Christmas is the perfect opportunity to get creative with your brand’s online campaigns, after all, it’s the season not just of “giving”, but also “spending”; it is the time when your audience has more purchasing power and is willing to spend it. 

For marketers, it’s also when they ramp up their offline and online campaigns. But before you deck your brand with festive campaigns, there are some things you have to remember first: one, it’s important to take note of your market’s shopping preferences to build a clear picture of the buyer persona. In Singapore, for instance, we’re looking at three main factors affecting gift spending among locals: 1. value for money, 2. variety, and 3. convenience. The first one is basically saying that while Singaporeans love spending money on the holidays, they’re more likely to be interested in bargains and sales. 

It is important to note, however, that while the pandemic has altered some of these holiday shopping behaviours (with many deciding to reduce their gift spending post-COVID), Singaporeans are still looking at value for their money. This makes offering deals even more alluring and important to them.

So, here are three digital marketing ideas to boost sales that you can adapt for the holidays and the market:

GET CREATIVE WITH A DIGITAL SOLUTION.

Most brands with money to spend on the holidays sometimes go out of their way to partner with web developers and come up with digital solutions. By digital solutions, we mean specific landing pages to microsites built specifically for a time-bound purpose.

Take St. Tropez, for one: they did this gorgeously when they rolled out their digital advent calendar. Their goal sounds simple (to increase customer acquisition, first and foremost), but for a tanning brand, it could get quite tricky to remain relevant during Christmas (which coincides with winter in most countries they serve). The digital solution they came up with was a 12-day digital advent calendar that circled around a reward system. The result? A whopping 31K site clicks surpassed their target of 10,000 site visits over the 12-day period. 

Screenshot from SMACK Agency

Don’t know where to start? Here are other digital solutions you can explore:

• Gamification
• Gift-finder tools
• Automated gift generators

SHOOT CHRISTMAS ADVERTS.

After Digital also reports that while the younger generation is admittedly more dubious of advertising, Christmas adverts are still relevant, citing the fact that consumers are more likely to spend on or purchase an item if it’s attached to a memorable experience (that are usually stirred by heartfelt advertisements). This complements the report from The Drum, when it pegged Christmas advertisement responsiveness of the Chinese market to be at 44%. Now think of this same logic and then apply it to social media—especially to bite-sized, quick campaigns that you can do for your brand. It’s cost-effective and able to target your audience where they are—on their mobile or smart devices, which is a preferred method of the transaction during the holiday season.

The report from The Drum also mentioned that Asian (especially Chinese) shoppers are more responsive to holiday advertisements, which makes this tactic effective if you’re targeting this group. And the amazing thing about Christmas adverts in social media is that it doesn’t always have to be grandiose; they could be simple, as long as it’s thoughtful, stays in theme, and are well thought-out for the season. Here are some examples you can explore:

[object Object]0. If you’re an artisan shop selling leather products, you can film simple gift-wrapping videos while promoting your merchandise. [object Object]1. If you’re in the spa industry, film a short video of a child gifting their parents a ‘spa day’ at your establishment to highlight the core services that you offer. [object Object]2. If you’re in the food industry, film a video of patrons eating at your restaurant and ask what choices, from your menu, are they interested to add on their Christmas spread.

Creativity is the key; in creating simple advertisements, just remember to think about what you as a consumer wish to see and then go from there.

ENGAGE YOUR CUSTOMERS.

There are so many ways to engage people online, and incentivising them is one way of doing it. For this, we have two options: running a contest and rewarding your customers. Not only are these appealing to your market, but it also allows you to achieve goals such as widening your brand’s reach and online presence as well as capturing information that can help with lead generation.

Run a contest. Contests, like Facebook contests, are great in that they allow brands to target many goals, including raising awareness around the brand and increasing engagement (especially on social media). People love free stuff, and they especially love vying for the chance to win a prize in exchange for a simple task on their part. This is also helpful in fostering relationships with your existing audience and in building rapport with your acquired followers.

Reward your followers.* *Your customers, especially the most engaged bunch of them, are your brand’s greatest ambassadors. And what better way to show your gratitude to them than by gifting them exclusive offers in time for the holidays? This could be anything from digital coupons they can use when they purchase online (or in brick-and-mortar stores) to exclusive gifts thrown in together with their latest purchases.

Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to this. Good thing, we have a team that can help with this! Give our friendly team a call or drop us a message today to begin!