Throughout the holiday season, take advantage of holiday shopping trends with extra marketing efforts. Successful businesses implement comprehensive holiday marketing campaigns that connect with shoppers and drive sales.  

However, if you're unsure how to approach your holiday marketing efforts, you may not know where to start. To help guide your holiday campaigns this season, here we'll discuss some holiday advertising ideas that make for a successful strategy. 

Fuel Holiday Anticipation 

The best holiday campaigns start early before the holidays begin. During this time, get customers excited for the season by building hype through your marketing materials. In generating excitement around the holidays, there are several steps you could take.  

For instance, you could send out early reminders of holiday deals and discounts. Also, use email marketing to send weekly updates to people in your segmented contact lists. You can even build suspense by promising a surprise in store for the holidays without revealing what it is too early on.  

Get customers ready to buy once the season hits by creating countdowns or using time restrictions to generate a sense of urgency. When the holidays finally arrive, people will be eager to purchase from you over others that don't take advantage of the season. 

Holiday Marketing Should Produce Emotion 

The holidays always evoke strong emotions for many people, which is why you need to use emotionally engaging ads that resonate. For example, Coca-Cola produced a holiday commercial that spoke to the sentiment of family and the holiday spirit. 

Specifically, their 2020 Christmas commercial told the story of a father doing everything in his power to get his daughter's letter to Santa, drinking a Coke in the process. When it looks like Santa's not going to receive it, he shows up in a Coca-Cola truck to bring the father back home. It turns out that the daughter's one wish in the letter was for her father to return home for the holidays. 

Ads like this inspire holiday cheer and excitement. In your own, use equally emotional elements. Whether you go for nostalgic, cheery, or charitable, these and similar emotions can establish a strong connection with audiences. 

Get Festive on Social Media 

Holiday marketing in 2021 should also entail plenty of social media activity. Ramp up your posting for the season and promote your holiday offers on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. You may also want to connect with users on TikTok and other social media platforms.  

Be sure to get creative with video, posts, and live streams to reach your audiences. You could also engage and connect with audiences through a fun offer or giveaway. Ultimately, there's no shortage of ways to incorporate effective holiday social media marketing. The more active you are on these platforms, the more you'll supplement the rest of your campaigns. 

'Tis the Season for Cause Marketing 

The holidays are a uniquely charitable time. As a result, brands can use cause marketing around this time to appeal to people's sensibilities. You may also want to consider donating a portion of sales to a specific cause that aligns with your business.  For example, a local restaurant may like to contribute to a food drive. 

Consider using a holiday promotion that helps a charity boost sales. Everything from toy drives to donations could help drive traffic and encourage more purchases while supporting a cause. If you show that your business shares the same values as your customers, they'll be far more inclined to trust and support you. You'll also become a popular staple of your community if you contribute to it during the holiday season and beyond. 

Reach Consumers with Omnichannel Marketing 

A good holiday campaign strategy will also maximize its reach on all platforms. To make sure you're connecting with audiences everywhere, create a holistic marketing campaign on all channels you use. If you're not already incorporating an omnichannel strategy, you're missing out on the many benefits it has to offer. 

One study found that the more channels customers used to connect with a business, the more valuable they became. The study found that omnichannel marketing-led customers to spend 4% more on every trip to the store and 10% more when shopping online. Additionally, customers who used four or more channels spent 9% more in the store compared to single-channel customers. 

Keep in mind that it's important to align and synchronize your omnichannel campaigns and only use the platforms that customers use. You could incorporate email marketing, social media marketing, content, and more in a complete campaign with multiple touchpoints. In the process, you'll be able to get ahead of the competition as you stand out and stay top-of-mind. 

Get the Best Results from Your Efforts with a Media Partner 

Taking these approaches could help build a successful holiday advertising strategy. The problem is that many businesses may not have the resources to dedicate enough time to their campaigns. If you want to ensure your campaigns get the attention they deserve and are geared for success, turn to a media partner. If you can work with a trustworthy and experienced media partner, you'll be able to experience true success with highly effective campaigns.