We’re over halfway through 2022, and you know what that means – time to update (or get started!) on your holiday campaigns for the rest of the year. The holidays can be a stressful time, especially for businesses, so this article will dive into how you can optimize your time and resources while planning a marketing campaign.

Tip #1: Set clear goals

Before anything else, your business should set marketing goals, specifically, ones that are measurable and relevant. Do you want to increase sales by a certain percent, find new leads, increase brand awareness, or increase website interaction? Your objectives are not limited to these, but your business should decide on one or a few.

Using business performance indicators and numbers, set realistic marketing campaign goals that you can measure while in the planning process. These goals will help you determine what type of campaign to run. For example, if a goal is to increase awareness about a new product, a large percentage of your marketing campaign will revolve around gaining exposure for your product instead of, for instance, trying to find more leads.   

Tip #2: Select holidays relevant to your business

You don’t need a huge campaign or sale for every upcoming holiday – instead, choose the ones that are most relevant to your business. For example, a toothpaste company might choose to spend more resources on Halloween, since they can easily connect with audiences about candy affecting teeth health. The best campaigns succeed when people can relate to the content you put out, so choose wisely!

Some popular holidays coming up in the next few months include Halloween, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. Take some time to think about your business objectives to determine a few holidays to focus on. It’s better to have well-developed campaigns for only a few holidays rather than many less-impactful campaigns.

Don’t know where to start? We’ve got your back, so start here: is your business online or does it have an in-person store (or both!). Using this information, determine whether Black Friday or Cyber Monday is more relevant to your business, since these holidays cover a lot of ground. Then, go from there and create a campaign catered to the holiday you chose.

Tip #3: Be creative!

Around the holidays, competition is high because every business wants a stake in the holiday shopping, so don’t let your company get lost in the mix! Here are some ideas to help boost your campaign:

• Partner with influencers
• Run a contest or giveaway
• Utilize user-generated content (people love to share their experiences if you ask!)
• Create and run paid ads on social platforms
• Market to Gen Z with full-screen videos for TikTok or Instagram reels

Tip #4: Plan for launches in advance

From Halloween to New Year’s Eve, there are many holidays pressed into a short time frame. Therefore, it’s crucial to get a jumpstart on your planning so you can relax a little bit when the holidays roll around.

Planning, 6 months prior: Map your campaigns half a year ahead if possible – this way you aren’t overwhelmed when the holiday approaches. At this point, you should have a rough draft of what social platforms you are focusing on, promotions of deals / sales, and holiday goals. These are all subject to change as the holiday gets closer, but it’s better to start early!

Finalization, 2 months prior: Double check your content and make sure all campaign assets are in place. Content like social media posts, videos, paid ads, flyers, and any organic marketing material should be almost finalized – it’s okay if there are a few loose ends to tie up.

Launch, 1 month prior: Depending on the amount of content you have prepared, begin rolling out your holiday campaigns about a month before the holiday begins, and run them through the holiday, or through the end of any limited-time promotions.

Wrap, shortly after the holiday: Plan to end your campaigns for the specific holiday shortly (a few days) after it has passed and aim to report campaigns about a month later.

This planning timeline works for most holidays, but some are unique. For example, holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday typically do not see full rollout until a week or two before the shopping holiday. Again, make sure you pick and choose which holidays to focus on to give your business the best opportunity to grow!

Tip #5: Stay organized

The holidays are hectic, and you don’t want to be running around a week before Thanksgiving unsure of where to find information regarding the campaign. So, it’s important to compile your resources and sort them into folders based on the campaign, and which content will be posted on what days. Social planning websites like Hootsuite and Meta Business Suite help you schedule out content in advance.

You can easily plan out a draft of your holiday campaign for the rest of the year. Constant Contact provides a 2022 marketing calendar which can be used as a free pdf download, and check out our tips on how to get the most out of utilizing a calendar for your holiday campaigns!

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