Specific holidays might be great opportunities to emphasise your brand’s values or offer your audience special discounts. Days like Valentine’s Day, the 4th of July, and the December holidays are on everyone’s list because they’re generally related to joy and coming together. They even have entertaining themes, making standout copy and design.
However, to make sure your brand stays authentic, you need to avoid attempting to capitalize on EVERY occasion in your email marketing calendar. Juneteenth and Veterans Day, for instance, might look like good sales opportunities, but they are going to carry a deeper, more poignant meaning for lots of your subscribers.
Unmissable celebrations
There are some dates that any marketing team shall be conversant in. They’re your key dates, big tentpoles, cashflow-boosters and nearly any business can capitalize on them.
These are:
- January 1: New Year’s Day
- February 9: Super Bowl
- February 14: Valentine’s Day
- February 17: Presidents’ Day
- March 8: International Women’s Day
- March 17: St Patrick’s Day
- May 11: Mother’s Day
- June 15: Father’s Day
- July 4: Independence Day
- September 1: Labor Day
- October 31: Halloween
- November 27: Thanksgiving
- Late November: Black Friday and Cyber Monday (weekend after Thanksgiving)
- December: Festive Season (typically December 8 to December 27)
- December 31: New Year’s Eve
What do nowadays all have in common? They’re all celebratory occasions, and lots of of them (like Mother’s Day and Christmas) traditionally revolve around gift-giving, which makes them the right time to make use of the products and experiences you offer to strengthen your customers’ connection to your brand.
Most subscribers just about expect you to have sales on these ‘big’ holidays, they usually’ll be maintaining a tally of their inboxes for excellent deals, so it’s best to not disappoint them.
It also means you might have an audience that’s more liable to making a purchase order, so much more reason to provide your customers the worth they’re on the lookout for.
However, there are caveats when sending emails and promotions on certain holidays.
Handle these with care
The key differences between the list above and the dates below are subtle, but crucial on your brand. That is because some dates must be handled with respect and sensitivity; otherwise, your brand could very easily be seen as exploitative. They’re either celebrated by a selected community or they’re observed slightly than celebrated in any respect.
Here are a couple of examples of dates that require a sensitive touch attributable to their cultural and non secular nature:
- Martin Luther King Jr Day: Unless you might have something meaningful to contribute or are a minority-owned business, running promotions on MLK Day can offend your subscribers.
- Juneteenth: Be real, be real. Holidays are removed from just yet another option to bring revenue in, and we marketers should never lose sight of that. Juneteenth is an incredibly essential day where we commemorate the tip of slavery within the United States – something we should always all concentrate on slightly than sales. As with every holiday, we as marketers have taken over – for higher or worse. What stays essential to recollect on all holidays – especially those with such deep and essential meaning – is to act civilly, express real appreciation and care, and never lose sight of why we’re celebrating it in the primary place.
- Memorial Day: It is best to not tie your brand to the observance. Ditch any “Memorial Day” wording and run a stand-alone sale. Or make your campaigns more summer-related to appeal to a broader audience.
- Religious Holidays: When it involves deeply religious holidays like Hanukkah, Eid or Diwali, it’s best only to run promotions if your online business is related to the denomination or you might have something meaningful to contribute.
Should dates like these be avoided altogether? Not in any respect – you might have the potential to construct a real rapport with customers who might feel marginalized by mainstream marketing. That is, in case your messaging is sincere and your brand has real value to bring to the client experience. If not, it’s best to refrain from the conversation, as it could do your status more harm than good.
Best practices
As you well know, there’s more to marketing than simply slapping a “20% OFF” sticker on a holiday email campaign. Even some mainstream dates may not be fit on your brand – selling crypto shares doesn’t quite lend itself to a Valentine’s Day promo, for instance. The trick is knowing your brand well and deciding which dates work best for you. It’s perfectly acceptable (and even encouraged) to skip a serious holiday or celebration if it doesn’t suit your brand’s tone.
Before planning a sales event, ask yourself these three questions:
- Will everyone feel included? Even Mother’s Day and Father’s Day might be sensitive subjects for some customers. Consider sending an opt-out email to subscribers who might wish to skip a selected holiday or celebration.
- Are we adding value or just selling? If it’s the latter, you’ll have to rethink your strategy and find an authentic option to incorporate your brand into the holiday, e.g., donating a portion of your sales to charity.
- Do we want a sale in any respect? Often, simply wishing your Hindi customers a blissful Holi is enough to point out them they matter. If you might have something nice to say, say it. As long as your message is real, subscribers will likely appreciate it.
Bottom line
Companies changing their branding to Pride flags during June have change into a meme, proving that customers can spot insincere messaging from a mile off. Whatever holiday celebrations your brand connects with, a sincere message is exponentially more helpful than a knee-jerk try to squeeze into the conversation (or boost revenue). Be real, respect your customer, and know when to not sell. After all, marketing is about constructing real connections, not changing profile pictures.
The post Your holiday marketing playbook must put sincerity before sales appeared first on MarTech.
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