Semalt Tells About The Most Common Mistakes You Should Avoid During Your Holiday Marketing Campaign


Table of Contents

  1.  Introduction
  2.  What You Should Know About Marketing Campaigns
  3.  Why Do You Need To Carefully A Marketing Campaign?
  4.  9 Mistakes To Avoid During Your Holiday Marketing Campaign
  5.  Tips You Should Employ Instead
  6.  Conclusion

Introduction



It is the holiday season and many businesses (maybe including yours) look for ways to increase their camp. Whatever it is you look forward to increasing, whether it is profit i.e. money, more customers, more investors, sales, awareness, or visibility, you are on the right track. Marketing, they say, is the backbone and the driver for every successful business. And when a brand gets its marketing campaign strategy right, almost nothing can stand in the way of its success, even in the holidays. 

But although marketing seems like an answer to all our questions, it can also be a waste of time, resources, and a costly step. Though, that is only if it is not done right. It is good to be excited that the holidays are here but when it comes to your business, it is best to look before you leap. You do know all that you have put into it anyway. 

Therefore, within the contents of this guide is all there is to know about a good and well-structured marketing campaign strategy that will push you to the top (and closer to your goals). It is also a simple guide with a list of all the things YOU SHOULD NOT DO when preparing a marketing campaign for your brand during this season.

But first…

What You Should Know About Marketing Campaigns

How often do you hear of the word 'marketing?' Probably a lot. That's because marketing is very important. A business that wishes to share its existence and values with the public should consider holding on or more campaigns. But what is it about?

A marketing campaign is a careful, well-thought, and planned effort to move a company, a brand, or an individual towards their goal. And what's that goal? All that was said during the start of this guide - profit i.e. money, more customers, more investors, sales, awareness, visibility, and so much more. 



Marketing campaigns are done by introducing a new product / service, pushing the sales of a preexisting product / service, or even correcting negative reputations.

Therefore, they are not limited to adverts alone. They can be in the form of video conferences or demonstrations. They can be also done through any medium, as long as such medium can reach the public. Therefore, the options for a marketing campaign are through print advertising (fliers or banners), television, radio, podcasts, social media, blog adverts, email marketing, etc. The options also will continue to expand with increasing digitization - but that's by the way.

There are different types of marketing campaigns depending on the needs of the business or individual. They are product launch campaigns, email marketing campaigns, brand launches, traditional media campaigns, brand awareness campaigns, contest marketing, re-branding campaign, and seasonal push. 

However, no matter the type of campaign that is being run, it has to be created with a carefully planned, step-by-step guide like the one below: 
  1. Define the business's goal and objectives
  2. Set an actual budget to stick with
  3. Determine who the target audience will be (the public, existing customers, or investors)
  4. Select which medium would be used for the campaign
  5. Plan out and develop what would be passed across
  6. Measure the result of the campaign during the process
  7. Then compare with competitors and re-plan or develop

Why Do You Need To Carefully Plan A Marketing Campaign?

It is already clear that a marketing campaign can drive a business closer to its goals and objectives. It can bring smiles (more money, and more customers) to a brand. But why is it so important to be careful of mistakes? Are there some things that could result from a poorly planned marketing campaign? Straightforward answer - Yes. Big things! 


One of them is that you could be at the risk of running into budget problems. NO - It's like that word's too ambiguous. Your business could run into debt if you don't plan well. You could also end up advertising to the wrong audience which leads to wastage of resources and time. And at the end of the day, the expected results would be non-existent.

But what are the results of an effectively planned marketing campaign? 

More sales, great marketing reputation, trust, expansion of the business, better engagement with customers, creation of a good audience, a better understanding of the business, and so on. 

Now that the things at stake are very evident, what are the mistakes that should be avoided while preparing for your marketing campaign, especially during this holiday season?

9 Mistakes To Avoid During Your Holiday Marketing Campaign

If you have reached this part, then you know what a marketing campaign is, the types, how to create a good one, and what you have to lose if you don't plan well. So you know the magnitude of getting it right. Luckily, you don't have to do it alone. Below are the mistakes that you should avoid when getting ready for your marketing campaign. And after then, it would be followed up with some tips that you can take advantage of when creating your marketing strategy, especially during this season.



Now without further delay, the things you should not do when preparing for a marketing campaign are:
  1. Forgetting to Optimize Your Mobile Site: Do you know how many people stop using their laptops and move to their phones during the holidays? Not preparing for mobile sales or leaving your website non-mobile-friendly can cost you a lot of sales and customers. 
  2. Not planning for extra traffic: Your website is well optimized, fast, and easy to access. But will that also be true when the traffic triples? It is always advisable that you check your website host before the holidays because if a website host cannot handle the traffic, bad things will happen. First, the site would be slow (which is frustrating for users). Second, the site might crash and refuse to open. And third, you could lose a lot of customers (both new and existing) which means a major drop in sales. 
  3. Planning when it is late: August is not too late to begin planning your marketing campaign strategy for the holiday season in December. Why? This is because there is a very high probability that your customers have begun their preparation too as early as then. Most companies would want to wait until October to begin planning. Unfortunately, people begin shopping for products and services by that time. 
  4. Overlooking the need for a strong support team: You cannot supervise the entire operation of your online business and still answer customers' questions on time. The holiday is a very sensitive period and many visitors are new to your site. So it can be costly if you leave their messages unattended for so long. A good and active customer support team can help keep that covered.
  5. Skipping holiday sales and discounts: This is the main ingredient for a holiday marketing campaign. Add sales and discounts that are exclusively for the season because they are greatly expected. 
  6. Omitting Social Media: It would be a great and costly mistake if too much attention was placed on email marketing, television adverts, fliers, and website adverts / promotion, without any attention on social media. The holidays are the time to engage more with followers on social media. Carry them along, and watch the benefits follow.
  7. Waiting for only the big holidays: You don't have to wait until Thanksgiving or Christmas alone to shoot out a holiday marketing campaign. For all that it is worth, some of your customers might not celebrate those holidays. Create a good campaign for as many holidays as you can. This will not only get you more customers but also increase sales. 
  8. Having limited products or services to sell: This is not only a mistake that could cost your business sales, it is also a nonchalant mistake. While some businesses celebrate the holidays by selling off old stocks, some others introduce new inventions. Whichever way it is, there should be enough stock because the traffic will be a lot. Recall the second point?
  9. Not being upfront about delivery dates: It is better to let your customers know that goods to be delivered would be delayed during the holidays, than to 'lie.' This can be frustrating for your customer, and you could lose them. In the long run, trust and reputation could be destroyed.
 And as promised, the tips…

Tips You Should Employ Instead



The following are some things that could be employed and adopted during the planning and creation of a holiday marketing campaign:

Conclusion

Marketing is very important for every business and on holiday seasons, brands can take full advantage to reach their goals. However, some mistakes can cause some costly consequences including losing preexisting customers, trust, and reputation. But with the do's and don'ts provided in the course of this guide, every business owner can create a very effective marketing campaign. 

If you need to learn more about the subject of SEO and website promotion, we invite you to visit our Semalt blog.