If you’re looking forward to the holiday season, then you know just how lucrative holiday shopping can be. When you market your products to your target market using gift guides, you give them a hassle-free way to find exactly what they’re looking for. You may be surprised to find that many consumers are actually looking for guidance exactly like this.

During Christmas, people go all-out to find the best gifts for their loved ones. Holiday shopping deals are a huge favorite among consumers, and they play a significant role in improving customer engagement and loyalty.

Most people turn to online shopping when they look for Christmas deals, New Year’s shopping deals, Valentine’s Day deals, and more. It helps people find a curated list of everything they could possibly need – all in one place.

Customers were asked how they would shop during the holidays, and nearly 59% said that they would prefer online shopping, while 36% said they intended to visit stores. Some of these shoppers also combine online shopping with retail shopping.

In 2020, online shopping is set to be the more popular option. And this means you need a strong online marketing campaign to create awareness about your products and boost sales. A gift guide is a powerful online marketing tool that can easily convert a reader into a buyer within minutes.

Shoppers typically don’t invest the same amount of thought and insight into every gift they buy. While they may pay more attention to what they get their near and dear ones, acquaintances and colleagues get more standard gifts. However, this doesn’t mean that they want to appear as if they haven’t put any thought into their gift.

This is where a gift guide can help. In the gift guide, you highlight your preferred products and include what makes them great gifts. Someone who doesn’t know what gift to purchase can find the guide through social media or a Google search. If your content marketing is convincing enough, you’re very likely to get a new customer from the process.

People look for all kinds of gift guides online – from wedding gift ideas to birthday gift ideas. Your gift guides can expand beyond seasonal marketing and become a regular part of your digital marketing strategy.

Pros:

• Increases brand and product awareness.

• Increases reach to a larger target market.
• More customers are expected to spend online, so focusing on online gift guide marketing is more profitable.

Cons:

• Need to create multiple gift guides.
• Is a constantly updating content marketing strategy where you need to create new gift guides as new products arrive.

Even if you create a great gift guide, you need to make sure that it reaches people as well. You shouldn’t expect people to visit your website, find your gift guide, and then read it. You need to actively take your gift guides to your target market. This is where a comprehensive online marketing strategy should help you. Your strategy should include:

• Social Media: Gift Guides are great shareable content, especially around any gift-giving season. It’s a good way for consumers to recommend products to friends and family, and for brands to highlight their bestselling products.
• Email Marketing: Add your holiday or seasonal gift guide to your emailers and newsletters when you send them out. If you segment your recipient list and send them customized gift guides, your conversions could increase more. This also increases customer engagement and loyalty.
• Mailing List: If you use a mailing list, then send out a physical copy of your gift guide to all your customers. Include the season’s bestsellers, and highlight any special deals or offers.
  Your gift guides should always be free. That’s why an online gift guide is an inexpensive way to increase customer awareness about your products. A few physical copies are okay, but focus your gift guide campaign on online marketing.

Pros:

• Inexpensive yet effective.

• Increase customer base and develop brand loyalty.

Cons:

• Need to be consistent on social media.
• Gift guides tend to become irrelevant when the season passes. Then you’ll need to make a new set.

There are two primary categories of shoppers you need to target with your online marketing campaign. The first of these is the early bird shopper. These shoppers start early and plan ahead.

In the week between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, people spent $28.5 billion on purchases in the United States. Most of this came from Early Bird Shoppers. They spend more money and often want to find only the best gifts.

Here is where a specialized gift guide can make all the difference. Some examples of these include ‘gift guides for bosses’, ‘gift ideas for colleagues’ or ‘best gift for him/her’.

Almost 60% of shoppers start their Christmas shopping before November ends. This means that you should constantly be rolling out gift guides during this time, ideally a few every month.

Last-minute shoppers, on the other hand, wait until the Christmas is just around the corner to purchase. They may be waiting for the best deals or trying to find the perfect gift. You can solve both these problems by gifting them a free online resource that points out the bestselling products from your brand.

Create gift guides for different price ranges, early shopping deals, late shopping deals, and more.

Pros:

• Opportunity to showcase new and old products.
• Hype up deals and discounts to increase conversions.

Cons:

• Limit customer choice by selecting curated products.
• Sales of other products may not be at par with listed products.

Mobile searches for gift guides start early. For the Christmas shopping season, the search begins right after Black Friday. It goes on till the week just before Christmas. Similar narratives exist for other seasonal events as well. Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s shopping, these holidays all lead to an increased search for ‘gift ideas’ or ‘gift guides’ in the weeks leading up to the celebration.

