The holiday season is a great opportunity for all businesses to grow their sales. No matter how dreary the current circumstances, people will continue buying gifts for their loved one and for themselves. However, some businesses seem to be unable to take advantage of the holiday season. This is due to the fact that they commit several holiday marketing mistakes.
One thing is certain: you will never be able to make profits without investing time and effort into your marketing materials. So, trying to cut corners will not get you the results you are expecting. Also, as an old business proverb says, failing to plan means planning to fail.
How Do You Avoid Holiday Marketing Mistakes This Year?
We are going through very difficult times that have changed our perceptions on life. The COVID pandemic has changed the rules of the game for everyone: employees, freelancers, small business owners and large corporations.
Consumers are especially more careful than ever how they spend their money. They are also more aware about the impact of various industries on the environment. Thus, they are looking for ethical and environmentally responsible brands. And they want to see authenticity and honest dedication in brand stories and various other marketing communications.
Thus, the number one mistake to avoid is not being authentic and genuine in communicating with customers. Forget about sales tips and tricks. Instead, be meaningful and rely on simplicity and a natural flow of communication.
Top Mistakes to Avoid in This Year’s Marketing Campaigns
Let us now focus on what really matters: the top holiday marketing mistakes that your company should avoid. These are:
1. Flooding Your Customers with Promotional Emails
Internet fatigue is a real thing for people this year. They have been working from home, shopping from home and being entertained only at home for more than 12 months now. The ping noise of a new email or push notification will not fill them with expectation, as it used to do, but with dread.
Is it another email from work? Is another bill nearly overdue? Oh, no, it’s another sales email! This year, more than in any other year, failing to be considerate with the timing of your emails is one of the biggest holiday marketing mistakes. Less is more and being considerate with your leads’ time can be one of your strongest points.
2. Not Putting Up a Festive Landing Page
“This year, we’re on a tight budget – so add a few snowflakes on the home page to make it festive.” No, no, absolutely no! Here is the deal: consumers are expecting a little festive cheer. It’s the least you can do for them.
They want to see the landing page with Santa and the reindeer, with interactive games and with special deals prominently featured. They are tight with their money, so the want to make sure that they really get good value for their money. Failing to meet this basic prerequisite is one of the worst holiday marketing mistakes for any company.
3. Guilt Marketing Tactics
This used to work during a more prosperous period: you are not a good friend/parent/spouse if you don’t get your loved ones this best selling product. People felt bad about not showering their family with gifts on holidays, and they kept adding products to the cart.
Right now, this is not only one of the biggest holiday marketing mistakes; it is also in poor taste. People are going through enough stress and anxiety caused by the COVID pandemic. They do not need their favourite brand telling them that they are bad persons for not buying their products.
3. Failing to Prepare Your Website for Extra Traffic
Most businesses have seen an explosion of traffic to their site in the last year and they prepared accordingly, by increasing the bandwidth of their hosting service plan. Maybe your business managed just fine with its current plan.
However, you need to do some special preparations for the holiday season. Black Friday and Christmas sales are the busiest periods for all websites and webmasters are aware of this. You should make sure that:
- Your website can handle the extra traffic
- You offer your clients access to FAQ pages and live chat to get quick answers to their questions
- You are able to handle all the orders within the delivery date you promised.
4. Forgetting about the Benefits of Remarketing
Did you know that nearly 70% of all orders remain unfulfilled? People abandon the checkout process for various reasons. During the holiday season, the likelihood of abandoned carts is even greater. Consumers are comparing offers, getting distracted by household chores and then forget about what they were doing.
However, if they see a remarketing ad on the social media or elsewhere on the internet can suddenly remind them that they were about to take advantage of a good deal. For this reason, not investing in remarketing ads features on our list of holiday marketing mistakes.
5. Being a Copycat
Do you remember that great marketing campaign a rival company did years ago? If it was really good, so do your clients. And they will definitely feel that you are not even trying to do something special for them.
Being a copycat is one of the unforgivable holiday marketing mistakes. Remember the biggest mistake we discussed at the beginning of this article: not being original and authentic in your marketing materials. Nothing will push your customers away from you faster than the realisation that you are simply recycling someone else’s brand story.
6. Forgetting about Diversity
Not everyone celebrates the same things. Australia has become a culturally and ethnically diverse country. Thus, there are different holidays, observed by people of different religions and spiritual inclinations. For instance, Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah between the 29th of November and the 6th of December. Also, some people find a deep meaning in the winter solstice (the 22nd of December).
You can also make a list of local holidays observed in your area and prepare special deals for these occasions. This is one of the best ways of making all your customers feel special. Yes, it is an extra effort on your part. But failing to acknowledge the fact that not everyone celebrates the same things is currently one of the worst holiday marketing mistakes.
7. Not Having Sufficient Products on Stock
Are you able to fulfill all the orders you may get? Are you ready to honour all the special deals? There is one thing worse than not offering people special offers during the holiday season: sending them an email that the item is out of stock.
Planning is the key to the success of your holiday marketing campaigns. Most businesses hire temporary help and notify their suppliers to deliver more products than usual. You know how your business model works, so make the necessary arrangements ahead of time.
Conclusion
Holiday marketing mistakes may happen from time to time, despite your best efforts. However, with proper planning, you can avoid making the worst of them, which really turn your loyal customers away from your business.