Nigel Wilkinson
Managing Director of Daneswood. Nigel has been in sales and marketing since the 1980's and run digital marketing agencies since 2000.
The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and it’s time to discuss planning your marketing for Christmas!
Now, you might be thinking that’s sensible because you are in retail or hospitality, and the Christmas holiday season creates a huge part of your income – e.g., in the Jewellery trade, it’s typical for 70%+ of trade to occur in the six weeks prior to Christmas.
Alternatively, you could be in a sector where traditionally December, you wind down for the break, and planning your Christmas marketing is at the bottom of your priority list. In which case, please do keep reading, as hopefully I will convince you to rethink!
The marketplace has changed, think back twenty-something years to when August and December were quiet times for Business-to-Business sales (B2B). Then it was mid/late January before clients, and prospects emerged from their Christmas hibernation. Even 4-5 years ago, that was still pretty much the pattern.
Then the world changed! The last couple of years have seen increased activity in the B2B sectors, with December and January becoming key selling months, whereas June – August has become the quieter times; indeed, you can include May this year with the never-ending run of Bank Holidays!
So, whilst the traditional Christmas industries will continue to focus on their seasonal activities, those of us in sectors used to focusing on our networking skills down the pub in December need to build serious marketing planning into our calendar for times we would traditionally ignore.
Ok, but why is planning this now in the summer important? Well, by planning early, you can get a head start on your marketing strategy and stand out from the competition.
That being the case, what do you need to be thinking about? Well, key dates are a good starting point, whether you are going to be thinking of a Black Friday offer, the last dates for guaranteed delivery or simply when you plan to shut the office doors.
Once you have your schedule lined up, you can start the process of strategy and communication.
If you have planned ahead, you can start by building anticipation. By starting early, businesses can create anticipation and generate buzz around their Christmas campaigns. This allows them to engage with their audience and build excitement leading up to the holiday season, increasing the chances of customer engagement and sales.
This doesn’t just have to be retailer offers. Campaigns using Christmas or year-end can be just as effective for B2B offers, especially if your offering can include pre-yearend spend to reduce potential Corporation Tax at the new higher rates! (Hint: it may be that getting a new website might help – just a thought!)
With your offering and promotions strategy in place, it’s worth remembering that developing compelling and effective marketing campaigns takes time. By planning early, you can allow ample time for creative development, including designing visuals, photography, crafting messaging, and creating engaging content.
Leaving it to the last-minute means you may have to settle for a campaign that is less than perfect, just to get it out before mid-December – and yes, we have had well-established brands do that! The downside to doing this also is that with paid advertising like Google Ads, the cost-per-click you are likely to pay in the midst of the Christmas rush is going to be way more expensive than getting this prepared earlier as it’s less competitive and therefore cheaper, earlier on.
This ties closely to effective budget allocation. Early planning allows you to allocate your marketing budget more effectively and determine the most appropriate allocation across various marketing channels, such as online ads, social media campaigns, email marketing, or traditional advertising.
Overall, early marketing planning for Christmas provides businesses with a competitive advantage, enabling you to effectively allocate resources, build anticipation, and engage with customers, resulting in increased brand visibility, customer loyalty and getting sales revenue you might not otherwise have gotten during the holiday season.