Posted: November 19, 2019   •   Posted in: Marketing Tips   •   Tagged: Christmas

Marketing ideas for businesses at Christmas

For B2C businesses, Christmas is one of the key selling times of the year. An opportunity to market to a public that is actively looking to buy seems like a gift from Santa Claus himself. Here’s how some of the biggest brands in the country embrace Christmas and what we can take from them.

Add a Christmas theme to all your branding

Big brands are experts at capitalising on the seasons to create packaging that is desirable. Think Starbucks’ festive cups or Coca Cola’s Christmas cans. As well as looking cool, they create a buzz around the company and encourage consumers to buy.

As well as creating a feelgood factor, this limited-edition packaging can be collectable encouraging further purchases; or in the case of the Starbucks cups, reusable so will create brand recognition around town.

Temporarily updating your packaging for the festive season doesn’t have to be hard. Adding festive colours, such as red and green, or the more contemporary white and silver, will instantly mark something out as being festive.

Seasonal imagery will also do the trick. Why not manipulate your logo to incorporate a Santa hat or some baubles?…

Do you have a website and social media? Adding a festive touch to your digital platforms can be an easy way to impress your customers, put them in a happy mood and help get sales.

Christmas themed direct mail/email marketing campaign

At Christmas you no doubt have promotional campaigns running. But how best to shout about them? An email campaign is essential to many brands. While using Christmas themed imagery is a given, a good way to reinforce the festive theme is to direct your subscribers to a customised landing page on your website. This page can have unique offers on it, for email subscribers only. As well as making sales, this gives your customers another reason to sign up to your monthly newsletter.

An alternative to email marketing is the more traditional direct mail campaign. While everyone will be sending emails, direct mail is a way to stand out. Research shows that 92% of people read door drops that are delivered to their home. In a digital world, sending a printed product can help you to stand out.

Find out more about our direct mail services for London businesses here.

Gift vouchers

Gift vouchers are popular throughout the year, with the gift card and voucher market estimated to be worth over £6bn a year in the UK. They’re especially effective at Christmas time, representing as they do, an easy to buy gift, which gives the recipient the freedom to buy the products they want.

Available digitally or in printed formats, they’re versatile and can be received by the purchaser in seconds.

Another advantage to the retailer is that often a voucher will not be redeemed, as it’s lost or forgotten about, or only redeemed in part.

If you send printed vouchers, how they are presented is important. Whether packaged in a box with some extras, or a shaped voucher with an attractive card, Kall Kwik St James’s can help. Speak to our print team today on (020) 7930 1976 or email [email protected].

Printed posters and window graphics

Billboard posters are a tried and tested method of advertising. Two companies who have made the most of this large format print medium in recent years are Lidl and Spotify.

Last year, Lidl’s poster campaign took a swipe at more expensive supermarkets, by appearing to sabotage their campaign posters in a guerrilla fashion. By adding their own adverts over the top of their rival’s ads, they highlight the affordable price of their offering.

The music streaming platform Spotify always have fun with their poster advertising. Every year their customers look forward to the Wrapped campaign, which shows their listening habits over the previous year. These are then displayed in a humorous way. Proof that print marketing is still alive and kicking.

Christmas merchandise

Finally, Christmas merchandise to accompany adverts is becoming big business. This year, Christmas favourites, such as Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot will compete with Excitable Edgar the Dragon, star of John Lewis’s Christmas ad.

Kevin the Carrot sold out last year, leading to reports of fights at some stores. By creating memorable characters that can be presented in many guises – cuddly toy, cakes, clothing, mugs, firms like John Lewis create additional revenue schemes and further promote the campaign. At a time where customer goodwill is already at its highest, campaigns like this can further cement a brand as the go-to retailer for all your Christmas gifts.

Market your business this Christmas with Kall Kwik St James’s

Christmas is a great time to generate sales. Customers are actively looking to buy, and are caught up in the goodwill feel of the season. By tapping into this goodwill through effective marketing campaigns, you can boost profits for the year and start a new decade in fine form.

To find out how Kall Kwik St James’s can help with your printed or digital marketing this festive season and throughout 2020, feel free to get in contact on (020) 7930 1976 or fill in our contact form.