It’s nearing the end of September now and you’ve probably seen it already. From the ticking timer with Santa Claus and Reindeer in the back, counting down minutes until Christmas, to your favourite stores all touting the best Halloween decorations from cobwebs to candy buckets. The cold is coming and when there is cold, there is a need for warmth and celebration.
If you’ve never engaged in holiday marketing before, you are hugely missing out. I agree, constantly listening to the never-ending “Let’s hear those sleigh bells ringing…” and other Christmas carols as early as October drives me crazy too. But there is a logic to the madness.
I recently read a Twitter blog showcasing a short video that detailed some tips on holiday-themed marketing campaigns. Of course, the blog was primarily focused on using their platform, but I thought that a lot of what they said made sense and wanted to drive the key points home a bit harder. With 80+ million holiday-related tweets last year alone, Twitter is definitely not a platform you can ignore. Most notably, Twitter’s findings were gained by using webcams to track eye movements of the respondents to determine ad attention and visibility. So I do recommend keeping the more Twitter platform focused tips in mind for when you’re creating your marketing strategy. If you don’t want to watch the video, fair enough. I’ve captured the main points below:
· For every dollar spent by advertisers on Twitter, their holiday campaigns generated $6.67.
· Twitter argued that people use their platform in a discovery mindset, which keeps them “curious”.
· Ads should encompass both “science” and “sentiment”.
· Brands that do the best incorporate attention and detail, brand recall, and emotion and consideration in their ads.
You’ll notices that I’ve bolded some terms in the last two point, and that’s because I deem these three factors to be the most important aspect of Twitter’s blog. When I think of science and sentiment in ads, I also think of content pushed by businesses. The most common problem I find when I read blogs is that they either focus on science or pure sentiment. Some blogs will tout only data without showing examples of how the data and statistics can tie into the real world in an applicable way. On the other hand, I will read blogs purely based on someone else’s personal experience. Generally, these blogs are very attractive, but there isn’t a lot of data to back up huge claims. Ads in all forms should have a purpose, be based on what scientifically works, and of course create emotions. And this is why holiday marketing is so successful if done right. Holiday marketing gives marketers the perfect opportunity to play into emotions that are already present.
3 Ways Why Holiday Marketing Works
1) Holiday Marketing Uses Consumers Sensations to Target Marketing
Our world is a tapestry of stimulation. From gaining responses through our eyes, ears, nose, mouth, fingers to basic stimuli like light and color, we are constantly getting responses from the world. Holiday marketing works because it taps into what the population is currently feeling externally. When the weather changes to cold, we know people are looking to buy sweaters and socks. With holiday marketing, marketers are leveraging what the potential buyers are currently experiencing to present the product in the most desirable way.
For example, if I was an insurance company, I know that my potential consumers are conscious of the changing temperatures. With cold temperatures, there are chances of ice on the roads, and ice on the pavements leading to slips and falls. Ice and snow on the roads can also lead to tire slips. The products I should be driving (no pun intended) would be car insurance, homeowner’s insurance, and medical insurance. When I market these products I can focus on elements that my potential customers are already experiencing such as cold colors, and images of snow and ice. However, that’s only one component. A hugely important aspect of sensation is the sentiment, and if you can connect your product to a cheery, and healthy holiday, well then you’ll be knocking it out of the park this holiday season.
2) Holiday Marketing Plays into People’s Perceptions
You only see what you expect to see, and this also runs true for your buyers. If you’re purposely looking for something, your focus will be targeted to what you’re looking for. Holiday marketing works because the holidays are constantly on people’s minds, people can perceive it. You can tie perception with emotional stimulus too. During this time, people are hyper-aware of the holidays being a source of entertainment and good vibes. People are looking forward to it AND People are looking for it. Keep this in mind when you’re marketing your product, particularly to the niche you are marketing to. Your consumers will be hyper-aware of offers, and deals that are linked to the holiday season because they are already primed to everyone else.
3) Holiday Marketing is Tapping into Learned Behaviours
When you do something enough times, you become good at it. This also goes for your other senses. You memorize it like it’s the back of your hand. The smell of cinnamon spice and sweetness jogs your mind of the Fall, and the Fall jogs your mind turns around and thinks of cinnamon and pumpkins. You are constantly primed to a particular cue or trigger that starts you on memory lane. Holiday marketing taps into this naturally occurring phenomenon because people have behaviours, or habits they’ve learned throughout their entire lives. Here’s an easy example, when you hear Christmas music, you think of Christmas which primes you to want to prepare for gift giving when you’re surrounded by products in a store. You might not buy it right away, but you’re more likely to pay attention to it. This is purely because of repeated exposure. Learned behaviour also explains why branding ads with logos work because it increases brand recall. You’re learning what the business logo is associated with, and if you can create positive associations like happy holidays, then brand recall is that much stronger.
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