11 Jolly holiday marketing ideas to drive sales this season

By Kelsey Johnson September 6, 2023

For a lot of companies, the vacation season is one of the best time of 12 months for gross sales. Whether or not 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 clients and potential clients to spend at your small business. And across the holidays, you may make your advertising and marketing actually enjoyable!

Don’t simply ship one other e mail telling individuals to purchase your merchandise. As a substitute, strive one in every of our 9 concepts for eye-catching and interesting vacation advertising and marketing.

Bounce forward to your favourite of our vacation advertising and marketing concepts:

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

1. Festive e mail collection

Create a collection of holiday-themed emails that provide worth to your subscribers. 

This might embody reward guides, DIY vacation initiatives, interactive video games, every day trivia, or vacation wallpaper for telephones. 

The objective of those emails is to create pleasure and anticipation for the subsequent e mail. That manner when it’s time to ship a gross sales e mail, your emails will stand out from the group.

Right here’s two examples of vacation impressed interactive emails.

2. Electronic mail unique flash gross sales

It’s usually a good suggestion to have a look at what the larger corporations are doing and take a chapter from their guide. 

So check out what the most important on-line retailer does to create pleasure and urgency with their “lightning offers” which they ramp up main as much as black friday and cyber monday. You can promote one or two merchandise at a low worth for a really restricted time – like 24 hours.

Ship out unique flash sale gives to your e mail subscribers. You can even tease out on social media that flash sale gadgets will likely be unique for anybody who’s in your e mail listing. This may very well be a good way to extend your e mail viewers.

3. Create a vacation reward information

Shopping for presents for different individuals is way tougher than shopping for for your self. Developing with reward concepts for companions, youngsters, dad and mom, and mates is a battle for everybody across the vacation purchasing season.

So create a present information for the vacation consumers most probably to purchase your merchandise. This AWeber buyer has a inventive “cozy” reward information for feminine-oriented merchandise.

You are able to do one thing comparable, together with merchandise throughout a variety of costs, so clients know what you need to provide, from stocking stuffers to that one massive vacation reward.

Be sure to ship a number of emails and submit throughout social media, too. As soon as the information is created, you wish to drive as a lot consideration to it as doable.

4. Throw a themed get together

Likelihood is, your target market, clients, and prospects seemingly have so much in widespread. They might wish to meet one another — in particular person or on a dwell name.

So this vacation advertising and marketing thought is to throw your clients a celebration. It may very well be espresso or champagne at your store, an unsightly sweater Zoom name, or a donation trade.

It doesn’t matter what, a dwell occasion will get individuals within the vacation spirit and permits them to attach. 

There isn’t any higher approach to develop a neighborhood than a get-together with just about or in particular person. To spice up gross sales throughout the get together, provide a reduction alongside the occasion or make a sport that includes your merchandise (see the bingo card under).

5. Supply reward card specials

Top-of-the-line vacation promotion concepts to make extra gross sales is to supply reward playing cards. Virtually everyone seems to be in search of presents for his or her household, mates, and even co-workers or shoppers. What you are promoting may have the proper reward for them.

Take note, reward playing cards aren’t only for brick and mortar companies that promote t-shirts, toys, or meals. You’ll be able to create a “giftable” product, it doesn’t matter what you promote.

For instance, if you happen to provide a course for $500, promote simply the primary or hottest video for $25. It may very well be the proper reward, and the prospect to get a brand new buyer.

Or, if you happen to’re a guide, provide an in-depth session or first assembly as a stand-alone product. Your present clients can purchase it for a buddy or particular person of their community. Once more, you might find yourself with a brand new buyer.

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

Cross-promotions are an especially widespread advertising and marketing tactic, any time of the 12 months, however particularly as a part of your vacation advertising and marketing marketing campaign. Everybody from small companies to massive firms use partnerships to drive extra gross sales.

Right here’s find out how to get began: Discover a firm that sells to the identical viewers as you, however sells a special product. Supply their clients a particular low cost and have them provide yours a reduction.

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

Try this instance of vacation advertising and marketing cross-promo between Starbucks and Uber Eats. I’m guessing they bought numerous espresso and deliveries from these emails.

Cross-promotions may be so simple as a reduction for anybody utilizing a selected code. Or, you possibly can pair it with the bingo vacation advertising and marketing marketing campaign (add merchandise from each corporations to the bingo card).

Convey all of it along with a celebration for everybody! There’s no draw back to getting everybody collectively for some vacation cheer. And if you happen to can affiliate it with your small business to spice up your on-line presence, all the higher.

7. Have fun the 8 days of Hanukkah

Not everybody is aware of concerning the traditions and celebrations surrounding Hanukkah. For those who do, take the chance to coach 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 e mail wishing a contented Hanukkah to everybody who celebrates and suggesting eight methods to unfold mild this season.

Not each holiday marketing email must be meant for gross sales. It’s a fantastic alternative to attach together with your clients as individuals with households and traditions.

Vital notice: All the time keep in mind to be culturally delicate in your whole vacation advertising and marketing. For those who don’t know the proper approach to say one thing, don’t say it in any respect.

8. Create a bingo card

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

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

Right here’s how one can create your very personal vacation bingo card, utilizing Canva: 

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

You’ll be able to create an attention grabbing bingo card simply utilizing Canva, and embody it in your emails for a ravishing, enjoyable, and interesting expertise to your clients.

9. Interact every day with an creation calendar

Introduction calendars are a tremendous Christmas advertising and marketing thought to spice up curiosity and gross sales.

After I was a child, our creation calendar merely revealed an image every day (less complicated occasions). However these days creation calendars reveal chocolate, presents, meals and wine, and even promotions every day.

To arrange an creation calendar to your vacation advertising and marketing, you merely want to supply one thing new of worth every single day from December 1st till the twenty fourth. Every day may include a special low cost share, a small giveaway, or promotions on explicit merchandise/providers. 

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

Be inventive: You’ll be able to collaborate with different corporations to supply reductions on their merchandise, too.

Thriller is the important thing to creation calendar’s success. For those who do a digital creation calendar, your clients and prospects will hold coming again to your web site every single day to see what the brand new particular is. (That is good to your website positioning, too.)

10. Donate to charity

Donating to charity (on #GivingTuesday or every other time) is a improbable vacation advertising and marketing concept that exhibits off your altruism and paints your model in the proper mild. 

Along with being a feel-good advertising and marketing tactic, by donating you incentivize charity-conscious clients to decide on to buy at your small business over others.

There are a number of of how you may be inventive with donations and in addition make extra gross sales:

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

Donate, really feel good, and inform everybody about it in your subsequent vacation advertising and marketing e mail.

11. Run a vacation referral contest

Referrals can usually be the very best approach to get new clients, particularly in a time when individuals want to social media for purchasing suggestions. Persuade your largest followers to say you — and reward them for it.

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

Higher but, flip vacation referrals right into a contest. Whoever sends you probably the most clients, social followers, and even merely new leads, can win one in every of your extra helpful services or products.

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

Announce your vacation advertising and marketing concepts with AWeber

Prepared to begin bragging about your profitable vacation promotion? Ship it in an e mail marketing campaign utilizing AWeber. Get started with a free account today.