Did you know that approximately 61% of people start their holiday shopping in early November and plan to spend $998 on presents, food, decorations, and other holiday-related purchases for themselves and their family. No? We didn’t know either. Therefore, it’s recommended that you start planning for your holiday marketing strategy now.

During the holiday season, people are willing and able to spend more. As a result, if you play your cards well, you will be able to boost your sales and profit. While the holidays are an excellent time to increase sales, you should set specific goals for your marketing approach. These could be: catching the attention of new customers, restoring the interest of your passive customers by hiring any of the top promoting agencies, and strengthening current customers’ loyalty.

When approached correctly and handled effectively, holiday marketing can have a significant influence on your company's long-term performance. Remember that there are billions of dollars on the line this time of year, so competition is strong.

Holiday Marketing Ideas to Make Your Customers Merry

Woman holding card and shopping bags — Holiday Marketing - woman holding card and shopping bags

Do a holiday social media giveaway

Another good approach to holiday marketing is using social media and starting a holiday giveaway. Who doesn't enjoy getting things for free, especially during the holidays (hello, regifting!)? Get into the Christmas spirit of giving by offering a discount, a free add-on with an order, or something absolutely free.

To attract more customers, we suggest launching a social media campaign on all of the main social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Twitter, etc.). Running a giveaway on social media is a good strategy to boost brand recognition, gain new followers, and advertise your product and / or services.

Typically, encouraging followers to comment, share, like, and so on are excellent ways to increase engagement.

Create an interactive holiday gift guide

You can promote your services or products by creating a gift guide. By compiling a gift guide as a resource in your holiday marketing, you can both assist customers in finding the gifts that will impress their friends and family, and advertise your company at the same time. And why not make it interactive?

You can create a gift guide in the form of a digital flipbook, and enable the wish list feature which allows people to put items into the flipbook’s shopping cart and “check out”. The wish list will be then emailed to the contact of their choice; friend, family member, colleague etc.

You only need a PDF version of your gift guide and in just a few minutes the Paperturn software will convert your PDF file into a digital flipbook with a real-page turning effect.

From there, you can add a ton of interactive elements that will definitely impress and interest your magazine readers. For even greater exposure, you can also embed your flipbook into your holiday email marketing campaigns, promote it on social media, and embed it onto your website (just like we embedded the example below).

Additionally, you can collaborate with other companies to market their products and services while also allowing them to share the gift guide with their own audiences. Paperturn offers a free 14 day trial or you can also book a 1-1 platform tour with the Paperturn’s sales team to learn how to create your own digital gift guide. For those looking to further enhance their gift guide, consider including special corporate gifts that can elevate your offerings and attract a wider audience.

Have a holiday referral contest

A referral contest is another wonderful holiday marketing idea. Even if you currently have a referral program in place, a holiday-themed referral contest may add a festive touch to your referral campaign. You can offer an irresistible prize to the individual who recommends the most people to your company, as well as a few smaller prizes for second and third place. During the holidays, people share insider information on where to find the best deals and the nicest presents. Take the advantage of this by offering your clients a better reason to tell their friends and family about your business.

Add a seasonal touch to your email marketing

You're making a big mistake if you don't include the holidays in your email marketing strategy. Sending your customers festive emails is a terrific method to engage with them in their inboxes. Holidays usually create strong memories in people’s minds.

When marketing for the holidays, pay attention to your email subject lines. It's important to give customers a reason to purchase with you, and creating urgency is a good strategy when creating your subject lines. You can use a marketing plan template to seamlessly plan your strategy and track the success rate of your holiday campaign.

Based on a study done by Wix.com, more than 80% of retail experts claim that email marketing increases client engagement and retention more than any other kind of digital marketing.

Regardless of the season, using an email marketing approach gives you a great opportunity to connect with not only your current subscribers but also to expand your lead pool by encouraging them to "share" what you offer with their friends and family.

Send a customer-base appreciation email

This is the season to reach out to your customers to express your gratitude for their support and loyalty and to wish them a joyful holiday season.

Running a holiday marketing campaign is not something that every business can afford, but there is the opportunity to share holiday cheer and engage with customers by creating holiday marketing content. Even if you don’t have a holiday campaign to promote, you should still use email marketing to spread the warmth and joy you want your company to stand for, all year.

One of the best times to invest in an emotional connection with your target audience is over the holidays.

Allow us to be the first ones to wish you “Happy Holidays!”. - From the Paperturn Team

5 Creative Holiday Marketing Ideas for 2022