Creative Ideas for Marketing During the Holiday Season
The fall season is officially here and that means the holidays will be arriving before we know it.
Since the holiday season is also the season of lots of advertising, your business will be experiencing lots of competition for ad space and elevated pricing. That’s why your ads need to stand out.
Starting in October, the number of people who see your ads isn’t nearly as significant as who sees your ads and the quality of your ads.
So what are your plans for making sure your marketing is unforgettable?
The great thing about this season is that it’s the perfect time to get creative. The upcoming holidays provide opportunities for fun, seasonal content that’s relative to viewers.
For example, Halloween is perfect for some spooky content including decorations, Halloween puns, and marketing in unexpected places like haunted houses and local farms that host Autumn events.
The holiday season is also a great time to be engaging with customers through online contests, donation drives, and by participating in and sponsoring local events.
Holiday Giveaway
Since the holiday season is the time for giving, why not interact with your online followers with a contest or giveaway?
Many successful marketing campaigns have a 12 Days of Giveaways campaign or a social media contest. You could offer a free service as a gift such as a free home estimate or you could give away fun items with your company name on them for some extra branding opportunities. Everyone likes free stuff, so any kind of contest or prizes you choose are sure to bring in some extra engagement.
You can have fun with your audience by asking them to send in pictures of their Halloween costume or their home decorated for the holidays and share it on social media.
Decorate Your Images
You can easily make a home listing stand out by adding some festive holiday decorations!
Of course, nothing over the top. You can make your home listing stand out by just adding a wreath, some lights, or just a few subtle decorations to a home’s interior or exterior. Taking pictures of a home while it’s decorated will add a festive and welcoming atmosphere to any home. The images will look great added to your websites.
Have Fun with Hashtags
Now is the time to branch out with your hashtags and bring in a larger potential audience on Twitter and Instagram.
You’ll likely have reached the same audiences repeatedly with tags like #realestate and #homeforsale. But adding some new holiday related hashtags will help you reach a new audience and you can have a little more fun with your tags and content.
As marketing expert Elise Dopson says in her blog, “In a world where engagement influences conversions, you’d be crazy to miss out on using branded hashtags throughout the holiday season.”
Update Your Ad Content
Change up your ads and blog content to be holiday relevant. Break away from your usual content and change to some holiday deals. Real estate agents can change ad copy to be seasonal. For example, bring in more leads with ad content like “Need more room to celebrate the season with family? Now is the perfect time to upgrade to this beautiful new home with over 5,000 square feet!”. Use your advertising budget to talk about how much money someone could save on holiday gifts by selling their home with your help.
Host a Holiday Open House
Open houses may be more complicated now that being social distancing is a must - but it’s not impossible. Open houses can still be fun during the holidays even if they’re done virtually. You can still decorate a home to show it off in a virtual open house. Holidays lights and decorations will look festive in-person and on camera.
If you have the means, it’s a great idea to send a holiday gift to attendees of your virtual open house. An emailed gift card for Amazon, Wine.com, Uncommon Goods, etc. will make a lasting impression and is sure to impress your client.
Don’t forget to add everyone to your contact list so you can send out a festive invitation to your next open house!
Get in touch with your holiday spirit to get more creative this season. Now that people are spending more time online than ever, you need to get creative to make your marketing stand out.
Missing out on the opportunity to network at holiday parties and events doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to close as many deals this season, it just means hosting more virtual events and finding more leads online.
A success season means starting early, so start planning out your holiday marketing strategy and get started right away.
