9 holiday marketing ideas to drive sales this season

By Kelsey Johnson November 8, 2022

Stand out from the gang with these enjoyable marketing campaigns.

For many companies, the holiday season is one of the best time of 12 months for sales. Whether you promote giftable crafts or a enterprise course, December is a time when individuals are opening their wallets and making purchases. 

It’s necessary to run promotions to encourage your prospects and potential prospects to spend at what you are promoting. And across the holidays, you may make your marketing actually enjoyable!

Don’t simply ship one other email telling individuals to purchase your merchandise. Instead, strive one among our 9 ideas for eye-catching and fascinating holiday marketing.

Jump forward to your favourite of our holiday marketing ideas:

1. Create a holiday gift guide
2. Throw a themed party
3. Offer gift card specials
4. Cross-promote holiday specials
5. Celebrate the 8 days of Hanukkah
6. Create a bingo card
7. Engage daily with an advent calendar
8. Donate to charity
9. Run a holiday referral contest

1. Create a holiday reward information

Buying presents for different individuals is way tougher than shopping for for your self. Coming up with reward ideas for companions, youngsters, dad and mom, and pals is a wrestle for everybody across the holiday purchasing season.

So create a present information for the holiday consumers almost certainly to purchase your merchandise. This AWeber buyer has a artistic “cozy” reward information for feminine-oriented merchandise.

Include merchandise throughout the vary of costs, so prospects know what you may have to supply, from stocking stuffers to that one large holiday reward. 

Make positive you ship a number of emails and publish throughout social media, too. Once the information is created, you need to drive as a lot consideration to it as potential.

2. Throw a themed social gathering

Chances are, your target market, prospects, and prospects possible have quite a bit in widespread. They might want to meet one another — in individual or on a reside name.

So our first holiday marketing thought is to throw your prospects a celebration. It could possibly be espresso or champagne at your store, an unpleasant sweater Zoom name, or a donation change. 

No matter what, a reside occasion will get individuals within the holiday spirit and permits them to join. 

There is not any higher approach to develop a neighborhood than a get-together. To increase sales through the social gathering, supply a reduction alongside the occasion or make a recreation that includes your merchandise (see the bingo card under).

3. Offer reward card specials

(*9*)

One of one of the best holiday promotion ideas to make extra sales is to supply reward playing cards. Almost everyone seems to be in search of presents for his or her household, pals, and even co-workers or shoppers. Your enterprise might have the proper reward for them.

Keep in thoughts, reward playing cards aren’t only for brick and mortar companies that promote t-shirts, toys, or meals. You can create a “giftable” product, it doesn’t matter what you promote.

For instance, for those who supply a course for $500, promote simply the primary or hottest video for $25. It could possibly be the proper reward, and the possibility to get a brand new buyer.

Or, for those who’re a marketing consultant, supply an in-depth session or first assembly as a stand-alone product. Your present prospects can purchase it for a pal or individual of their community. Again, you possibly can find yourself with a brand new buyer.

Use Canva to create a digital and/or bodily coupon so the individual receiving the reward nonetheless has one thing to open.

Cross-promotions are a particularly well-liked marketing tactic, any time of the 12 months. Everyone from small companies to giant firms use partnerships to drive extra sales.

Here’s how to get began: Find an organization that sells to the identical viewers as you, however sells a distinct product. Offer their prospects a particular low cost and have them supply yours a reduction.

Then — and right here’s one of the best half — ship a cross-promotion email to each of your subscriber lists. This opens up the chance for you to market to a wholly new viewers.

Check out this instance of holiday marketing cross-promo between Starbucks and Uber Eats. I’m guessing they bought a number of espresso and deliveries from these emails.

Cross-promotions could be so simple as a reduction for anybody utilizing a specific code. Or, you’ll be able to pair it with the bingo holiday marketing marketing campaign (add merchandise from each firms to the bingo card).

Bring all of it along with a celebration for everybody! There’s no draw back to getting everybody collectively for some holiday cheer. And for those who can affiliate it with what you are promoting to increase your on-line presence, all the higher.

