The holiday season has begun!
It’s a time of festivities, love, and joy! But Christmas is also a competition, with big and small businesses rushing to impress the customers.
This is where Christmas marketing comes into play—the promotion strategy during the holiday season intended to increase profit.
This strategy can include anything from Christmas-themed email marketing campaigns and limited offers to Christmas posts for social media and coupons.
If done well, it can bring significant value to your business.
But—
How do you go about it to get the best results?
Stick around to find out.
Learn how to get more sales from your Xmas marketing using AI
Let’s jump right in—
Here are useful ideas that will help take your Christmas marketing to another level.
1. Install a chatbot to automate your sales
One of the best ways to get your Christmas marketing strategy up and running is to add a chatbot to your website.
Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year for online stores and their customer support teams. And chatbots can come in handy.
Chatbots come with useful features that make overall communication with clients more convenient. Plus, they can take a bit of weight off your shoulders by automating your Christmas sales process.
For example, you can use a simple Xmas chatbot to give discounts, special offers, and Christmas promotions to your website visitors. This can help you engage your customers, boost your sales, and increase the conversion rate of your store.
You can also use FAQ chatbots that allow users to ask whether you guarantee delivery before Christmas or ask questions about their order on the chat widget to get a quick answer.
Here are other practical FAQ chatbot use cases during the Christmas season:
- Will you remove the price if the product is a gift?
- What does your gift wrapping look like?
- Do you offer gift wrapping?
- Are there any holiday offers or discounts?
You can use different bot templates, create custom conditions, and even adjust your chatbot design to match the Christmas spirit.
Finally, you can decorate your chatbot with simple but effective festive visuals, like a Christmas emoji. All this can take your Christmas marketing possibilities to the next level.
Learn how to get more sales from your Xmas marketing using AI
Read more: Learn more about what a chatbot is and how it works. Also, discover how to create FAQ chatbots using Tidio in mere minutes.
2. Give a Christmas-themed makeover to your website
There’s no better way to introduce your Christmas advertising campaigns than to sprinkle your web presence with some holiday décor.
During the Christmas season, everything is flashy, lit up, and decorated with reds and greens. Try and do the same to your website or landing page design to match the spirit.
For example, you can enhance your logo with little Christmas decorations, like Santa hats. Or, you can add festive imagery like snow, Christmas trees, or presents to your header and other website elements. And the simplest way of all—create holiday-themed banners to place across your social media channels, product pages, and the rest of your website content.
Just make sure that the festive elements match the already-existing brand imagery. While you can let yourself a bit loose during the Christmas season, it’s still important to maintain your brand identity and website performance. Remember to adjust and optimize image quality and plugins to ensure your website speed is still at the top-class level.
Here’s a simple but effective way in which Bath & Body Works did it this year:
3. Incorporate Christmas marketing into your social media
Communicating with your audience through social media can help you boost brand engagement like no other channel. In fact, according to Fortunly, 23% of Christmas US shoppers prefer to use social media when shopping for products.
There are various Christmas social media ideas you can use to enhance your marketing efforts this holiday season. For example, you can create a Christmas post with an offer that includes a festive copy related to your brand along with some appropriate hashtags. You can also promote special offers, run contests, create gift guides, and ask relevant influencers in your niche to promote your products.
Another great idea is to make sure each platform you’re using is decorated in a festive style. So, add holiday season-based graphics and banners, and decorate your social media icons with holiday elements.
Finally, encourage your followers to get involved and ask them to produce user-generated content. Another great idea is to encourage your followers to get involved and ask them to produce user-generated content.
For example, you can get them to create some brand-related posts with catchy captions. Or, they can share pictures and videos that involve your products in exchange for a gift voucher or a free item. This way, you’ll create a more interactive experience with your customers and boost clients’ trust in your brand.
