For home service businesses, the holidays offer the opportunity to connect with customers on a deeper and more personal level. This is the perfect time to showcase not just your services but your commitment to your customers and the convenience your services offer during this special time. Holiday marketing taps into emotions and celebrations associated with the season. The period leading up to the holiday celebrations allows businesses to transition from traditional services to bringing comfort and festive cheer to their customers. Playing on the key elements and feelings of the holidays can foster a strong customer experience and customer loyalty that will last beyond the season. Whether you’re helping prep homes for safe and cozy family gatherings, providing emergency services, or decorating properties to reflect the holiday spirit, your business should be marketing as a memorable part of their holiday magic.
Each holiday has its own sprinkle of marketing magic waiting to be unleashed. In the digital age, this is especially true with digital marketing taking center stage. Let’s unwrap the presents of holiday digital marketing and, most importantly, pinpoint the right time to don your digital Santa hat!
Why Holiday Marketing?
Holidays are not just about merry vibes or spooky nights. They’re about emotions, memories, and that infectious feeling of excitement. For marketers and business owners, this is the golden period. This time of year, emotions run high and there is an increase in buying intent. Together, these elements create a strong environment for digital marketing and boosting sales. Whether it’s the warm and fuzzy feeling of Christmas or the electrifying thrill of Halloween, holidays have an uncanny knack for making people feel. These feelings lead to buying. Capitalize on that!
Increased Digital Marketing Opportunities During the Holidays
In this ever-evolving digital era, brick and mortar are slowly making way for click and order. Digital marketing allows you to reach audiences far and wide, and with precision. Be it through engaging holiday-themed email campaigns, social media ads sprinkled with festive fun, or SEO-optimized holiday content, there are more marketing opportunities to build off of.
When to get into the holiday spirit?
Now, the million-dollar question – when to kick off the digital holiday spree?
- Each holiday has a unique buying cycle. For Valentine’s Day, last-minute shopping is common. But for Christmas, consumers start their hunt as early as October! Understand the nuances of each festivity.
- As a general rule, it’s wise to start early. This gives you time to test, refine, and pivot if needed. For significant holidays, like Black Friday and Christmas, a lead time of 1-2 months is a good gauge.
- While being early is good, you don’t want to start humming Christmas carols in July! Timing is crucial. Overexposing your audience can lead to ad fatigue.
Why is marketing so valuable during the holidays?
Imagine a festive dinner without the turkey, roast, or pie. Doesn’t feel quite right, does it? Similarly, the holidays without digital marketing are a wasted opportunity.
Here’s why:
Consumers are in the Spending Mood: According to Santa’s elves (or, well, market researchers), consumers spend a whopping 30% more during the holiday season.
Establish Emotional Connections: The festive season is all about emotions, connections, and memories. Your brand can become part of these cherished moments. Make them laugh, cry, or reminisce with your content, and they’ll remember you for years to come.
Outshine Competitors: If you’re not capitalizing on the holiday fervor, your competitors certainly will be. So, why let them have all of the business?
When Should You Start?
In the words of the famous elves’ proverb: “The early bird gets the worm, but the early marketer gets the ROI.” Ideally, kick off your holiday digital marketing campaign 1-2 months before the main holiday. This gives you ample time to build momentum, generate buzz, and refine your strategy based on early feedback. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the unofficial ‘start guns’ for the festive shopping season. If you’re targeting these days, prep should start even earlier.
Build on the emotions and feelings associated with this time of year
Holiday Marketing is a special and niche area of marketing that is specifically tailored to leverage consumer emotions and activities during the holiday seasons. Unlike regular marketing efforts, which maintain a consistent theme across the year, holiday marketing is tweaked slightly to play on the traditions, feelings, and habits of consumers. It can be extremely beneficial to revamp branding, messaging, and products to resonate deeply with consumer sentiment and seasonal trends. This approach often requires a more human, empathetic touch to the messaging, creating a connection that aligns with the collective emotional experience of the holidays. Holiday marketing employs a more aggressive promotional strategy, utilizing time-limited offers, holiday bundles, and exclusive items to drive urgency and increase conversions, effectively standing out in the highly saturated advertising space of festive seasons.
Holiday Marketing Opportunities for Home Service Businesses
If you’re in the home service sector, you’re in a unique position. While others are selling products, you’re offering comfort, safety, and festive readiness. Offer checklists to prep homes for the holidays – like cleaning gutters before winter or ensuring plumbing is guest-ready. How about a tutorial on setting up holiday lighting safely? Or winter-proofing homes? Consider bundling services for a festive discount. ‘Home Holiday Ready’ packages, perhaps?
So, small business champions and home service wizards, as the festive season rolls in, remember – it’s not just about the sparkly decor and carols. It’s about seizing the moment, making connections, and giving your business the festive boost, it deserves.
Now is the time to kick your holiday marketing into gear. Not sure where to start? From social media to pay-per-click ads, we can get your holiday marketing set up to make an impact on your target audience this holiday season.
Check back next week for holiday digital marketing ideas for home service businesses.