Should you start marketing for the holidays this early? Here are a few pointers.
With Autumn officially here, your business is likely thinking of how to market for the holiday season. The holidays of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year have been commercialized for decades, but it can in fact help your customers by giving them discounts on your products and holiday-themed items they want. One of the trickiest aspects of holiday marketing is timing. Here are several reasons why it’s best to prepare for holiday marketing early.
Spread Out the Competition
Close to the actual holiday, the competition between businesses can become intense. So many voices and so many products or services at once, and the customer might be overwhelmed and your brand might have a lesser chance of being noticed. Starting early imprints your products or services on people’s minds better.
Have a Backup Plan
It could be wiser to have at least two plans in place for holiday marketing, one initial one set out early, and a backup plan. Should the initial plan fail, you have another one ready to set in motion. Even the best marketing ideas can flop sometimes, so one should always be prepared to adapt.
Maintain Quality of the Campaign
Starting several weeks before the actual holiday to market your sales can actually help maintain the quality of your marketing campaign. Giving your team time to come up with smart and meaningful content and strategies will help avoid last-minute marketing panic. How you market matters just as much as when you market.
Cater to Consumer Preferences
On the flip side of getting your brand noticed, starting your holiday marketing early may be what consumers prefer. People don’t usually like to shop last-minute, and if everyone put their discounts and themed products out at once a week before the holiday, one would face massive shopping traffic. Giving people at least three weeks to prepare is the best policy.
How to Not Annoy Your Customers
The Halloween-themed inventory in September and Christmas songs that start playing on November 1st might annoy part of your target audience, and if you aren’t careful, being too early could turn off buyers. Analytics will ultimately show you when the prime starting date is, but it always pays to pay attention to what could really help the customer.
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