Most consumers may think it’s a
little early to think about Christmas and the holiday season, as it’s barely
Halloween. However, it’s never too early for strategic communicators to start
thinking ahead. Too many campaigns and ads too early in the year can be
annoying and deter customers from your brand, but if you do it right, customers
may be attracted to what you can offer them this holiday season.
First of
all, make sure your different campaigns are spread out. Personally, as a
consumer I find it irritating when I get a bunch of posts, tweets, emails, or
other online media about a certain product or brand right in a row. It doesn’t
give me enough time to process everything the brand is trying to tell me, so I
end up ignoring everything out of frustration. It’s also irritating when brands
send out their campaigns too early. I’m still trying to focus on Halloween in a
few days. Please do not send me Christmas information; it will just remind me
that this stressful time is approaching.
Secondly,
make sure your campaign involves lots of coupons. Consumers need incentives to
choose your brand over anything, especially because the holidays are such a
competitive time for shopping. Be smart about the way you use coupons. Social
media and cell phones are now becoming the best way to give coupons, but it
depends on your brand. I know the brands that I like (and are targeting me, a
20 year old college student) need to be great with online coupons. My mom might
still print out coupons, but I do not. Coupons straight from Facebook where I
can scan a code or just show someone working at a store are so convenient it’s
hard to ignore them. Here’s an infographic about mobile coupon usage that I
found very useful for communicators:
Lastly, it’s
important to use all social networking media you have available to you. Not
everyone uses every site, so to target the largest audience, the more sites you
should use. Personally, I’m more likely to “like” a brand on Facebook than to
follow them on Twitter. Coupons and contests on Facebook are the most likely to
gain traction for your brand. There are a lot of rules
and tips (http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-page-timeline-promotion-tips/)
for starting contests on Facebook, so make sure to check out how you can make a
contest effective and fair. Campaigns should have many parts in order to be
effective and reach a large audience, and contests are a great way to start off
a holiday season campaign.
As
strategic communicators, it’s important that we not only think for our brand,
but to think as a consumer. “Would this campaign work on me?” is an important
thing to ask yourself when coming up with a campaign, especially around the
all-important holiday season.
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