‘Tis the season for B2B buyers

Why you shouldn’t stop your social over the holidays

Many technology businesses relax their marketing efforts in December. The idea is that their customers are busy preparing for the upcoming holidays – not looking for productivity-boosting solutions. But new research has shown that this couldn’t be further from the truth.

More and more people are discovering products and services during their evenings, weekends and holidays – making late December and early January an excellent time to target new leads.

The numbers

• 69% of LinkedIn members research business products during their workday
• 73% research during their evenings
• 51% research over the weekend
• LinkedIn shows a 32% increase in engagement during December
• The same platform also sees a 29% increase in click-through averages

Make the right decision

Before giving your marketing activity a holiday this December, it’s worth understanding what this could mean for your business.

• While the purchasing phase itself may slow down over the holiday period, product research speeds up – so it’s essential to offer your audience relevant and informative content
• If you cease your marketing efforts, but your competitors don’t, you could be losing out on valuable market share
• In our mobile world, brands are expected to be there for their audiences whenever they need them – including during the holiday period
• December can often yield cheaper and better-quality long-term leads, but these need to be considered as part of a broader ‘always on’ strategy that serves to build customer trust and helps to nurture new audiences

Prepare to succeed

If you decide to go ahead, don’t wait for December. Like all marketing strategies, planning is essential. Here are some factors you’ll need to bear in mind.

• Resist focussing your messaging and content solely on the holidays. Consider using a light holiday touch that is supported by valuable content and aligns with your customer personas and buyer journeys
• Prepare your social media strategy based on the seasonal shift of customer behaviours, including times and days of engagement. Remember, lots of people who are consuming content out of traditional business hours are likely to use a mobile device – so it’s vital to include mobile-friendly content in your plans
• If you’re using PPC, optimise your keywords to maximise the reach of content that fits with your wider marketing – not just your holiday season content. This will help increase engagement for your business over the medium to long term
• Events are great for building customer relationships. And the run up to the holidays is a great time to engage with potential leads face-to-face. Employees generally have more freedom to attend events during this period – just ensure you explain the value of attending clearly and invite key decision-makers
• If you maximise the research-friendly holiday period, it can act as a springboard for longer-term success. So, while you’re planning your December and January activities, be sure to consider how you’ll capitalise on your newfound engagement levels when you’re back at your desk

Give the gift of high-value content

Your business is set to have an outstanding holiday period. All you need to do now is implement the plan. Here’s how:

• If you need content at short notice, it’s fine to post something you’ve already shared with your audience. Your customers are in research mode over the holiday period, so they’re more likely to read longer content all the way through – even if they’ve seen the headline and introduction already
• Use content uniquely positioned to help drive purchase decisions. This bottom-of-funnel content can help to inform decisions before the New Year’s budgets
• Prepare your sales teams to follow up on any leads or queries by sharing your content calendars with them
• The season of goodwill is a perfect time to humanise your brand. Alongside seasonal messaging, think about sharing photos of your staff enjoying Christmas in the office. Alternatively, you could send out personalised greeting cards.

Once you’ve taken all of the above into consideration, it’s time to enjoy your holidays. Relax, safe in the knowledge that you’ve maximised the potential of your marketing over the festive period.

I work at Revere, where we use insight-driven marketing and proven business strategies to increase engagement for our clients. To find out more, visit our website at thisisrevere.com, email us at [email protected] or call us on +44 (0)1628 569000.