Coca-Cola is a brand that’s quite famous for its Christmas social media campaigns. Here’s an example of a contest they did on Twitter during one of the previous holiday seasons:
4. Make the most out of Christmas email marketing
Email marketing is another important element you can incorporate into your overall Christmas marketing strategy. The good old emailing system makes it easy to share some crucial information about your products, special offers, and any other holiday-related info.
Your goal should be to attract the attention of the customers you have in your email list in the best way possible. So, remember to use captivating email subject lines when describing your offers, like “Merry Christmas! Here’s a gift for you!” or “Happy holidays! Check out this awesome discount.” Also, include festive imagery in your holiday-themed newsletter for a more visual message.
And don’t forget to instill a sense of urgency in your Christmas marketing emails with a countdown or a compelling call to action like “Your final chance for 50% off!”.
You can even throw in a Christmas-related emoji like a Christmas tree or Santa in your email copy. It’s simple, fun, and gets the message across quite nicely. 🎄
Read more: Discover different Christmas newsletter ideas and learn how to create a successful Christmas email marketing campaign.
5. Offer gift cards to your customers
Some people know exactly how to get a perfect gift for their loved ones. Others want to surprise them but aren’t sure what to buy. This is why it’s a good idea to have some gift cards ready for those shoppers. Gift cards are simple, cost-effective, and have the potential to drive sales while attracting new clients your way.
Just make sure to promote your gift cards somewhere where it’s easily visible to your visitors. You can add a link in your navigation menu or make a separate post about them on your store’s social media page.
Here’s how Starbucks is doing it this year:
6. Use a countdown clock to increase excitement
We’ve mentioned creating a sense of urgency earlier, and adding a countdown clock to your online store is exactly what you need to highlight your limited-time offers.
Countdown clocks are great because they can enhance the so-called fear of missing out, otherwise known as FOMO. Some FOMO statistics indicate that countdown timers can create a sense of consequence, with the presence of a timer causing an 8.6% increase in conversions.
Apart from setting up a countdown, you can also add a CTA button that reads “Last chance” or “Shop now!” right next to it. These elements can help increase excitement and push customers to make their shopping decisions right there and then.
7. Add a free gift
Christmas or not, people love getting free stuff. You can use this in your campaigns by including an extra product to go with their purchase (a so-called buy one, get one free, or BOGO.) This Christmas marketing idea can help you increase click-through rates because your clients are more inclined to click the Buy button if they get two products at the price of one.
There are two popular ways you can do this. The first is to offer a free item every time a person makes a purchase over a certain amount. The second is to include a free item when they decide to add a specific product (or products) to their cart.
No matter which way you decide to go, you can be sure this Christmas marketing strategy will help you boost sales and conversions.
For example, Chewy is having a free e-gift card offer this season:
8. Add a wishlist feature to your website
A great way to enhance your customers’ shopping experience this Christmas is by adding a wishlist feature to your website.
During the holiday season, shoppers often come back to complete their purchases, especially if they can easily save items they’re interested in. By enabling a wishlist, you give them the flexibility to keep track of their favorite products without the pressure of immediate checkout. It’s a simple, yet effective way to boost return visits and increase conversions throughout the busy Christmas season.
9. Host a Christmas giveaway
Giveaways are always a great way to attract the attention of your target audience and enhance brand engagement. Try running a special Christmas giveaway both on your website and online profiles to watch as your social following and website traffic increase.
There are many ways to make a giveaway campaign—
You can get users to like your Facebook or Instagram post or share it on their feed. The prizes can include anything from free product bundles to Christmas marketing gift cards. You can even entice your followers by increasing the value of the Christmas marketing gifts each day as the holiday approaches and motivating them to get involved.
With giveaways, your options are truly limitless, so get creative!
As an example, have a look at Game Show Network’s 25 days of Christmas giveaway:
10. Bundle your items
Pretty much everyone enjoys getting their Christmas gifts in a bag with a nicely decorated gift wrapper. So, this is a perfect opportunity to group similar items available in your store, or just items that go well together, and sell them as a bundle.
Also, throw in a discount or a BOGO offer, and you can be sure to see a boost in your sales. This is because your shoppers will be purchasing a number of your products at once instead of just one.
