How business-to-business companies can make the most of Christmas
It’s the busiest time of year for retailers, but here’s how #construction and #manufacturing companies can make the best of the festive season.
- Christmas-themed adverts
High street retailers spend over 50% of their advertising revenue in the run up to Christmas. These adverts are so successful as they are nostalgic and springboard people back to childhood. Business-to-business companies can also capture the essence of Christmas in adverts that run in November and December. However, beware of the markets you are appealing to, for example, avoid overtly Christmassey-themes if the market is not European or American. Advertising with a Christmas theme works particularly well in regional press advertising and do inject a bit of fun and personality into an advertising campaign. Make sure you remove the sprig of holly or Christmas sentiment for any adverts running in January though!
- Create an e-Christmas card
Creating a bespoke Christmas e-card is a great way to communicate with customers during December. It can also be a good way to make contact with lapsed clients or new prospects.
Our designers can create an animated e-card which reflects your branding and incorporates it into a Christmas theme – it will look professional but friendly and sets the right tone for Christmas.
- Give something generously, to charity
Many of our business-to-business clients give to charity regularly, but Christmas is a special time and it’s a great idea to focus your efforts on a couple of big charity donations at this time of year. We recommend linking up with a charity that is very active around Christmas time – a number of the hospices and children’s charities do this really well. Give something back and don’t forget to integrate the giving into your Christmas e-newsletter or to make a further donation to the charity in lieu of sending formal Christmas cards.
- Do something funny – for social media
It’s not called the silly season for nothing! Fun and themed outfits you can get away with at Christmas more than any other time of year – so share them on social media and your website. It’s a great time to get staff together to boost team morale – wearing Christmas Jumpers is good fun, and it also means that all the team can contribute to a charity, such as #savethechildren. It also provides lots of opportunity for sharing on social media and as a local press story.
- Bring Christmas sparkle into everyday activities.
Christmas gifts are a bit of a no-no in business these days due to the Bribery Act, but it doesn’t mean you can’t bring a bit of Christmas sparkle into client meetings and communications. Why not add a sprig of holly to agendas and meeting reports? Also you can add your Christmas e-card that we have created for you on your email signature to give a warm, friendly Christmas greeting. It’s also a good idea to run a Christmas quiz on your website and draw the winner on Christmas Eve – again giving you mileage for twitter posts. A Christmas Facebook competition would also work well, especially if it’s run through our App, where, with entrant’s authorisation, you can keep them on a database for future targeting, if required. If all your contacts with customers have a little Christmas sparkle, it will demonstrate your company’s fun personality.
For more ideas on your PR and marketing for the run up to Christmas or for the year ahead, give theDragonfly PR team a call on 01709 300130 or email hello@dragonflypr.co.uk.
