It’s the time of year to turn your attention to some simple strategies that you can implement in your business to better engage with your customers and take advantage of the festive season.
Marketing ideas by business type
Christmas marketing ideas for cafes, restaurants and bars
As the weather gets warmer, people usually start zeroing in on more refreshing, festive menu options. Adding a seasonal offering (maybe cherry muffins or a revitalising mint-flavoured cocktail) to your menu imbues your business with the Christmas spirit.
You can do the same with your branding by adding a bit of Christmas flair. Takeaway cups, boxes and serviettes with a festive graphic or witty slogan are an easy way to do this.
Christmas marketing ideas for spas and salons
Spas and salons, it’s time to get serious about Christmas-themed nail art. Stock up on red, white and green polish, and also colours that go well with end-of-year party attire — maybe metallic silver or gold glitter.
The same goes for makeup artists. Be sure to have your sparkly colours on display. You might even consider creating a lookbook of Christmas makeup or nail art inspiration.
Christmas marketing ideas that won’t break the bank
Bring your A-game with community spirit this year and host a local charity drive. Christmas is a time of giving, after all, so creating charitable revenue as a way for your busy customers to help those less fortunate is a great way to engage with them and lift spirits.
Depending on your business type, you could host a food drive, donate a percentage of sales to a charity, or even organise a toy or clothing collection.
Christmas marketing events
Just stating the obvious, but Aussies love to spend money on their pets. So why not get them involved during this festive season? Run a pet parade with your customers’ dogs dressed up in their best Christmas-themed outfits. Offer prizes from your business rewarding originality, and take lots of photos to post across your social media channels.
Christmas marketing ideas for social media
It’s nearing the end of the year and your customers, and are likely to be feeling the stress from this busy period. So now is the time to reward your most engaged audience — your social media community.
You can thank your most loyal followers by having offers exclusively on social media. Digital coupons and promo codes work best with online stores, but brick-and-mortar businesses can still offer print-at-home coupons or codeword promos that can be recouped later.
15 Additional Christmas Marketing Ideas
Send electronic Christmas cards
Fewer and fewer cards are sent by post each year - but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t send an electronic one. It’s even better if you have the capacity to personalise each Christmas Card email by mentioning specifics like the length of time the recipient has been a customer with you. Make sure your email marketing strategies are helping you deliver the right message to your customers.
Create Christmas vouchers and gift cards
It’s always a great idea to have your gift card or voucher system prominent on your website or in-store. But this is especially true at Christmas. Gift cards are a great way to connect with new customers and build loyalty with your existing ones.
Give great gift suggestions
Some customers know what they want to buy as gifts, but others are quite uncertain. Make it easier for them by giving as many practical gift suggestions as you can. In-store, this could include signage like “Great for Dad!” or “Top toys for four year olds.” Use your website to suggest similar products to those which have been viewed or bought previously.
Get nostalgic
Christmas is special for so many people and is a time of year many of us become more sentimental. Christmas is full of associations to sound smells, and sensory experiences, so use music, scents, and images to evoke that festive feeling. Employ all of the magic and wonder of Christmas to tailor marketing messages to make your customers feel nostalgic and ready to shop for items that remind them of happy memories.
Create an advent calendar of offers
An advent calendar helps count down the days until Christmas as they open little doors or windows in a picture or box. ManyAdvent Calendars have little gifts in each of the compartments - so why not try offering daily discounts or offers each day in December?
Make shipping timelines extra clear
As the magical date of 25th of December approaches, make sure you let your customers know about the deadline for orders to guarantee pre-Christmas delivery. Being reminded that you only have a couple of days left to secure your purchases is very motivating for shoppers.
Create a countdown
Building on that idea, you can create an online countdown that shows customers how many days are left until Christmas. If there’s one thing that will spur buyers into action, it’s a great big timer counting down the hours they have left to complete their shopping.
Create cheery Christmas packaging
The packaging and presentation of your products is one of your key opportunities to communicate with buyers and potential customers. Creating products with exclusive and unique Christmas packaging can help create a feeling of exclusivity around what you are selling and increase the chances of your items being picked up as a special gift. Plus, it saves the shopper time wrapping presents!
Send cart reminder notifications
With the shopping frenzy happening throughout November and December, it’s common for customers to get caught up in purchases and confused about what they are buying and for whom. If you see an increase in abandoned carts online, make sure you have a system in place to send friendly prompts and reminders. If you’re feeling extra festive, why not send a discount offer with the reminder email to ensure you seal the deal.
Give a gift
Christmas is all about giving, and you would be hard-pressed to find a customer who doesn’t love a gift in appreciation for their purchase. Pop a special little something in the bag or envelope with every purchase, or let your customers choose something from a box in the style of a lucky dip.
Help people who are struggling with Kris Kringle
Workplaces, clubs and family groups all get involved with the tradition of the Kris Kringle or Secret Santa - where a person is allocated someone to buy an anonymous gift for. Although it’s lots of fun, it can be tough to buy a gift for someone you don’t know well within a certain price limit. If you have fun products which a broad section of the market could appreciate, then use displays to showcase items that could be perfect for a Kris Kringle.
Group items by price
Many money-conscious buyers shop for Christmas gifts on budget and are strict about spending. Make it easy for customers to hone in on the items in their price range by setting up ‘Gifts under $50’ type displays in store or filtering products by price online. This also may be one of the many good Christmas marketing ideas for restaurants, as they can deliver a ‘Christmas meal’ special where a bundle of food is packaged into one.
Consider free shipping
All too often, buyers browse a store, add hundreds of dollars’ worth of sales to their cart and then back out when they see the shipping costs, even if they are minimal. To encourage buyers to spend big and feel satisfaction in doing so, offer free shipping as your gift to your customers.
Offer packages
Nobody wants to give (or receive) a gift that can’t be used or enjoyed right away. Make it easier for buyers to purchase gifts that have everything required to use and enjoy the item. If you sell fancy toys, package the toy with a set of the correct batteries. If you sell miniature sewing machines, make up a package to include fabric and threads. Bundle beach towels with bucket and spade sets, books with bookmarks and blankets with matching cushions to create cute and complete gift sets that will boost sales.
Prepare for the post-Christmas sales
While the expectation for the big day is mounting, make sure you spare a thought for what will happen afterwards. Post-Christmas sales offer a great opportunity to move a lot of stock, so make sure you have set up your sales displays and sites before you take your Christmas break.