As for the gift ideas, it all depends on what you’re selling, of course. For example, these can be skincare routine products or even complementary clothing items that would make a great outfit.
Here’s how L’Occitane created some stylish gift sets:
Read more: Check out how eye-oo, a multibrand ecommerce store, increased their revenue with the help of AI-powered customer service.
11. Include free shipping
Believe it or not, most people expect to get free shipping nowadays. In fact, 61% of holiday shoppers intend to buy items that come with free shipping, so there’s a good reason to include it during the festive season.
You should advertise free shipping on your website and make sure it’s easily visible on all relevant pages, including cart and checkout. You can also create a pop-up, or place it on your header and landing pages. And ensure you offer fast shipping to remove your clients’ fears about their Christmas gift purchases not getting to them on time for the celebration.
For example, Sephora is offering free shipping to each member who creates an account. And it showcases that throughout their website:
At the end of the day, you can promote products that are more expensive but still offer free shipping. Shoppers who are rushing to buy products at the last minute won’t mind the prices, but will appreciate the free shipping offer regardless.
Another great strategy you can implement is to offer free returns and exchanges. This way, your customers will know they can return their items in case the item is in the wrong size or color for their loved ones.
12. Offer coupons and discount codes
It’s safe to say that coupons and discount codes are trump cards of online shops during the holidays—and the Christmas season is no exception. In fact, research shows that online shoppers who use coupon codes spend 24% more than those who don’t.
Be sure to make the most of this strategy by adding coupons and discount codes in your ecommerce store. You can also let potential customers know about special offers using your social media and newsletters. Whichever option works best for your brand.
Also, don’t forget to decorate your coupons with Christmas visuals and include catchy phrases like “25% off!” or “Save up to $X” to properly grab the attention of your customers.
Read more: Check out the best coupon code ideas you can use to boost your sales. Also, make sure to stay up-to-date with the latest online shopping statistics and trends.
13. Run 12 days of Christmas marketing campaigns
You can combine multiple strategies mentioned above into one with 12 days of Christmas promos. It’s simple—on each day, you can offer something special to your customers.
For example, 12 days before Christmas, you can offer a free gift to go with their purchase. On the 11th day, you can run a giveaway. On the tenth day, you can add discounts on specific products in your store—you get the idea.
Running 12 days of Christmas campaign can help you make things exciting for your shoppers while they’re counting down the days to Christmas. Plus, you can also attract a bunch of new customers while you’re at it.
14. Join forces with a local charity
Christmas is a time of giving and sharing. And it’s a perfect opportunity to include the act of giving in your Christmas marketing campaign ideas.
Try joining forces with a local charity or non-profit organization. By doing so, you can motivate people to not only buy your products, but also get involved and make a good deed.
For example, you can advertise that a specific percentage of your Christmas online sales will get donated to a local charity or spent for a good cause. And if you’ve already done similar Christmas campaigns in the past, you can share how your brand has helped others already.
Bauble Stockings makes sure that 5% profit of each sale goes to the Joan Rose Foundation in Haiti and provides meals, tuition, housing, etc. to those in the community.
15. Use Black Friday and Cyber Monday to start the Christmas marketing frenzy
It’s no secret that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are among the most important days in the world of ecommerce. In fact, Black Friday traditionally signifies the beginning of the holiday shopping season in the US.
Therefore, it’s important to use your Black Friday and Cyber Monday strategies to attract as many people to your brand as possible. Just in time for your Christmas campaign.
You can use these two days to start the Christmas promo for all holiday-related items. Or you can work towards expanding your brand visibility and customer engagement by having some awesome discounts and offers on your store.
Read more: Get informed about the latest Black Friday trends.
16. Don’t forget about your after-Christmas sales
Finally, your marketing efforts shouldn’t stop even after the euphoria of Christmas shopping ends.
