5 Ways to Reach Consumers This Holiday Season

It’s hard to believe the holidays are right around the corner. For many companies and brands, the entire year leads up to this final push. The holidays are full of their own unique stresses, but your digital marketing strategy doesn’t have to be one of them.

We’ve previously outlined some of our social media best practices that can help maximize engagement and establish your brand’s online presence. Now we’re here to give you some more tips on how to reach and engage with consumers this holiday season. When it comes to developing your strategy for the holidays, there’s really no time like the present (pun intended).

1. Get going!

One study found that there are four different types of holiday consumers to be aware of: steady, early, Black Friday, and late shoppers. Although they all have different approaches when it comes to their individual shopping styles, they could all agree on certain important aspects of their experience. According to NRF’s 2017 Holiday Planning Playbook, 90 percent of shoppers are convinced to make their purchases based on some sort of incentive (free shipping, promotions, etc.), and 88 percent of holiday shoppers are happy to receive ads from their preferred brands. Each group is important to keep in mind and presents different opportunities when crafting campaigns. If you want to give those last-minute shoppers a little motivation, remind them that their trip to the mall could look like this …

2. Curating is so fetch

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been personally victimized by an annoying company. We’ve all been there, and we’ve likely all taken proactive steps to rid this from our lives with the unfollow or unsubscribe button. Curating an Instagram, Facebook, or even email campaign is essential to not only building your brand, but building a strong following. Take time to curate your posts and create a content plan to establish your voice and online presence. What you share should be a representation of who you are. Think of some of your favorite brands: Do they post lifestyle tips? Recipes? Funny memes? “Mean Girls” gifs?

3. Reach the right people

Do you know whose nice list you’ll be on this year? Sprout Social has outlined the best ways to find your true target audience. Who would’ve ever thought there was an entire market for people who love their dogs so much they get a subscription box for them every month? BarkBox did, and so did my dog and I! The article expands on BarkBox’s massive Instagram and Facebook following, and how such a niche product can produce stellar results. By ensuring your hard work is being seen by the right (dog, not cat) people, you’ll be sure to gain loyalty.

4. Think outside the (gift) box

Mark Twain once said, “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope.” And to that, Barney Stinson famously replied, “Challenge accepted!” (Okay, that may not have been the exact way it went down, but I promise this is going somewhere.) As marketing professionals, I think we should take the Barney approach. While it’s true it becomes increasingly challenging to reach consumers in a way that hasn’t been done, it is something that should always be on our minds.

Earlier this year, KFC’s Twitter account received a whole lot of attention without doing too much. Someone realized the account only followed a very select group of people: the Spice Girls and six guys named Herb. This idea was small (and smart!), but still resulted in some pretty impressive results.

5. Give the gift of being a nice person

Whether it’s a fast response, an effort to resolve an issue, or just a little banter back and forth, a little human touch can go a long way. Whether your consumer’s experience is in-person or online, personalization and communication is key. Forty-seven percent of mobile users delete apps from their devices that do not offer any customer support. In an increasingly online world, people still value good ol’ human interaction. Making this a priority can only result in good things for you during the holiday season (and all year ‘round).

Reaching consumers during the holidays takes thought, research and a planned execution. The benefits of a successful campaign can not only lead to a notable season, but can carry on into the next year. The holidays just wouldn’t be the holidays without a few challenges. Hopefully these tips — mixed with your own team’s talents and goals — can help alleviate some of them. Cheers!