So, you’re a B2B organisation. You’re not in a consumerable industry. You’re busy. Should you still be marketing this Christmas?
Many businesses see Christmas time as a great opportunity to target their customers. After all Christmas marketing is generally expected isn’t it? However, with Christmas hype creating an overcrowded marketplace and rife competition, it is often a fight for attention from those key customers.
With this in mind it is important to have a solid strategy behind your ideas, to ensure that your marketing is noticed.
Here are some helpful tips of how to create campaigns that don’t get lost in the snow…
1. Review
Take a look at the success of your marketing last year- What worked for you? What didn’t? Who responded? Who didn’t? Was the message successful? Were targets achieved? Learn from the patterns to ensure an even stronger campaign this year.
2. Think ahead
Creating a plan early in the year, as part of a full strategy will aid any campaign. An early plan of action will help ensure you are targeting the right people, at the right time, with the right message as opposed to jumping on the Christmas band wagon.
3. Pre and Post
Ensure you are thinking pre and post Christmas. What else do you have in mind? What will you do as a lead up to Christmas? What happens if they don’t respond to your Christmas messaging? Be prepared in advance.
4. Set targets
What do you want to achieve? When do you want to achieve this by? Is this realistic? How will you know when you have achieved this? Setting benchmarks is a strong base for a good strategic plan, and a great way to help with planning next year’s Christmas activity!
5. Know your audience
Do your audience respond well at Christmas? Is this a quiet time for them? What are they doing? How are they spending? Knowing your audience ensures that your Christmas efforts are not wasted. Each audience will vary- do your research, find out exactly what they want and give it to them.
6. Analyse the competition
What are your competitors doing? When are they targeting those same customers? Make sure you are ready to pip them to the post, or target just after when messages are fresh in your customer’s minds. That all depends on your strategy and what works for your customers.
7. Do it!
And give it all you’ve got. Commit yourself. Every campaign should have 100% effort and passion.
Follow these small tips and you’ll stay off the naughty list this Christmas. These are the foundations for a successful Christmas campaign (and other campaigns throughout the year).
Emma Dobson is a branding expert and Touch Point guru at Happy Creative, a full service marketing agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk
