Holiday Planning Starts in August

In the Northeast, we are just getting out of the 80-degree weather. Must we really think about Christmas already?? If you are in marketing, sales or a business owner - yes! Even if you don't sell retail? YES.

When does the Holiday season start and end?

Most consider the Holiday shopping spree to start on Black Friday and end right before New Year's. While that may be how the consumer sees it, it is not so for marketers. By October 1st, consumers are already in the buying spirit. As Halloween approaches, females especially look to decorate the "nest" for a warm Holiday season.

Females have the most purchasing power in the home, regardless of whether it is furnishings, clothes, kitchenwear or even window treatments. Targeting the female audience in an impactful way is crucial to having a successful campaign and at no point during the year are they more ready to shop than the Holiday season.

The end of the Holiday campaign is not before New Year's but the week after. As people return items, it is a great opportunity to get them to buy yours instead. Comparison campaigns, where you explain how your product is different from another are paramount leading up to this time.

How do I plan my campaign?

By working backwards. Most purchases happen two weeks before Christmas, which means that this is a high competition time, which further translates into more dollars spent to be in front of your ideal client. Your goal is to build enough brand awareness with your potential customers and enough data with the advertising platforms you are using (Google, Facebook, etc.) in order to win over your competition.

Plan backwards from those two weeks and write out overall ideas for email campaigns, paid ads, website announcements, offline advertisements if applicable, etc. Then, consider when you or your team need to start working on each item and set deadlines for each. Outlining these campaigns may also give you other ideas.

Think outside the box.

You likely know who your competitors are - but did you know that you can target their customers?

Facebook's Audience feature is a great data mining tool that can help you identify who your ideal customers are following and then target those competitor's audiences. If you are a hyperlocal business, it is especially helpful in identifying where your customers are hanging out, which newspapers they are reading, which restaurants they are frequenting, etc. These can give you ideas on where to advertise offline as well.

Planning takes time and the time for Holiday planning is now - in 80-degree weather.