The Ultimate Guide to Holiday Marketing Introduction Welcome to the Latana Guide to Holiday Marketing! For many brands, the holiday season is the biggest sales period of the entire year, with between 50% and 80% of total sales being generated in these crucial last few weeks. That also means every year, brands are busy creating strategic marketing campaigns to increase profits and boost brand awareness. However, holiday marketing this year will be very different. In light of the pandemic, shopping habits and preferences have shifted and continue to change fast. Many brands will be battling supply chain issues and inventory shortages, which means marketers will need to stay flexible this year. How can brands overcome these new challenges and run a successful campaign during a holiday season unlike any other? If you’re looking for answers to this question, we’ve got you covered. In this guide, we will provide you with everything you need to know to create a powerful holiday marketing strategy for your brand. Happy holidays everybody! Table of Contents The Do's & Don'ts of Holiday Marketing in 2021 How to Utilize Each Marketing Channel Holiday Advertising — Tips From the Professionals Keeping an Eye on the Competition How To Deal With Holiday Supply Chain Shortages C h a p t e r 1 C h a p t e r 2 C h a p t e r 3 C h a p t e r 4 B o n u s C h a p t e r The Do's & Don'ts of Holiday Marketing in 2021 C h a p t e r 1 The Do's & Don'ts of Holiday Marketing in 2021 C h a p t e r 1 Keen to level up your holiday marketing game? Let’s take a look at the main “do’s” and “don’ts” for 2021. While there are plenty of activities and tactics you can employ to create successful holiday marketing campaigns, here are the most important ones we’ve identified for 2021. Holiday Marketing “Do’s” “Data is one of the critical tools in your commercial artillery, but it’s going to be a lot more useful alongside other insights - cultural trends, ethnography, demography, and behavioral studies, to name a few. Historical data will tell you that Black Friday and Christmas are going to go gangbusters. But insights will tell you that consumers have been spending big all year, are facing financial uncertainty, and that one-off spending occasions are not receiving much traction - globally. So, invite your data insights and business intelligence team to the meeting, but don’t forget to bring a sociologist too.” Do stay ahead of shifts in consumer behavior. Keep yourself updated with industry reports, consumer surveys, and holiday trends to better understand your potential customers’ mindset. That’s the very first step you should get done before crafting your 2021 holiday marketing plan. 1. Steven Lord, Marketing Manager at Digital Next Australia When it comes to holiday marketing, we often look at what we did last year, jot down what worked, and use those insights to develop marketing campaigns for the upcoming holiday season. That isn’t wrong. But the world has changed fast and shows no signs of slowing down, so looking ahead is more important than looking back. Because of those changes, Steven Lord, Marketing Manager at Digital Next Australia, suggests businesses “use historical data with caution.” Analyze supply and demand, target audiences, and previous promotions. Brainstorm ideas with your team and run tests to discover what works best. Keep up with changes in the market and make timely adjustments. Prepare your creatives and campaign material to generate healthy end-of-year sales Run your campaign as early as possible. 2. How is your 2021 holiday marketing campaign shaping up? If you’re not already live or at least ready to go, you should act right now! Otherwise, you’ll be left behind. When it comes to holiday marketing, here is a rule of thumb: plan early. The sooner you think about your holiday campaign strategy, the better advantage you have. Specifically, you’ll have more time to: “When you reach people first where they make their plans, they’ll reach for you first when they make their purchases.” Pinterest Holiday 2020 Guide This year, it’s especially important to plan and execute your holiday marketing as soon as possible. As disruptions in the supply chain are likely, starting your campaign early allows shoppers to make purchases over a longer time frame. This avoids a last-minute rush and gives you time to find an alternative if you encounter inventory issues. Social proof Consumers tend to adopt the beliefs or actions of a group of people they like or trust. You can take advantage of social proof by showing reviews, ratings, and testimonials to build trust with shoppers. Scarcity The more rare the opportunity, the more valuable it is. Apply this psychology principle by showing an inventory countdown on product pages. Urgency Let customers know a deal is about to end by using a countdown timer. This will give them a little push to take action immediately. You can apply this principle in many places like pop-ups, web pages, emails, or ads. Do apply marketing psychology principles. 