Nigel Wilkinson
Managing Director of Daneswood. Nigel has been in sales and marketing since the 1980's and run digital marketing agencies since 2000.
Whilst some businesses are entering the most manic time of year, for many the next few weeks is a period of wind down, reflection and planning for the New Year. So, to put you in the festive mood, here are a few ideas you can ask Santa to put in your marketing stocking!
Tidings of Brand Joy: Spend some time really understanding what your brand is! Who are your target audience? What is their demographic? What are their pains and desires? Why should they buy from you? What did you do better in the year since Last Christmas?
Wrap up your Marketing Plan: We all know the saying, “Work ON your Business, not IN your Business.” Put quality time aside to plan what your marketing will look like. What is the aim of the plan? How will you measure success? What is your budget, and is that realistic? What are the core activities you will use to achieve your goals? What’s the star you will follow?
Yule Review Your Website: Is your website up to date? Does it reflect your brand? Does it talk to your potential customers about their Pains and Desires? Does it give them the information they need to buy from you? If you aren’t sure, here’s a gift from us! Take a quick quiz; it just takes two minutes and will give you an Action Plan to get you started: https://daneswood.co.uk/seo-scorecard/
Ho Ho Ho do SEO: Getting found at the top of Google is a key foundation for many organisations marketing strategy. Updating your website with keyword-rich content is key, but there are lots of elements that make up a successful search engine optimisation strategy. We have a Quiz that covers this too: https://daneswood.co.uk/seo-scorecard/
Google ADvents: One of the fastest ways to get sales and enquiries is using Google paid advertising, this is when you pay Google a fee each time someone clicks on your link. It can be a great way to quickly get targeted visitor traffic. It can also be a money pit if you don’t manage it correctly, making mincemeat out of your budget!
Sleighing Social Media: Find out where your customers hang out and use social media to start a conversation with them. Are they on X, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, some, or all of them? Create high-quality content with bells on that delivers value and builds trust.
Hark the Herald Email Sings: Email marketing gets a bad wrap, and it’s true to say that more emails are getting stuck in the chimney than ever before. BUT it works! You need to be consistent, provide quality information and make sure you keep your database squeaky clean, but it still provides one of the most cost-effective ways of communicating with customers and prospects.
Glittering Social Adverts: Using Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest and X can be a great way to reach prospective customers when they are relaxed and in a receptive mood. Remember, business people are people too; they do use social channels, so B2B marketing can work just as effectively as B2C.
Print is good for Your Business Elf: Digital gets most of the marketing attention these days, but don’t forget printed materials. They can add a tangible element to your marketing that digital just can’t achieve. And it’s not always as deer as you think!
Jingle & Mingle: Networking is a great way to build relationships, Christmas is a very social time, but networking works best when it’s regular and consistent. Find the group or groups that work for you and make sure you are present at every event they hold.
Merry Metrics: Tracking Success in Your Marketing Campaigns. You need to monitor everything to make sure you get a Jolly ROI. What activities work? Which didn’t? Which brought the most enquiries? Which can you tweak to make more effective? Make sure wine isn’t the only thing that gets mulled this Christmas!
That wraps up our festive marketing ideas for another year. I hope there is an inspiration that brings you gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Now it’s time to put on my Christmas Jumper, deck the halls with boughs of Holly, then try and find where I left the Sellotape!
Regular readers of this blog will know I love a quote, so let’s end with one from Noddy Holder and Slade, “IT’S CHRISTMAS!”.