Holiday prep: Ace your campaigns with these tips

16 July 2024

In just a little under two months, Jose Mari Chan memes will take over the internet, Mariah Carey will once again be topping the charts, and brands everywhere will start bidding for consumers’ attention.

This yuletide season, there are a couple of trends to watch out for regarding Christmas shopping: increased spending despite economic pressures, more self-gifting, optimized shopping channel preferences and early holiday shopping.

How then can you leverage these forecasts and amplify your brand’s messaging for the holidays?

Tip 1: Invest in Christmas-themed packaging or merch

For better brand recall, it’s important to share in your consumer’s excitement for Christmas in a tangible way. For one, you can have festive limited-edition designs of your product packaging. You can also have holiday-themed merchandise on hand that can be used for promos, giveaways, or even as tokens to your most loyal clientele.

One brand that invests in seasonal packaging and merchandise well is Starbucks, from their festive cups to their yearly-awaited planners, among others.

Source: Starbucks

Tip 2: Personalize messaging through segmentation

While it’s good to have one central messaging for all your audiences, it’s also crucial to create tailored messages that cater to specific user journeys, unique preferences, and varied interests. You can do this more effectively by getting more acquainted with your customer’s information from their demographics, purchasing history, to browsing behavior.

Tip 3: Add a human touch to your campaigns

Compliment your hard-sell approaches with something that tugs at the heartstrings. Here, you can get creative with different ways of storytelling. It could be something nostalgic, something ‘awww’ or awe-inducing, or something that inspires your audiences to pay it forward.To inspire warmth and fuzziness to your campaigns, check out this viral ad from Disney. At first glance, it seems like a tearjerker with a homage to Pinoy Christmases spent away from home. But look further and see how they connected the story to their physical store and their partnership with Make-A-Wish foundation.

Tip 4: Use a multi-channel approach

Recent studies suggest that different generations have different preferences when it comes to holiday shopping. For instance, Gen X and Gen Z prefer physical stores, while Millennials and Baby Boomers are more in favor of online shopping.

Despite these preferences however, being visible in different touchpoints and platforms is your most optimal strategy. One simple way you can do this is by launching campaigns using a mix of online (i.e. email marketing, social media, SEO, paid advertising) and offline channels (i.e. OOH, radio, print).

Tip 5: Have exclusive offers and freebies

Leverage on the trend of increased spending during the holidays with exclusive offers. Remember that this is the season where more than ever, consumers are primed to buy. Share in their excitement by encouraging them to purchase with flash sales, buy-one-get-one deals, and free shipping. To inspire you to think up unique ways of presenting your promos, here’s a snapshot of IKEA UK’s Christmas campaign where they offer deals a-la advent calendar.

Source: IKEA UK

Pro-tip: Use Pluxee Gift code as a freebie for your yuletide promos. You can even customize the SKU or merchant store to compliment your product or service.

Final thoughts

When you invest well in enhancing your customer base this Christmas, it will yield good returns even outside the season. Think of this time as preparation to make your sales funnels flourish year-round.

As your trusted partner and solutions provider, we would love to work with you in choosing your gifting and rewards journey this holiday season. Book a free consultation with our expert account managers and let’s make Christmas magic happen together.