Right after the holidays, most people will be happy while spending time with their loved ones. This could be a perfect opportunity to run another huge sale on items that are still left in stock or launch new products and start a New Year with a Bang!
Christmas is the time when many new shoppers get introduced to your brand. Ensure that they see you are committed to keeping them around all year long. This will help you boost customer loyalty and increase your chances of getting them to buy from you again.
Great customer experience will create a positive impression of your brand and increase customer loyalty. This is because statistics have it that 81% of consumers say a positive customer service experience increases the chances of them making another purchase.
Bonus: captivating Christmas marketing phrases
To finish off with festive marketing vibes, here are some examples of catchy Christmas advertising slogans you can use to take your holiday campaign ideas to the next level. Make sure to use them when writing your email subject and chatbot opening lines, or place them anywhere else on your website!
- Christmas just got merrier
- Our bells are jingling!
- All we want for Christmas are these jolly gifts
- New Christmas arrivals!
- It’s not too late to be good!
- It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
- X Days of Christmas deals start today!
- Buy one of these gifts and show how much you care!
Incorporating one of these Christmas marketing slogans can contribute to the overall festive spirit and make your offers appear even more attractive to potential customers.
Read more: Check out more of the catchy Christmas slogans for marketing in case you need some inspiration.
So, now you’re aware of some practical ideas and captivating phrases you can incorporate into your marketing strategy this Christmas.
But what are some of the more specific benefits of Christmas marketing that will help your business grow?
Christmas marketing benefits
Some Christmas marketing statistics indicate that around 57% of US consumers intended to shop online during the holiday season. This is a considerably higher number compared to 43% of shoppers who wanted to do so in stores.
Therefore, it’s easy to see how planning out a holiday marketing campaign across all relevant online channels can be fruitful for your business.
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits that Christmas marketing strategies can bring to your business.
- Increased sales
Christmas is the time of giving, with people more likely to buy gifts for their loved ones during this time of the year than any other. According to Adobe, online holiday sales in the US are expected to hit $221.8 billion from November 1 to December 31, which is a 4.8% year-over-year growth . So, if you do your Christmas marketing strategy well, it’s only natural that you can expect increased profit.
- Boost in engagement
Apart from being more likely to purchase goods online during Christmas time, people are also in a much better mood when it comes to engaging with a brand. According to SproutSocial’s holiday retail data, retailers received 18% more social messages during the holidays compared to other seasons.
- Increased brand recognition
During the holiday season, people will look for Christmas-themed products online more than ever. This is a great chance to attract an audience that wasn’t even aware of your brand’s existence!
Ecommerce and retail owners confirm this claim:
The holidays present the perfect opportunity to test-drive marketing campaigns and strategies you wouldn't typically use during other times of the year. This allows you to generate content that is not only eye-catching, but also raises brand awareness and engages customers on a personal level.
- Improved customer loyalty
People are sentimental beings—and that’s especially true during the Christmas season. If you provide a great experience, the shoppers will remember that in the future and come back to buy from your brand again. Spreading the holiday cheer and earning some loyal customers is the best way to go into the New Year, don’t you think?
Christmas marketing ideas: key takeaway
And there you have it—some of the most practical marketing ideas for Christmas you can leverage during the busy holiday season to skyrocket your sales.
To recap, the 15 best Christmas sale ideas include:
- Installing a chatbot offering seasonal discounts and gifts
- Adding a festive design to your website, social media, and landing pages
- Nailing your Christmas email marketing campaign
- Making sure to use social media for your Christmas campaign
- Offering holiday gift cards
- Creating a gift bundle
- Adding a countdown clock
- Including a free gift
- Running a giveaway
- Adding free shipping
- Including seasonal coupons
- Running 12 days of Christmas marketing campaign
- Joining forces with a charity
- Using the power of Black Friday and Cyber Monday
- Running after-Christmas promotions
Try to combine more than one of these Christmas promotion ideas or use them all together—it’s entirely up to you. This will help increase your chances of creating stronger brand awareness and winning over the loyalty of your customers.
