If you operate in the eCommerce sphere, Christmas preparations are well underway and have been for some time. But what about B2B?
Why do you want to do a Christmas campaign, anyway?
Since you’re reading this article, you’re probably weighing up whether a Christmas campaign is worth the effort. Why?
“Our CEO said we have to“
Yeah, you’re going to have to come up with something.
“We’ve always done one“
Maybe a good reason, maybe not. Take a look at your results from previous years; are they significantly different to your campaigns the rest of the year? If they’re better, then dash away all! If they’re worse, what are you doing?!
“Everybody else does it“
Then maybe you stand out better by NOT doing one. Rember “half of strategy is choosing what not to do.”
What are you trying to achieve?
If you only know 1 thing about marketing, make it the 95:5 rule. That is, 95% of your target market isn’t currently in a position to buy.
If your customers don’t typically change their behaviour towards you around Christmas, you can still harness the festive vibes to keep your connection with them warm.
Look at how Spotify Wrapped became a huge cultural moment that all kinds of brands have replicated:
“10 things we learned this year” type newsletters can remind your audience of the value they get from you without pushing for a sale. Or you can look ahead to the next year’s trends. The secondary benefit of this is that you can do a “How did our predictions go?” piece at the end of the year. These make you look great if you got it right, and humble and honest if you missed the mark; win-win!
How do I identify my festive 5%?
Of course, the 95:5 rule means that you’ve got some ready-to-buy leads sitting there in December if you can only find them.
One big clue will be how they organise their financial year. If January 1st is the first day of a financial year, then there’s no way they’ll be making large investments in December.
In the UK, the government’s tax year begins on April 6th, so this is also a common choice for businesses too.
On a more 1-to-1 basis, do your best to monitor when your customers’ existing arrangement are due for renewal. If you’re in the SaaS space like Spotler, you’re probably competing with 12- or 24-month contracts. In this case the sweet spot will be 2-3 months before the renewal date, when it’s near enough to be front of mind, but far enough away that you’ve got a chance of swooping in.
My brand colours aren’t very Christmassy…
If red, green and white feature strongly in your brand palette, Christmas branding is pretty easy. But when was the last time you saw Santa in blue?
Fortunately, there’s a wealth of examples that show a short-term change to your brand can actually make you more memorable, as your audience’s brains fill the gap in themselves:
In short, a Christmas-themed campaign won’t do any real damage to ability to recognise your brand, as long as you’ve done the legwork the rest of the year to establish your place inside your audience’s minds.
Should we say “Happy Holidays” instead?
“Happy Hanukkah”?
“Merry Kwanza”?
“Blessed Bodhi Day”?
Christmas might be the dominant cultural event of December, but it’s far from the only one.
This really comes down to understanding your audience. If you solely serve Buddhists, then Bodhi Day/Rohatsu is a much better go-to than Christmas.
If you aren’t confident in making this call, then either “Happy Holidays” or no holiday mention at all are perfectly valid choices.
Whatever you choose, you’d hope that the majority of your audience will take your greeting in the spirit it was meant, rather than getting overly hung up on the specific choice you’ve made.
Conclusion: It’s up to you
Between what you’ve done before, pressure from internal stakeholders, and audience expectations, whether to run a Christmas themed campaign or not is a very personal choice.
If you go for it, Spotler’s Mail+ email builder is the thing you need on your wishlist. With an easy drag-and-drop-editor, brand library and smooth templates, you’ll be building gorgeous campaigns in record time. Get started with a demo today.