3. Marketing psychology anticipates shoppers’ behaviors by understanding human beings’ cognitive biases. As consumers, we’re all irrational, and our decision-making is mostly driven by those innate biases. You can apply marketing psychology principles to optimize ad campaigns, email marketing, and website copy to drive purchase behavior. Here are three important marketing psychology principles you should use: Do create a real reason to buy with deals and offers. 4. When creating your holiday marketing plans, ensure you offer shoppers incentives to buy from you. For many, this happens by providing a discount, promo code, free gift, or anything valuable to potential customers. According to Global Web Index’s survey, nearly 1 in 3 respondents say they’ll wait for products to be on promotion, discount, or sale before purchasing. “Get creative and don’t just offer a % discount, for example, include new features for those who are upgrading, extra seats, bundle offers.” Petra Odak, Chief Marketing Officer at Better Proposals One way to incentivize shoppers is to create bundles. For example, if organic cotton bathrobes are your bestsellers, bundle them up with smaller ticket items like body scrub and face masks. Scentsy does a good job of applying this technique. That’s compelling! Do offer amazing customer experiences online and offline. 5. Mastercard SpendingPulse’s annual holiday forecast sees in-store sales growing 6.6% year over year. Consumers are most likely to head to brick-and-mortar stores for luxury goods such as jewelry. The pandemic has transformed many aspects of our lives, including the shopping and gifting experience. While 2020 saw a dramatic shift towards eCommerce, the 2021 holiday shopping season is expected to take place in shops and online. Therefore, your brand needs to be ready to attract, educate, and delight customers online and offline. The most important thing is to make sure your customers are happy and have a good experience with your brand. Pinterest found that consumers are craving the comforts of the holidays. “They want this season to feel more festive than ever before, and they’re asking for brands to help them get there.” Holiday Marketing “Don’ts” Next, we move on to the “don’ts”. Of course, this is by no means an exhaustive list of all the pitfalls to avoid when building a holiday marketing campaign, but it’s a good place to start. Don’t wait until December to start advertising. 1. While, traditionally, Black Friday has signaled the hard start of most holiday advertising, it might be too late this year. According to research by consulting firm AlixPartners, 53% of consumers planned to start holiday shopping before October 31st. For example, Amazon launched its holiday marketing campaign which promotes "Black Friday- worthy deals" on October 4th this year, about two weeks ahead of previous years. Consumers know that this will be another tough year for timely delivery and that there are likely to be thousands of supply chain shortages. Thus, many people will be purchasing gifts even earlier than usual — so don’t miss out on their business by being unprepared. By encouraging consumers to purchase their holiday gifts from your brand sooner rather than later, you can ensure a better overall brand experience — more timely shipping, no stock shortages, and less overwhelmed customer service reps. launched its Black Friday marketing campaign on October 4th this year We recommend starting holiday brand awareness and consideration campaigns no later than November. This way, you’ll be able to get your brand on the radar of responsible shoppers who are getting ahead of the rush. November of consumers start holiday shopping before October 31st 53% In a 2020 study published by Evergage, they found that 64% of US marketers reported an “improved customer experience” and 63% reported “increased conversion rates” when utilizing marketing personalization. Don’t send the same message to all customers. 