The time for creating holiday-related content marketing and promotions is now – if not earlier. In an ongoing trend, consumers desire holiday-related content earlier and earlier. In fact, they want that content now – because they’ve already started holiday shopping.
My wife is likely a preferred early-buying persona to target with holiday content marketing and promotions. She purchases over 200 thoughtfully-selected gifts for family and friends each year. She starts her holiday shopping in February and gets really active in September. Local merchants actually come out of their stores to stop her on the sidewalk.
Starting in mid-October, she receives an average of 12 catalogs per day in the U.S. mail. The one-day record is 29 catalogs. She also receives about 25 email promotions per day during the holidays. Yes, she does pay attention to holiday promotions and now makes the majority of purchases online. She is mostly done shopping by Dec. 15 though she does make a few last-minute purchases. Ours is not the postal delivery person’s favorite address, precisely because my wife is among the marketers’ favorite and most responsive targets.
With the earlier holiday gift buying by customers such as my wife, many marketers, struggle to produce timely holiday content and promotions, according to content discovery platform Outbrain.
“There has been a seismic shift in media that has changed consumer consumption habits. When it comes to holiday marketing, marketers should be aware of offering audiences content earlier on in the year,” said Avi Zimak, Outbrain North America general manager, told Adweek. “Our data shows consumers are eager for holiday content much earlier on in the buying cycle, and heavy content consumption is occurring in the weeks before Black Friday, Cyber Monday and again, right before Christmas.” Black Friday has become Black November.
Holiday Content Consumption
Last year, consumption of holiday-related content, as measured by clicks, began to increase steadily at the beginning of November, according to Outbrain. Clicks spiked from 201,615 on Nov. 1 to 303,667 on Nov. 4. Clicks dropped to almost 250,044 at the end of the month, then rebounded and peaked at 412,334 on Dec. 23. Meanwhile, content creation, as measured by the number of ad links created, struggled to keep up with demand.
While mobile is certainly important, desktop remains paramount. Clicks on holiday content via desktop surpassed mobile clicks 280,772,898 to 149,156,041 last holiday season.
Other research confirms that consumers are completing their holiday shopping earlier. Last year, a quarter of holiday shoppers purchased a Christmas gift before Halloween and 48% had finished most of their shopping before Cyber Monday, according to Google. The trend will continue this year, many marketing pros believe. Marketers and advertisers who begin their holiday marketing campaigns earlier will hold a competitive advantage.
Advice for Holiday Content Marketing
Eyal Katz, head of marketing operations at AdNgin, offers these holiday marketing tips.
Plan. Holiday marketing is almost impossible to complete successfully without planning. Essentials include: noting everything you plan to do; assigning responsibility and giving each deliverable a deadline; and checking and rechecking the status to make sure you are on track.
Schedule content. After creating content in advance, you can use social media post schedulers and email campaign services to schedule in advance in order to even out your workload.
Focus on your current audience. The best content marketing strategy may be to invest in users already in your marketing funnel — consumers who have visited your website, subscribe to your newsletter or follow your brand on social media.
Remember your goal. Despite the holiday spirit of goodwill and gift giving, conversions are the best gift for marketers. Including a call to action is a marketing essential.
Get personal. This is the time to build a personal connection with your audience. In other words, avoid formal corporate language. One idea: Display a photo of your team wearing ugly holiday sweaters. However, don’t get too personal. Filming videos at holiday office parties after the cork pops can be extremely risky.
Bottom Line: Marketers must plan and create holiday-related content early, as consumers start their holiday shopping earlier. Planning and organization are keys to surviving and thriving during the busy holiday season.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