Pros:

• Target market with specialized gift guides.
• Boost sales during seasonal holidays.

Cons:

• Limit target market to only those celebrating the seasonal holiday.

Roughly half the world is on social media. Almost 3.8 billion people use social media in 2020. Once you’re online, you have the power to target markets like you never could before. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and even TikTok are frequented by millions of users every day. A #Hashtag campaign is an inexpensive yet extremely useful way to market your brand to millions of users. If you plan your online marketing strategy correctly, then launching a successful hashtag campaign isn’t as hard as you may think.

You could own a small business, and maybe you’re trying to expand your market reach and influence online. Your business could also be well-established and capable of launching large advertising campaigns. Irrespective of this, social media marketing is necessary if you want to survive in the contemporary business environment.

Hashtags are simple unspaced words, always placed next to a ‘#’. Ex: #WonderfulWednesday, #TravelTips etc.

On social media channels, these are used as hyperlinks that lead to aggregates of information. The subject of the information is the same as the text on the hashtag. So, if you were to clock on a hashtag that said #HappyCaturday, you’re very likely to find thousands of content pages on cats.

Businesses have already begun to realize the massive potential that hashtag campaigns can have. In an era where every brand is especially dedicating time and space to developing social media strategies, you can’t fall behind.

Hashtags create links to easily searchable information. It’s a great way for businesses to launch new products, gain consumer insights, and develop customer engagement and loyalty.

Before you can sit down to strategize on your social media digital campaign, you need to gather data. Research your competitors to see what they’re doing online. What kind of social media strategies are they employing? Have these been effective for them? did they created any hashtag campaigns? And were they successful?

Knowing what your competition is doing helps you learn from their successes while avoiding their pitfalls. At the same time, there’s other information you should be thoroughly researching – and that’s about your brand.

Pore through influencer social media accounts, blogs, YouTube accounts and online articles to gauge what the online commentary about your brand is. If you’re still a small and upcoming business, don’t fret! This just means that you have to build a hashtag campaign around increasing your followers.

But if there is an online conversation happening about your brand, then you need to know about it. If you can isolate the keywords that are being used about your brand, then these could make for great hashtags later on. For example, if someone refers to your products as ‘so totally sustainable’, you can use that to create a hashtag called ‘#sosustainable’ for your brand.

Social media is relevant when it comes to target marketing nearly 50% of millennials and 42% of Gen Z. Online marketing is the easiest way to generate traction and increase conversions today.

Once you’ve gathered your data, the next step is to determine which social media platform should be right for you. The platforms your target market frequents will differ from brand to brand. If your business deals with other businesses, then LinkedIn is where you need to place your focus.

If you want to target the Baby Boomers, then Facebook can help you. Facebook is also great for targeting a specific audience that gets to see your ads. Instagram and Twitter are where Millennials and Gen Z frequent. These are also great places to sell direct-to-consumer products.

It’s expensive, time-consuming and largely moot to try and make a social media account on every major channel. Instead, place your focus on specific social media platforms.

Your hashtag campaign should include influencers as well as your key marketing partners.

Nearly 49% of consumers revealed that they take into consideration what their favorite social media influencers say when making purchasing decisions.

The hashtags themselves should be created keeping certain things in mind:

• Keep it small.
• Make it emotive.
• Choose something that represents your brand.
• Be original.

You don’t want to pick a hashtag that’s too generic, otherwise, it may already be popularly used for something else. Using a hashtag that’s too unique poses problems as well. Your hashtag could be hard to remember, leading to less engagement and an eventual fadeout for your campaign.

Go for a short and catchy hashtag. The more fun, the better. And finally, decide why you’re creating the hashtag campaign.

• Are you trying to launch a product?
• Are you trying to gain followers?
• Are you trying to develop customer loyalty and engagement?

Your online marketing strategy should be aimed at reaching a certain target. Without a target in mind, your hashtag campaign may not provide real results.

Hashtags can be used in various ways, from selling a particular product to creating an online contest. The more consistent you are in creating content relevant to your hashtag, the more traction and customer engagement you’ll witness.

71% of consumers who have a positive experience with a brand on social media report that they’re likely to recommend that brand to friends and family. This is exactly the kind of exposure you want if you’re looking to expand your consumer base while developing customer engagement and loyalty.

A good way to start off your hashtag campaign is to ask influencers and your content marketing partners to promote your hashtag. Look for influencers who have a large following and are also likely to use your products.

You can also create a hashtag campaign around your products. Ask your consumers to post a picture or video of them using your product and to use your hashtag on it. You can also include a giveaway where a lucky winner gets a great reward. These are some ways to launch your hashtag campaign on social media.

