When the holidays approach, there’s plenty to do. Not only are there tasks to handle with your family, but you also have to consider your business needs. Yet, it’s still an important time to market – and in some cases, it is the most important time to reach your customers. How can you get it all done? Focus on navigating content marketing during the holidays with some help and a good amount of planning.
What should be in your holiday marketing plan? Here is a look at some of the most common mistakes companies make with their content.
#1: Ignoring the Holiday Season
You don’t have to be religious to recognize the importance of this time of the year. It’s an important time of the year to respect the beliefs of your customers. It can be a mistake, though, to ignore the holidays in your content marketing. Doing so creates a gap between what your customers want to read at this time of the year and what they don’t. Be sure to:
- Incorporate some type of holiday message that fits with your company’s beliefs into your marketing efforts.
- Offer holiday happiness within your email campaign.
- Include a holiday message on your social media accounts, especially as the holidays get closer.
Don’t ignore how important the holidays are to your customers and clients. Instead, offer a message of thanks and respect for their beliefs. According to a survey from Yesmail, consumers open emails during the holidays – including promotional ones – at a higher rate than they do at any other time of the year. This is your time to offer some type of holiday message to build your brand.
#2: Don’t Miss That Last Week of the Year
During the last week of the year, you have a unique opportunity with your content marketing. Depending on your reader demographics, you may have a customer base that’s not working or engaging in traditional activities. That means they have a bit more time to take a closer look at your message.
At the same time, you may not want to push too heavily here. And, you may recognize that your freelance writer’s time is a bit more limited. In this case, create a roll-up post from the year. Incorporate a few of the most important or popular posts from throughout the year in your message. Encourage readers to step back and see what you’ve learned and accomplished over the last year.
#3: Missing an Opportunity to Connect with Your Readers
The holiday season is also a good time for you to put attention on what’s most important within your content marketing – your customers, clients, and readers. Instead of a post about your business, try turning things around. Encourage them to share their stories. User-generated content is a fantastic way to celebrate your customers and to work on further building your readership. Here are a few ideas.
- If you sell a product or service, encourage your readers to share a picture of themselves using it on social media. Use a hashtag to track their responses.
- Look back at your social media comments and blog posts over the last year. Pull out some important user-generated messages or photos to share in a post. Thank your readers for all they have done over the last year for you.
- Host a contest during the end of the year push. During the holidays, people love getting something for free. Use user-generated content – such as a message, photo, or tweet – for people to enter into the contest. Encourage sharing, too.
#4: Avoid Focusing Just on This Year’s Bottom Line
One of the key concerns many business owners have is making that end-of-the-year goal. However, one way to get people interested in what you have to offer is to tell them what’s to come. Create a blog post that outlines what your customers can expect in 2020. What fantastic plans do you have? What changes are you making? Is there anything you can offer that can excite your audience and tempt them to stay tuned? Your product launches and marketing efforts are likely already in place for the first quarter. Offer a teaser about them.
#5: Not Planning Ahead for Holiday Marketing
This is by far the most complex component of the process. Your time is limited, but marketing your business online is still critical during the holidays. For that reason, it’s time to start thinking about your content calendar now. Incorporate new content strategies that can build your brand during this time, such as offering personal holiday messages or interactive email campaigns.
Now is the best time to start planning. Work with your freelance content writer to develop a campaign that offers something interesting and insightful during the holidays. Work on it as early as possible to ensure there’s no rush involved.
Sandy B. is a full-time, professional freelance writer and copywriter with more than 10 years of online experience. She is also a published author of seven, top-reviewed, in-print books on Amazon. These focus on financial topics such as retirement planning, bankruptcy, business finance, estate planning, and personal credit health as well as organic gardening and clean living. She’s ghostwritten content for hundreds of clients on topics ranging from health to finance, business services, online and offline marketing and much more.
