Halloween was only days ago, and Thanksgiving is still some time away, but holiday advertising and marketing campaigns are in full force, especially Christmas. In fact, they are already annoying (me) to the point of nausea. And, that’s not even the most obnoxious part.
For the last few years, stores have been “holiday-fying” their shelves with decorations and festive-wear from the time kids start going back to school. Don’t get me wrong, that’s when fall décor and Halloween decorations hit the shelves too. But, why in the world do holiday-themed items have to be everywhere so soon? Can we all just get a break from one holiday to the next? Seriously, calm down.
Okay. End rant. Kind of…
So, why is this happening? There are many important reasons businesses began reaching out to their customers early, but we’ll go over three. Let’s began.
Reason 1. Companies get a head start on the competition. During the holidays, the market is oversaturated. Most, if not all, businesses will be in the midst of some type of campaign geared towards the holiday season.
To steal a quote from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby – “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”
What do I mean? Businesses want to stand out from the crowd. Being first, or near first, is a good thing, regardless if it annoys people like me. Your company, product, or service is now imprinted in my mind. And, it will be in everyone else’s mind too. Planting the seed early is one of the best ways to be on the mind of those looking for gifts, food and other products or services.
Reason 2. Seemingly, people are shopping earlier and earlier for holiday items. Buyers are looking to get their shopping out of the way. There’s just too much chaos to go last-minute shopping anymore.
Marketing strategies are implemented early enough to entice the ready spender to buy gifts in a timely fashion, instead of stomping on people during Black Friday.
Reason 3. It’s all about the back-up plan. Marketing strategies don’t always go as planned (that goes for every company ever). The best ideas can fall apart. You don’t want to be sitting around, without another strategy so consumers buy another company’s product or service during the holiday season.
That’s exactly why marketers and advertisers start this process earlier in the year. And, the contingency plan doesn’t have to sit on the backburner either. If your first strategy is gold, you can use the other one to see if you can reach a different type of customer.
Hmm… I’m slowly convincing myself these holiday marketing campaigns aren’t all that evil. They are just great ideas.
The holiday season can be a time of great growth and potential for businesses, big or small. With the right kind of digital marketing strategy, your business can go from bust to boom or boom to bust.
With the help of ENX2 Marketing, it will never be the latter outcome. Our team of digital marketing experts will guide you on the dos and don’ts of marketing during the holidays, along with different strategies your business can use year-round.