The Silly Season is coming!
Are you ready?
Wow, it’s October already, how quickly time flies when your having fun!
As we enter the last quarter of the year, if you haven’t done so already, it’s time to get organised with your end of year campaigns and Christmas promotions. Time is running short and if you want to do it well, there is a lot to do! So this month’s newsletter is full of tips and tricks you can use to plan your Christmas marketing campaigns and finish the year strong.
So put on your ugly Christmas jumper, get out your jingle bells and let’s get to it!
Warmly, Alysha
Owner, Wow Studios
EXCITING NEWS
If you have not seen our socials lately, it might be time to pop online and take a look.
Here at Wow, we have been thinking of ways to better connect with you, our audience. Last month, we released the first edition of our new monthly newsletter, and now, Alysha is stepping in front of the camera to share some useful branding tips and tricks.
We believe strongly in our mission to help our fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners learn the fundamentals of branding so they, too, can grow and thrive. And we hope these short videos will be a great way to get some of the key branding concepts across for those who prefer to listen rather than read.
These short 30 second snippets are all about branding and will cover a range of topics from defining your target audience, to understanding your competition and more. So, if you are not already following us on social media, make sure you pop on over to our Instagram or Facebook page and add us today!
LET’S TALK BRANDING
When is the right time to develop your Christmas marketing plans? If you’re a big company with lots of stakeholders and a marketing budget for tv commercials and advertising, then I hate to tell you, but your already behind the jingle bell!
However, for us smaller, more nimble businesses there is still time to plan something special and make the most of the silly season. So don’t panic. If you missed our blog post on 28th September, it’s not too late to catch up. To kick off the Christmas theme, we have offered up some great advice on how to create an authentic campaign without the tacky sales tactics.
CHRISTMAS MARKETING
With thrifty shoppers in our midst, this year its never been more important to focus on strengthening your connection with your customers. Focussing your offers on adding value, convenience and empowering your consumers with social justice causes, personalised communications and emotional attachments.
Not sure where to even begin. I hear you. The internet has an abundance of fantastic resources to help you make the most of the silly season but it can be tough to troll through and find the gems that can really help, so I have done the work for you and put together some of the best and most useful. Below you will find the links and in (brackets) a description of what to expect from the link.
Tell a Story
With consumer spending set to be a little more reserved this year due to the cost of living, our natural reaction as business owners is also to cut back on our Christmas marketing spending, however a report from the UK IPA (Statistics) indicates whilst they may be spending less, consumers still want to see brands embracing Christmas and injecting a little Christmas spirit into their communications. And this is true of us Aussies too! On the back of a tough year, we all want to let our hair down and have a little fun.
And that’s something, you can harness and use to help engage with your audience. It’s really important to remember however, that ‘Christmas’ can mean different things to different people so understanding your target audience and their needs and feelings towards Christmas and delivering on that can really help build engagement and loyalty for your brand. Here’s a great article by Kate Box that elaborates on how to sell more than one Christmas story through the power of diverse storytelling (Useful Tips).
Improve your Online Game
New research suggests us Aussies will be doing a lot more online Christmas shopping this year, as we hunt for the best deals and value for money. Shipstation’s (Statistics) operating brand has said Australian consumers are gearing up to spend an impressive $4.8 billion on online marketplaces so getting your online presence right is vital. With online shopping and social media marketing the key to success this year, businesses are starting early! This article from Sprout Social (Useful Tips) has analysed the stats and put together some fantastic tips around trends and marketing strategies for competing in the online space with specific advice for Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and even Tik Tok.
Make it about the Experience
What about those of you who have retail stores, hospitality venues and other face to face interactions with your customers. All is not lost, but this year your going to need to get creative and fully engage your customers in the shopping experience. Make them want to engage with you and add a little Christmas magic to the mix. Consumers flock to retail outlets and entertainment venues for the experience, so holiday themed activations that draw a crowd can really help. The Grounds of Alexandria (Inspiration) creates a sense of adventure and ignites the imagination. You don’t have to go that big, but adding a little something unexpected makes you memorable and gets people talking.