2. Personalization — it’s the next frontier of advertising. Cookie-cutter brand communication just won’t work anymore. As a brand manager, you have to go the extra mile and make sure different audiences are receiving different messages. of US marketers reported improved customer experience, using personalization 64% of US marketers reported increased conversion rates, using personalization 63% Modern consumers have come to expect personalized brand messaging — and not just in terms of traditional forms of brand communication, like emails. They also expect personalized content suggestions, deals, and offers — ones that are customized to their interests and purchase histories. Customers are looking for guidance and want information so they can feel like they’re making informed decisions. When you provide a personalized experience, they are more likely to have a positive impression of your brand and buy from you. Don’t overlook the importance of social media 3. While traditional search and display ads are effective ways to advertise and shouldn’t be put aside, many consumers are influenced by social media advertising and are more likely to discover brands via social platforms. In a 2021 study by GfK, 75% of Gen Z respondents and 68% of Boomers in the US said their purchase decisions were influenced by social media advertising. of Gen Z in the US made their purchase influenced by social media advertising 75% of Boomers in the US made their purchase influenced by social media advertising 68% It’s important not to underestimate social media when creating your holiday advertising strategy. Social media is how people connect and interact with one another — making it the ideal place to share gift ideas and make recommendations to friends. When brands include social media ads and content in their holiday arsenal, they’re making it much easier for consumers to discover and share their products. Many modern consumers see a brand’s social media presence as an integral part of the buying experience. Consumers can be skeptical of a brand that have no or very little social media presence. Whether or not consumers are purchasing products directly on social platforms, social media content and ads are a great way to ramp up brand awareness during the holiday season. How to Utilize Each Marketing Channel C h a p t e r 2 Holiday campaigns are the time to get creative and make your customers feel special. Let’s take a look at some best-practices for branded content on each of the main marketing channels, across social media, Google Ads, Out of Home, email, and your brand website. How to Utilize Each Marketing Channel C h a p t e r 2 Instagram C H A N N E L Instagram is all about amazing, visually-appealing, aspirational content. Top brands like Starbucks ensure their feed is especially Insta-perfect around the holidays, where consumers are browsing social media for gift inspiration. Create a content calendar A good way to stay on top of your content game is to craft a holiday content calendar. Create a list of the photos and videos you want to share on Instagram throughout the holiday season. Don’t forget to come up with some seasonal captions and find the best holiday hashtags! 7 DAYS 6 DAYS 5 DAYS 4 DAYS 3 DAYS 2 DAYS 1 DAYS DAYS BEFORE HOLIDAYS FORMAT VISUAL CAPTION VISUAL TYPE Feed Post Story Story Feed Post Story Story Feed Post Close-up shot of food Meme Video Candid shots Video and portrait shots Meal shots Video Image of appealing meal or restaurant seating area Funny meme about being too bust to cook dinner Behind-the-scenes video of restaurant team cooking Image of people in the restaurant enjoying their meal Photo/video of Chef talking/preparing his favorite holiday meal Card 1: What does every human need in their life? Card 2: FOOD! Come by for the perfect gift for evryone on your list Vidoe of team singing holiday songs N othing says “ I care ” like food , get your favoritepeople a gift certi fi cate for a meal this holiday! # yumm y T he holidays are cra z y , take a break and have dinner w ith us # takeabrea k All of our meals are made w ith # love G ive the gift ofa full belly and ama z ing dining e x perience w ith a gift certi fi cate to our restauran t Wallet feeling tired from all the the gift buying ? T omorro w, come in for 2 0% off any meal ordered before 6 pm # sal e Our head chef ’ s favorite holiday meal! # nomno m Can ’ t fi nd the right gift for that certain person ? You can ’ t go w rong w ith a great meal , pick up a gift certi fi cate # giftidea s From all of us here , w e ’ d like to w ish all of you w arm w ishes and a very happy holiday We hope everyone w ill enjoy some q uality time w ith your loved ones! Be authentic Users love authentic, behind-the-scenes imagery and sneak peeks into what your brand is up to over the holidays. Share photos and videos of your team or other customers celebrating the holiday, like your office holiday party or any specific holiday-themed events. 'Tis the season to get creative Showcase your products and services in a festive way, incorporating decorations, colors, or other symbols from the holidays. Take this example from Starbucks, where they show their seasonal coffees wrapped in a red ribbon. Organize a giveaway The holidays are a good time to give back to your community. One way to drive engagement is to organize a giveaway. Encourage customers to comment on a post and pick a random winner to receive one of your products for free.