The Best Online Marketing Strategies for the Holidays in 2022

With the holidays rapidly approaching, it’s prudent for small and big business owners to coordinate their holiday planning and promotions early. Planning early in the season provides ample time for managing supply chain snafus and the other unforeseen complications that we’ve all gotten too accustomed to in recent years.

Fortunately, we don’t need to stock brick-and-mortar storerooms or shopping mall windows (unless you have a mall window, in which case—have at it!). Instead, online shopping, including a recent rise in “m-commerce” through a customer’s mobile phone, is where the lion’s share of the sales are made.

Luckily, eCommerce and brick-and-mortar retailers are projecting strong growth this holiday shopping season.

Source: eMarketer

With this in mind, it’s crucial to nail your online marketing campaigns and guarantee a hike in sales that will help provide invaluable capital for keeping your business moving into the next quarter. Of course, our advice last year still holds true, but here are our new top online marketing strategies for your holiday campaigns in 2022.

7 Best Online Marketing Strategies for the Holidays in 2022

Strategy #1: Use Paid Campaigns To Increase Awareness

As they say, you have to spend money to make money, and that’s why paid campaigns that raise awareness of your product or services are essential (and effective).

Pay-per-click campaigns, paid social marketing, and holiday-themed display ads are all excellent ways of getting your product, service, or company name in front of a large audience of users quickly and effectively.

With mobile commerce on the rise, it’s a shoo-in to get a new customer straight to your page and through a simple transaction. When used effectively, you’ll increase awareness, drive traffic to your site, and make sales for a commensurately modest fee.

Source: Walmart

Strategy #2: Write A Ho-Ho-Holiday Newsletter

Do you have an existing contact list of former customers? Then the right outreach campaign can convert those former customers into future customers.

Spreading a little holiday cheer in the customer’s inbox is a great way to touch base and inform the user of new products, sales, and other useful tidbits that keep them clicking through to another sale.

We recommend keeping things festive and light. The season is about giving, but a heavy-handed or sell-hard approach is polarizing and may inspire certain customers to click “Unsubscribe” without a second thought.

As always, with a newsletter, strive to provide value such as unique discount codes, a quick laugh, gift ideas, or something unique to your business. If you provide value, people will look forward to hearing from you. If you don’t—your newsletter will go straight into the trash.

Strategy #3: Get Yourself Camera Ready For Video Marketing

With TikTok, Instagram Reels, and even Facebook videos only growing in popularity, if you haven’t already, it’s time to try your hand at video marketing. Short-form videos and holiday-themed advertisements will help show off your brand and make your products or services relevant to new customers.

You don’t have to be a pro or hire a camera crew to be successful at this. All it takes is a smartphone, decent lighting (if you don’t have a ring light, try outdoors or near open windows on a sunny day), and thirty to ninety seconds of you being you.

This is the kind of video content that taps into this market. It’s an integral part of a comprehensive online marketing campaign and can open doors you never even thought of entering.

Source: Hershey

Strategy #4: Try “Influencing” The Consumer

Influencer marketing is essentially the modern-day equivalent of hiring local, national, or global celebrities for ad spots, which various corporations have been doing for decades. In the age of social media, you don’t need a Hollywood actor or professional athlete.

Instead, you’ll want Instagram influencers to showcase the merits of your product, brand, or services. Many are only ordinary people, but those that boast thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of followers will instantly get your company’s name in front of that follower base.

Try to choose an influencer that has an impressive fan base of followers but also one that creates content that would be consistent with your company. For instance, if you are an athletic apparel company, partnering with someone whose feed primarily covers fitness topics will make sense.

They could be highly athletic (fitness models) or people who are honest about their fitness journeys and make people feel comfortable. There’s no wrong approach; your goal is to find influencers who fit your customer base. However, the effect might fall flat if there’s a mismatch; for instance, if you hire someone who does cooking videos to discuss your line of innovative, modular office furniture.

Source: Beauty Brands

Strategy #5: Give A Little To Get A Little

‘Tis the season for giving, so one of the best Christmas campaign ideas is a give-back campaign.

Often, businesses donate to charities or work alongside non-profits to illustrate awareness of local, national, and global issues, inspire positive change, and make an impact. Industry experts recommend this strategy, as it also helps signal consumers that your brand and company give back.

Campaigns, for instance, that provides one product to a family in need for every one purchased are very effective. On the one hand, you are helping those in need. But, on the other hand, the customer’s buying habits influence that act of charity, helping them feel personally responsible for positive change as well.

With a strategy like this, you drive sales, your customer feels charitable, and a family in need receives something special this season. It’s a win-win-win!