For online shoppers, check out all the new digital elements popping up in the Artificial Intelligence (Tools) and Augmented Reality (Inspiration) space. From trying on clothes and makeup virtually, to putting them on a beach drinking a cocktail, there is so much you can do now and its getting easier every day. Insense has put together some awesome social media ideas to help build engagement (Useful Tips) with your followers.
Reward your Loyal Customers
Right now there has never been a better time to take advantage of the loyal customer base you have spent time cultivating. Reward them with special benefits (Useful Tips) and gain even more traction for a long lasting relationship. Send them a greeting card or some rewards vouchers as a Christmas gift. Offer member-only special deals and discounts, free gifts with purchase or bonus points for Christmas gift purchases. The more you can offer them the more loyalty you will build. And not all of it has to cost your bottom line, there are a range of different types of programs you can implement and lots of ways to get creative. If you have created a special holiday themed experience, make the opening special and offer your members early access. Offer a gift wrapping service (wrapping paper is cheap?) or use the power of user generated content and get them to do all the hard work. It’s all about building the connection and making them feel valued.
Align with a Cause you Believe in
Its important to be authentic with this one or consumers will see straight through it. Christmas is a time of giving so why not align with a charity or special cause that you believe in and help them gain more visibility or raise money. By engaging with a cause that you and your target audience both believe in may encourage your customer to choose you over your competitors thanks to the feel good factor. You can promote them on your social media channels and in store, give a percentage of profits or ask your customers to round up their total and contribute the extra funds to the cause. You could organise a toy drive or a raffle or ask customers to purchase a gift for the charity to hand out to those less fortunate. Or perhaps encourage good deeds on behalf of the cause and share their stores of support. Studio Noel has put together a fantastic resource full of tips on how to plan and successfully run a Christmas Charity campaign. (Useful tips)
All it takes is a little creativity to create a Christmas marketing campaign that is genuine and heartfelt. Some are simple and others take a little more time and budget but they all have one thing in common; they strengthen your relationship with your customer. So take the time this year, and put a little thought into creating a campaign that resonates with your target audience. You will thank yourself later!
And just for good measure here are a couple more resources full of marketing ideas just to round it all out!
33 Useful Christmas Marketing Ideas: How To Embrace Christmas Time (coschedule.com)
23 Christmas Marketing Ideas For Small Businesses in 2022 | Packhelp
(10) How to Deliver a Winning Campaign: 12 Days of Christmas Marketing Ideas | LinkedIn
CLIENT SPOTLIGHT
PLEASE WELCOME BEN, FROM OXYGEN HOME LOANS
This month, I sat down with Ben from Oxygen Home Loans for a chat. Here at Wow, we love working with our valued partnership customers and Oxygen is one of the best. With a fresh and playful brand, we are always excited to see what they have in store for us when they reach out.
Tell us a little about your business?
Oxygen Home loans is a mortgage broker and lender. We have been in business 21 years and have about 50 staff across Australia. We help many Australians with the complexity of getting a mortgage that best suits their individual needs at the most competitive rate.
Why did you set up your business?
Oxygen was set up originally as part of the McGrath real estate network to assist home buyers with finance.
What makes your business different?
We are customer focused with a huge emphasis on service. We deal with very complex mortgages to very straight forward ones.
What brought you to Wow?
Great service, quality of work, quick turn arounds, nothings to hard.
What was the collaboration process like?
Fantastic. When needed, love the variety of options presented for all the graphic design work.
Any last words?
Wow – Keep it up! Anyone – if you need any mortgage help, reach out – we’d love to assist. www.oxygen.com.au
FEEL INSPIRED
Of all the holidays and special events we can tap into to create a fun and engaging marketing campaign, Christmas has to be the most magical. From simple ideas to over the top, high budget masterpieces, we are surrounded by inspiration. Fun and playful, cheeky or enchanting, the key to putting together a great Christmas campaign is taking the time to plan it well. This article by Moengage, breaks down five extraordinary campaigns and highlights some key takeaways you can use when it comes to planning what your going to do.
CREATE THE UNEXPECTED, DELIVER HAPPINESS!
WOW STUDIOS – WE BRING YOUR CREATIVE IDEAS TO LIFE
