If the first chocolate Christmas figures are offered on the shelves of grocery stores, it is high time to start the new marketing campaigns of the approaching Christmas business. Good preparation - which is best started in mid-summer - is the basis for successful marketing for the 2021 Christmas business. Get busy in good time to create a well thought-out Marketing Plan set up. It gives you the opportunity to plan advertising campaigns successfully, coordinate them across channels, and prepare for implementation without time pressure.
Planning advertising measures for the 2021 Christmas season
For many companies, the Christmas season is a time of high turnover or the time of the year with the highest turnover. Online retailers generate around a quarter of total sales during the Christmas period. Important milestones are the autumn shopping holidays around the Black Friday and the Cyber Monday, the St. Nicholas Day as well as the Sundays in Advent. Price-conscious customers and impulse buyers without fixed preferences for products and services stock up on products for their own use and early Christmas gifts.
With a well thought-out marketing plan, you can prepare your company for the - through Efficient and target group-oriented online advertising the onslaught that has been conjured up. From its own website to Newsletter and social media appearances through to paid Google Ads you have a wide range of channels at your disposal to reach existing and new customers.
Evaluation of successful campaigns and actions from previous years
In order not to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas business, you should determine all relevant parameters for advertising measures early on. The campaigns and promotions of previous years will give you some pointers. Organize them according to your Quantitatively and qualitatively measurable success. Which campaigns and actions generated the most leads and conversions in the short and long term? If competitors have performed better, spend enough time to determine the success factors as part of a competitor analysis. If you haven't saved their actions, check old newsletters and social media posts. If you are unsure what your weaknesses were, get professional support from marketing experts on board and give your marketing for Christmas 2021 new impetus.
Christmas business 2021 - focus on online advertising
As a result of the Corona pandemic, online retail has achieved major sales growth. Experts expect this trend to continue in the Christmas business. Targets for online stores are to increase the sales achieved in the previous year, to make valuable Generate leads and to expand the customer base in the long term. Despite rising inflation, consumer sentiment is very good and a pronounced interim high is expected. Take advantage of the positive trend and Adapt to consumer behaviorby giving online advertising the importance it deserves in your marketing plan.
If you don't have a social media presence with a large number of followers to fall back on, it's paid online advertising - in the form of Google Ads or Facebook Ads - a great way to target your audiences and get the word out about Christmas promotions. Make sure to design campaigns for the 2021 Christmas season consistently across all platforms. This way, you create recognition values on a visual and content level - despite partially different target groups.
Put own actions in relation to competitor actions
Don't make the mistake of engaging in a discount battle with your competition. Stay true to yourself and only give discounts that you can justify economically. It doesn't make sense to take on a lot of work, weaken the profitability of the Christmas business and not be able to adequately cultivate customer contacts because there is a rush for low-priced, discounted products and services.
Advertise specifically with your Unique selling propositions and consciously set yourself apart from the competition for prospects and customers. Your marketing plan will help you to coordinate your Christmas campaigns, to time the launch of the individual advertising measures, and to provide a common thread for addressing your customers.
Concentrate on your core competencies in customer communication and appear as you would like to be perceived by your target groups.
Satisfy customers' needs and arouse emotions
The marketing plan of the previous years should be fundamentally revised and adapted to the Changing consumer habits and values of customers customizedt. The rising number of Corona visitors in the fall and winter and last year's experience ensure that the available budget is invested primarily in goods for domestic use, entertainment electronics, board games and high-quality food.
Recycled and DIY products are in vogue. It is worthwhile - in line with one's own product range - to increasingly promote the products and services that give people a sense of security, permanence and warmth. The Arouse emotions in the 2021 holiday shopping season is important to create differentiators from the competition. Make your customers feel understood and appear solid and authentic.
Plan for and consider giveaways
If you have a retail store, you know the trend of many customers making a purchase just before Christmas to get that holiday gift - like a nice mug or calendar for 2022. It is possible, with some effort and additional cost, during the 2021 Christmas season to Online orders enclose a Christmas gift. The higher the price of your products or the higher your percentage of regular customers, the greater the benefit you will derive from the marketing campaign. Your advantage: You Reach customers on a personal level and set themselves apart from the competition ab. Your disadvantage: You must take into account in the marketing plan that the advertising measure from the 2021 Christmas business must be repeated in the following year in order to Satisfy expectations and avoid disappointment.
Set standards only as high as you can satisfy them - despite increasing customer volumes and business growth.
Make advertising and promotions simple
Make your marketing plan as straightforward as possible. Complex advertising measures during the 2021 Christmas season require increased resource consumption and tie up valuable working time. If promotions are not comprehensible at first glance to interested parties and potential customers, the Bounce rate. Great success, on the other hand, bring actions such as:
- the waiver of shipping costs
- fixed discount rates, which are deducted from the total amount
- an extended right of return with a return period until at least January 6, 2022 (Epiphany)
- zero-percent financing for high-priced products
Conclusion - with good planning to more sales in the Christmas business 2021
With a well thought-out marketing plan, you will be prepared on a content and technical level when it comes to optimally coordinating campaigns for the 2021 Christmas season. Retain financial reserves and human resources to optimize ongoing campaigns as needed and to scale successful campaigns. Festively decorated websites and social media presences create the Christmas spirit just as much as successful marketing campaigns that go according to plan.
