringing together all your Christmas deals and special offers in one place so that your potential customers can find them with ease. This landing page can then be shared in your Christmas advertising and across your social media posts and will lead directly to your most popular Christmas products to make conversions even easier.
3. On the 3rd Day of Christmas… run a 12 Days campaign
Taking inspiration from this blog, a 12 Days of Christmas campaign is a great way to engage with your audience and build interaction during the holiday season. It’s worth taking the time to plan this Christmas marketing campaign carefully, choosing 12 of your top products or special offers to highlight during the 12 days of your holiday campaign. Each day, you should post across your social media platforms and Christmas ads with links to your products and landing page to showcase the product of the day and the special deal you are offering. These should be time-limited offers, for this day of the campaign only, so that buyers feel that the offers they see are authentic and that they are getting a genuine bargain. You want to cultivate a sense of FOMO so that customers check in every day to see what you are offering and buy before the deals expire.
4. On the 4th Day of Christmas… run an email marketing campaign
Email marketing is a marketing strategy that delivers better results than many other options, and the stats show that email marketing has an average open rate of around 21% across all industries, compared to an organic social media post that may only be seen by 3-4% of those who follow you. Email marketing is successful because it reaches out to people who have already engaged with your business, making them much more likely to be receptive to your Christmas campaigns. Your email marketing ideas should include a captivating subject line and a selection of offers or products that are relevant and appealing to your target audience. You can use your email marketing campaign to draw people into your special offers and spread holiday cheer to encourage your readers to buy their gifts and Christmas-themed products with you.
5. On the 5th Day of Christmas… share your Christmas opening hours
Businesses tend to have different approaches to taking time off and closing over Christmas, and this can be confusing for customers. Create clarity by letting your customers know exactly when you are open and when you will be taking time off, and make sure you share this across different platforms to avoid disappointment or confusion. Create social media posts that advertise your Christmas opening hours and pin these on your social media profiles wherever possible. Add an announcement banner to your website with information about your opening times over the holiday season and ensure that the details are consistent wherever you have given them. It’s also worth taking a moment to update your auto-response messages on your social media platforms and your email, to add your opening times and to mention that there may be a delay in your responses during the Christmas holiday season.
6. On the 6th Day of Christmas… bring some Christmas cheer into your content
Running with the Christmas theme in your ads will make them more engaging and relevant to your audience, increasing your click-through rate and boosting your online presence. It’s a great idea to include some seasonal creatives and copy into your ads during the Christmas season, bringing an element of fun into your Christmas marketing strategy. When you plan your holiday marketing campaigns, think about your target demographic and which elements of the season they may connect with. Christmas trees and Christmas lights appeal to most people, while Christmas recipes might be a more specific choice that directly engages a certain type of customer but does not interest others.
7. On the 7th Day of Christmas… create a Christmas Gift Guide blog post
A Christmas Gift Guide blog post is a very effective way to promote your top seasonal products and gift ideas and engage with your audience. It’s a great Christmas marketing idea that has been picked up by many leading businesses during the holiday season and it’s not a complicated or expensive option. Your gift guide can highlight your most popular products or use categories to suggest the perfect gift for each family member or friend. Don’t forget to include ideas for teachers and pets, too!
As usual, we would suggest engaging a professional copywriter to create top-quality content for your Christmas gift guide, as well as other blog posts, social media posts and advertising, as this can make all the difference to the way your copy reads. Professional quality content can elevate your website and promote social engagement online, so it’s a great investment in your business.
8. On the 8th Day of Christmas… put price points on your website
The best Christmas marketing ideas make life easier for customers, who are then more likely to engage with your business and make purchases in your online store. One such idea is to bundle your products into different gift price points, such as ‘Under €30’, ‘€30-50’, ‘€50-100’ etc. This is a convenient and practical way for customers to shop since most will be working with a budget for each person they buy a Christmas gift for, and if you add this to your website while you are holding Christmas sales, your customers will feel like they are securing real bargains when discounted items appear in their price bracket.
9. On the 9th Day of Christmas… create Christmas bundles
Following on with the theme of making life easier for your customers, we recommend grouping relevant products to create Christmas bundles that take the effort out of Christmas shopping. Christmas product bundles that are ready to gift are a very popular option with customers and will increase your average order value, as well. Have some fun creating bundles your customers will love, such as chocolate and wine bundles, gardening bundles or pampering bundles, depending on the nature of your business. Adding some Christmas packaging will provide a touch of holiday spirit and including a discount code in your bundle can encourage repeat orders beyond the festive season, too.
10. On the 10th Day of Christmas… run a Christmas competition
Competitions are great for boosting your profile online and running a Christmas competition across your social media platforms can be a good way to increase engagement and spread your Christmas marketing to a wider audience. Run a festive competition that encourages your entrants to interact with your business and remember that competitions that encourage sharing posts can reach many more potential customers. Perhaps you could ask entrants to take a pic of themselves in a Santa hat or next to their Christmas tree or challenge them to go all out with their home decorations. Don’t forget to post a photo of your lucky winner – you could show them receiving their prize from Santa himself for extra brownie points! This is a fairly simple tip to put into practice, and you’ll see great results, increasing your social media following and building brand awareness.
11. On the 11th Day of Christmas… use ‘behind the scenes’ content
Publishing ‘behind the scenes’ content on social media is a great way to engage with your followers and give an authentic insight into your business. This is a very popular way to use social media and consistently receives excellent engagement from followers, so we encourage you to give it a go during the holiday season. Followers love this type of content, so don’t be shy – get creative about the different ways you could share this sort of content during the Christmas countdown. You could post a series of photos showing your office Christmas decorations as they go up, or your colleagues dressed in increasingly impressive Christmas jumpers. You could even share a fun team photo taken at your Christmas party – perhaps before you break out the mulled wine!
12. On the 12th Day of Christmas… give to charity
It’s always important to spare a thought for those less fortunate than ourselves at Christmas, and it’s a great time to consider making a donation or gift to a charity. This does not have to be monetary, you could also volunteer your time to help out at a local charity or raise awareness for a cause that means a lot to you. If you want to publicise your charitable activity, perhaps to raise more funds or spread awareness of the charity you have chosen, you can share posts on social media to show yourself and your team members fundraising, volunteering or presenting a donation.
Raise your profile during the Christmas period and beyond
Is your business achieving all you want it to? If you want to make more sales and engage more loyal customers, we can help you make the most of your potential during the holiday season and throughout the year. We have many years of experience and know how to make your Christmas marketing ideas work, building brand awareness and connecting with new audiences across all platforms.
Talk to us and find out more about how we can work together on your Christmas marketing campaign, making use of video marketing, a Christmas email campaign and social media marketing to bring your best Christmas marketing ideas to life. Our professional team can help you conceptualise and deliver new marketing ideas throughout the year, as well as analyse your existing campaigns and optimise them for better performance. We take a multi-layered approach to ensure that your digital marketing strategies are delivering at every opportunity, helping your business to fulfil its potential.