2020 Holiday marketing checklist
By Candace Huntly
As you prepare for your 2020 holiday marketing strategy, it’s important to recognize that 2020 has thrown a lot of curve balls our way (understatement of the year). As a business owner – or someone that manages the marketing strategy for a business – you need to have all of those changes in the back of your mind when creating your holiday marketing strategy. Here is a holiday marketing checklist to help you prepare your business for the holiday season!
Status check: Figure out what you’re currently doing that is working and the things that just aren’t. Create a spreadsheet where you can list your metrics for success for each marketing tactic you have tried so far in 2020. Once you have it written down it makes it easier to see the big picture. Some tactics will translate well into a holiday marketing campaign and some won’t.
Set your goals/objectives: What do you want to achieve with your holiday marketing campaign? Go beyond the obvious revenue markers and look at email sign ups, new customer conversions, individual sales totals, and other metrics. The more specific you get, the better you will be able to create tactics and content to help you achieve your goals.
Assess customer behaviour shifts: How have their purchase behaviours shifted because of the pandemic? Are they purchasing less? The same? Do they prefer to do all of their shopping online? If you have an existing audience, the best way to find out is to ask. If not, you need to do some social listening to find out how people are feeling.
Pick a cause to align with: Now more than ever, most brands are aligning themselves with a cause that is important to their target audience. There have been a number of notable environmental and cultural shifts in 2020. Has your brand aligned itself with anything in particular? The most important question to ask yourself is whether your audience would appreciate if you did. The holidays are generally a time where people are looking to support important causes.
What’s trending in your industry: Do an audit of social conversations, pop culture, and other channels to figure out what’s trending in your industry (and for your audience as a whole). How do these topics relate to your brand and the holidays?
Identify unique holiday opportunities: This year will be different than other years because of the pandemic, but there will still be certain traditions that are important for individuals, certain cultures, and families around the holidays. List potential opportunities for you to get involved as a brand. Some things to consider are: Partner with a non-competing business to offer holiday promos that sweeten the deal or get your brand included in holiday gift guides put together by influencers and other media. These types of opportunities are a great way to generate buzz and connect you with your target audience.
Refresh your website content: If people are going to be spending a lot more time on your website and searching online, then you may want to make sure that your content does a good job of telling your story and selling potential customers on the features and benefits of what you have to offer.
Ensure your customer journey is seamless: Whether customers are going to purchase from you online or in a modified in-store experience, review what that looks like. It is helpful to break it down step by step to ensure there are no problems at any stage. For example, can they find you easily? Is the checkout easy to follow?
Consider what comes after: You should look to build momentum beyond your holiday marketing strategy. The holidays are generally a good time to close out the year and start something new in the New Year. How will you transition into 2021?
If you don’t feel quite ready to tackle your Holiday marketing strategy yet, take a deep breath and get started with this holiday marketing checklist. Or you can set up a Free 20-minute consultation with us to help set you on the right track!