Planning Your Christmas Campaign
With 37% of people planning to complete most of their Christmas shopping in November, it is not too early to start planning your campaign. Our team at TWI have put together a guide to help break down what may seem like a daunting challenge for any marketing team.
1. Learn from experience.
Check your previous year’s campaigns to assess what it was that you did well and areas that you think your campaign could have improved. This is great to know as you can learn from any mistakes or successes and amend this years to fit the needs and wants of your target audience.
2. Plan your timeline
Remember that the holiday season isn’t just about one day. When you create a Christmas marketing campaign there are many other holidays and events in the winter months that need to be thought of and planned around. Try using a content calendar to keep you up to date with events occurring in the months running up to Christmas. Here are some examples of events to consider;
- 29th November – Black Friday
- 2nd December – Cyber Monday
- 24th December – Christmas Eve
- 25th December – Christmas Day
- 26th December – Boxing Day
- 31st December – New Year’s Eve
- 1st January – New Year’s Day
3. Who is your target audience?
Has your target audience changed since last year’s Christmas campaign? Make sure you know exactly who your customer is, and maybe create some updated buyer personas to address any changes in their buying behaviours. This will help you deliver a strong message to an accurate audience.
4. Decide on your campaign message
What is it that you are trying to tell your audience through the campaign? Is it that you have an offer or promotion for the holiday season? Maybe that your Christmas goods are of a higher quality than your competitors or is there an incentive or complimentary gift behind a certain purchase? Maybe you just want your brand’s mission to be heard. This is a key component behind any campaign and is the root of what you are delivering so make sure this is decided as early as possible.
5. How are you going to present your campaign?
Start by choosing what platforms you will run your campaign across. Will it be print, audio, digital or a combination? Each decision is personal to individual brands and businesses based on their audience and the message they are getting across. Is there a theme that you want to execute across the campaign? Whatever the chosen theme, make sure it sits well across all media used in the campaign and personal to each viewer.
6. Launch and then learn
Your campaign should all be completed and ready to launch in November. This is so there is enough time for you to spot any mistakes and make appropriate amendments before December comes around.
Once your campaign is over, evaluate what it is that went well and what could have been improved. Learning from mistakes will help you next year and make sure your Christmas campaign is even better than the last!
