The final few months of the year, often referred to as The Golden Quarter, are make or break for many businesses. Christmas shopping is starting earlier than ever, with many planning to have all their gifts purchased by the start of December.
How will you make the most of the opportunity? Having a plan is a great place to start:
- Clear goals of what you want to achieve
- A profile of your ideal customer
- Details of the products, services and packages you will promote
- A list of the marketing tasks most likely to attract attention and sales
Assuming your goal is to make sales and delight customers, here are 12 Christmas marketing ideas you can steal this Golden Quarter.
1. Advent Calendar
2. Sprinkle Christmas Magic
3. Offer Christmas Workshops
4. Upsell giftwrapping
5. Naughty or Nice list
6. Free gift
7. Make a gift guide
8. Share your knowledge
9. Run a giveaway on social media
10. Subscription box
11. Limited edition range
12. Behind the scenes
(Just remember us in your acceptance speech when picking up your award for ‘Christmas Marketing Campaign of the Year’.)
1. Advent Calendar
Don’t judge – this is a fun and simple way to build links with your audience.
Offer a treat, top tip, prize or discount every day, rewarding customers for their attention while also building your brand.
A business advent calendar campaign doesn’t have to cost money – share a motivational quote on your social media channels each day throughout December, using a common hashtag to tie them all together.
2. Sprinkle Christmas magic
Give your website, store and social media accounts a festive makeover.
Add a Santa hat to your logo, a blanket of snow to your website’s header, or a red nose to staff photos on name badges.
3. Offer Christmas workshops
It’s not just elves who enjoy spending time in the workshop at Christmas.
Christmas crafting is big business, contributing over £375m to the UK economy. From baking to Christmas wreaths, card-making and personalised Christmas stockings, millions of us spend money on craft supplies, tutorials and workshops in the lead-up to Christmas.
How could your customers share in your creative process? Could you invite them to a demo where they could also take part?
A flower shop could offer wreath-making workshops.
A coffee shop could run a Christmas cupcake decorating afternoon.
A garden centre could show customers how to plant a Winter hanging basket.
Not only will people pay for your workshop, they are also likely to recommend you and buy from you in the future.
4. Gift wrap
Remember that scene in Love Actually, when Rowan Atkinson’s character gift wraps the necklace Alan Rickman’s character has bought for his potential mistress?
We’re not suggesting you go to these extremes but an upsell at checkout is a great way to add value to customers’ orders. Design and print a stylish promotional jute or cotton bag (with GoJute – goes without saying) and offer to customers as they complete their purchase.
This saves on wrapping paper but also works hard for your business by showcasing your brand, long after the mince pies have been eaten and the stockings are back in the drawer.
5. Naughty or nice?
Have fun with your customers by inviting them to learn whether they are on the Naughty or Nice List. Use a dice (odds are naughty, evens are nice), toss a coin or invite them to pull a piece of paper from a box.
Everyone gets a prize; we would recommend giving away a branded bag, printed with either
I am on the naughty list
or
I am on the nice list
Get creative – include a discount voucher in their bag, or a personalised Christmas card signed by you, invite them back in the New Year to preview sale items before everyone else.
6. Add a free gift
The big retailers do it all the time:
“Spend another £7.89 to qualify for free delivery” or
“Spend over £20 to receive your free tote bag”
With the rising cost of living, value for money is more important than ever. A free gift with purchases over a set threshold is a welcome incentive for many, making it one of our most popular Christmas marketing ideas.
Not only does a free gift of a branded jute bag, drawstring cotton bag or tote bag reward loyal customers; it also helps with customer retention. People feel they are getting a little bit extra for their hard-earned cash and are more likely to recommend you to others.
7. Make a gift guide
The latest data from Google shows that the number of people searching for ‘gift guides’ shoots up towards the end of October.
They offer easy browsing for customers seeking gifts their family and friends will love.
Could you get together with nearby businesses (non-competing of course) to create a gift guide featuring your products?
It doesn’t have to be a printed brochure; it could simply be an article on your website, linking to other products and services relevant to your target audience. Tag the other businesses on social media and you may get social shares, extending the reach of your content further.
8. Share your knowledge
Is there a greater gift than sharing your knowledge? Lifting the lid on the ‘how’ of your business is a great way to build rapport and establish yourself as an expert in your field.
An accountant could share a budget planner to keep track of festive finances.
A retailer could demonstrate clever gift-wrapping techniques using natural eco-friendly materials.
A music teacher could teach how to play a Christmas song on a keyboard
You could create a simple how-to video using nothing but a smart phone. Professionally produced videos stand out a mile on social media, while amateur videos are more authentic and genuine, so don’t worry about making it look like an Oscar winner.
9. Run a giveaway on social media
Contests and giveaways on social media are big business. They have a greater reach than other posts, and data suggests they increase engagement, follower count and click through rate.
You could offer one of your products or services as a prize in exchange for social shares or comments in the lead-up to Christmas – social contests are particularly popular in November so act now for maximum return.
Hubspot share a detailed guide on running social media contests,
34% of new customers are acquired through contests.
10. Subscription box (or bag)
What is a subscription box? It’s a recurring delivery of niche products as part of a marketing strategy. It may be a monthly delivery of beauty products, or a quarterly delivery of new books to read.
There are hundreds of different subscription boxes, and they’re growing in popularity.
“According to Royal Mail’s recent UK Subscription Box Market report, the UK subscription box market is set to be worth £1.8 billion by 2025.”
Retail Gazette, 2021
Subscription boxes grew exponentially during the pandemic; many wanted to treat themselves during a very stressful time, others were keen to avoid understocked and overcrowded supermarkets.
While life has largely returned to normal, demand for subscription boxes continues to grow.
Glossybox, Birchbox and Look Fantastic are popular beauty boxes, while Harry’s offers a monthly shaving and grooming package. But it’s not just cosmetics and personal grooming. There are cleaning, knitting, beer, chocolate, gardening, even dog treat subscription boxes.
If you’ve got a product that people buy, you’ll likely have the potential for a subscription model. And a jute bag is a great way to package your monthly or quarterly delivery.
11. Limited edition special
We helped a community group in Sussex produce a high quality sustainable jute bag, branded with their village name. With magenta print, the bag was ideal for Summer and sold well for the independent retailers.
In the Autumn, the group got in touch to request an update; this time with an Autumnal illustration of leaves, acorns and pumpkins in bright orange.
The Winter bag is also in the pipeline, featuring a Winter scene in cool blue.
What limited edition versions of your product could you offer?
12. Show what’s under the wrapping paper
Freshly wrapped gifts beneath the Christmas tree bring a buzz of anticipation. Their perfect corners, neatly-tied bows and personalised message tags promise so much. But it’s what’s inside that counts.
Peel back the wrapping paper on your business in the lead-up to Christmas and share what goes on behind the scenes.
A short video showing the team working hard to meet Christmas deadlines will do wonders for customer loyalty.
Hopefully you’re inspired by our top Christmas marketing ideas.
We’re ready to help get those ideas off the ground if you can see a branded bag fitting into your Christmas marketing plan – get in touch today and look forward to a bumper festive season of happy customers.