As the holiday buzz sets in, the festive season provides a fantastic opportunity for businesses to strengthen their relationship with consumers, boost audience engagement, and increase product sales. When achieved successfully, these benefits are a gift from the corporate wish list. However, the wrong approach can also turn this into a season of wasted marketing opportunities. To keep you from falling down this path, here are some common marketing mistakes to avoid this holiday season.
1. Ill-timed Promotions
Holiday sales and discounts are complimentary bonuses of the festive cheer, with customers eagerly anticipating such offers. Believing it may prolong the hype, some businesses leverage this excitement by advertising offers well before the holiday season (like Christmas discounts in the summer kind of early). Unfortunately, these attempts often fall flat. Why? Because brands don’t realize that promoting ahead of time is like serving dessert before the main course– it ruins the whole order of the meal (or, in this case, the shopping experience). When exposing audiences to premature and persistent announcements, businesses run the risk of “consumer fatigue,” causing people to disengage with the brand’s message. Similarly, early promotions can undermine brand credibility by indicating staggering knowledge of consumer demand.
At the same time, businesses can begin promotions too late, believing last-minute concessions will appeal to customers. They won’t. Instead, this can significantly stunt consumer interest, as peak season sales will have already fulfilled customers’ holiday shopping needs. Late promotions are also economically disadvantageous; with multiple businesses and limited ad placements (that offer decent exposure), competition and the costs for advertising skyrocket, causing potential budgeting issues.
2. Sending Out Too Many Emails
Many businesses increase their email marketing efforts around the holidays, utilizing emails to convey seasonal promotions and offers to subscribers. Initially, this strategy is effective– it reinforces brand awareness by reminding subscribers of the business and its products/services amidst the holiday rush. However, too much of a good thing can ultimately be harmful, as multiple emails may overwhelm consumers. They can also appear intrusive and desperate, undermining subscribers’ innate desire for the brand’s products. Similarly, frequent emails can adversely affect audience engagement and email deliverability as customers become increasingly disinterested in the information, leading to unopened emails and higher unsubscription rates.
Let’s face it– no one wants to comb through an inbox full of repetitive emails; it’s worse than receiving a tacky party invite from that one relative no one likes.
3. Using Generic or Vague Messaging
Slogans or greetings like “[Brand] Wishes You a Very Happy Holidays” are courteous and polite but can lack brand authenticity and appeal. With multiple other businesses showering customers with similar sentiments, this messaging is too generic to help the brand stand out. Such messages can invoke feelings of irrelevance within customers, making them feel distant and cut off from the brand. Similarly, these one-size-fits-all messages often fail to symbolize the diversity of consumer audiences. Instead, tailoring messages to audience sub-groups (like workers or students) can solidify brand-audience connections by addressing individual audience characteristics.
4. Neglecting Social Media Engagement
Holidays are a busy time for everyone, businesses included. There’s the classic shopping rush to cope with, review year-long performance, and strategize for the new year. With so much happening, losing sight of customer engagement is easy. However, it is crucial to maintain (and even amplify) social media interactions during this season, as it can strengthen brand-audience relationships. Replying to and acknowledging followers’ comments will emphasize the brand’s gratitude towards its customers, making them feel appreciated.
Social media engagement during the holidays is also a simple yet impactful method of reinforcing customer loyalty by tapping into the holiday spirit. Utilizing social platforms to give customers behind-the-scenes looks into the brand’s year-end activities echoes the togetherness of the holidays. This can help customers feel part of a community rather than a simple purchase audience, prolonging their emotional connection to the brand.
Conclusion
The holidays are a vital time to amplify and curate marketing efforts; knowing which tactics to avoid can help boost brand reach by preventing marketing pitfalls. On the surface, the facets outlined above can appear trivial and be easily overlooked. However, repeating these mistakes can stunt business growth and product desire over time. By familiarizing themselves with these errors, brands can cruise through the holidays without incurring long-term marketing setbacks.
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