5. Celebrate the 8 days of Hanukkah

Not everybody is aware of concerning the traditions and celebrations surrounding Hanukkah. If you do, take the chance to educate your viewers. Use the eight days to encourage individuals to be charitable and be taught extra concerning the Jewish religion.

For instance, the headphones firm AfterShokz despatched this email wishing a contented Hanukkah to everybody who celebrates and suggesting eight methods to unfold gentle this season.

Not each holiday marketing email must be meant for sales. It’s an incredible alternative to join together with your prospects as individuals with households and traditions.

Important observe: Always bear in mind to be culturally delicate in your entire holiday marketing. If you don’t know the proper approach to say one thing, don’t say it in any respect.

6. Create a bingo card

Cross-selling and upselling your prospects is how to take advantage of sales across the holidays. A bingo card could be simply the factor to encourage prospects to make that additional buy.

Here’s an instance bingo card impressed by an AWeber buyer’s Etsy retailer:

Here’s how to create a holiday bingo card in Canva: 

1. Create a bingo card with 9 squares (like a tic-tac-toe recreation). 
2. Add small, reasonably priced upsell merchandise or add-on providers to every bingo sq.. You could make the middle sq. free if you’d like, or add a very well-liked product.
3. Offer a freebee or low cost when somebody makes a “bingo.” (They can draw a straight or diagonal line via the squares of merchandise/providers they’ve purchased.)

You can create an attention grabbing bingo card simply utilizing Canva, and embrace it in your emails for a stupendous, enjoyable, and fascinating expertise to your prospects.

7. Engage day by day with an introduction calendar

When I used to be a child, our introduction calendar merely revealed an image every day (easier occasions). But these days introduction calendars reveal chocolate, presents, meals and wine, and even promotions every day.

To arrange an introduction calendar to your holiday marketing, you merely want to supply one thing new of worth day-after-day from December 1st till the twenty fourth. Each day might include a distinct low cost share, a small giveaway, or promotions on explicit merchandise/providers. 

This AWeber buyer who sells packs of baseball playing cards presents an introduction calendar with 24 thriller packs and an decoration for every day.

Be artistic: You can collaborate with different firms to supply reductions on their merchandise, too.

Mystery is the important thing to introduction calendar’s success. If you do a digital introduction calendar, your prospects and prospects will maintain coming again to your web site day-after-day to see what the brand new particular is. (This is sweet to your search engine marketing, too.)

8. Donate to charity

Donating to charity (on #GivingTuesday or another time) is a improbable holiday marketing concept that exhibits off your altruism and paints your model in the proper gentle. 

In addition to being a feel-good marketing tactic, by donating you incentivize charity-conscious prospects to select to store at what you are promoting over others.

There are just a few of how you could be artistic with donations and in addition make extra sales:

1. Offer to donate a sure share of all sales on a selected day or week
2. Match donations made to a charity you care about (or that’s associated to your trade) on a selected day
3. Offer $X to the charity you care about for each sale made on a selected day or week
4. Donate your services or products to somebody in want with each sale on a selected day

Donate, really feel good, and inform everybody about it in your subsequent holiday marketing email.

9. Run a holiday referral contest

Referrals can usually be the very best approach to get new prospects, particularly in a time when individuals are trying to social media for purchasing suggestions. Convince your largest followers to point out you — and reward them for it.

If you have already got a referral program — e.g. $20 while you refer somebody who makes a purchase order — you’ll be able to double it for the vacations to $40. Offer 10% off for the brand new buyer’s first buy, too (or extra for those who can).

Better but, flip holiday referrals right into a contest. Whoever sends you probably the most prospects, social followers, and even merely new leads, can win one among your extra invaluable services or products.

Have enjoyable with this contest. You could make badges or countdown graphics in Canva, and ship them in your emails selling the competition.

Announce your holiday marketing ideas with AWeber

Ready to begin bragging about your profitable holiday promotion? Send it in an email marketing campaign utilizing AWeber. Get started with a free account today.