The final step comes after the hashtag campaign itself. Throughout the campaign, you’ve been consistent with making quality posts regularly, replying to customers as soon as you could, and even participating in conversations around your hashtag. Now it’s time to analyze the results.

Use metrics and analytics to gain insights on how successful your hashtag campaign was. Did you gain new followers? Increase conversions? And your hashtag campaign have any bearing on sales and purchases?

This information will help you develop future hashtag campaigns. Many of the tools you need are already available through these social media platforms itself. Look at the numbers and if there’s a noticeable difference after the hashtag campaign, you know your online marketing strategy worked!

With over 1 billion users play WeChat games, WeChat is one of the most actively used social messaging apps in the world. And this is just the number of registered users on WeChat. These players may game on and off, but a growing segment of the Chinese population is beginning to heavily invest both time and money in WeChat games. As a result, this increases interaction among WeChat users.

In addition, this makes WeChat a platform that lets you access millions of users instantly. Based in Chinese, WeChat is primarily used inside China and among Mandarin-speaking populations. The app, originally in Chinese, can still be used by people from other parts of the world. However, to properly market using WeChat, you’ll need someone with a working knowledge of Mandarin Chinese.

If you want to reach out and target market a global Chinese audience, then WeChat is the way to do it. It’s the single most heavily used social messaging app in China.

Your online marketing strategies, when it comes to WeChat, should be developed keeping a specific goal in mind. Are you trying to branch into the Chinese market? Do you want to promote a certain product?

Your goal will help you chart your success. In China, 800 million people regularly use WeChat and play WeChat games often. Of these, around 310 million people are active gamers.

Out of 310 million active users, nearly half regularly play mini-games.

Mini-games on WeChat are more often enjoyed by women, especially those around in their late 20s and early 30s. But despite this, mini-games are heavily played. Audiences react by competing against each other, trying to climb the leader board, trying to win rewards, and more.

Mini-games don’t have to be downloaded and can be played in-app. The games also tend to be casual, leaving room for advertisements, and paid in-game content.

To effectively increase audience interaction using WeChat games, you need to first understand the audience. If you want to reach out to women, mini-games will be your best. Men play these games as well but are greatly outnumbered by women.

Women also tend to purchase more luxury products. This has already inspired luxury brands like Dior to create WeChat mini-games to market their products.

WeChat is primarily a social messaging app. This means that the games and mini-games on it have social elements as well. These social elements can be tapped to increase audience interaction.

An example of this is the guild system that’s used in most games. This is designed to enable players to play together to advance in the game. Since working together in guilds makes progress easier and enhances customer experience, it’s a great social tool as well.

With large numbers of people turning to WeChat games for entertainment, advertisers and brands have the chance to reach larger audiences than ever before.

In July 2020, advertising exposure through mini games went up by 80%. This increase is sustained from last year. What this shows is that advertising through WeChat greatly increases brand awareness.

There are various ways you can gain from WeChat games. The easiest is to collaborate with WeChat to launch your products in the WeChat store. This would depend on what kind of products you sell, but you can rest assured that you’ll generate high traction.

Another way is to collaborate with a popular game on WeChat to release brand-specific, exclusive in-game rewards. This is a great way to increase awareness about your products while also giving people a virtual sample of what your products can do.

Your products can be placed in the game in the form of unique rewards and special bonuses that enhance customer experience and encourage customer engagement and loyalty.

Being a part of the game is another great way to increase audience interaction. You can include advertisements to your brand on WeChat. Many games, mainly mini-games, ask users to watch an add to gain energy to play the game, win a reward, and the like. Your ad here could bring you millions of views very fast.

Another way is to create a game around your brand and release it on WeChat. You can make it a limited-time release with the aim to increase audience interaction among WeChat users.

Use these marketing ideas to increase your engagement among WeChat users. In 2019 alone, nearly 69% of all revenue through games in China was generated through mobile gaming. WeChat games are a powerful and relatively new way for you to increase audience interaction through digital marketing. But it’s also one of the most effective ways of building customer engagement and loyalty when done right. Use gamification and rewards to open doors to an audience that’s receptive to quality goods and an enhanced customer experience.

Waiting for that WOW Christmas marketing idea to supercharge conversions and brand awareness without an unbelievable budget? Well, this is exactly what you need: 10 successful showcase ideas across industries.

One example we supercharged site traffic, conversion, and brand awareness was via content marketing. We managed to supercharge it by integrating content distribution channels, building a brand personality, and aligning the funnel to optimize the site traffic. As a result, the site traffic rose to 300% in 3 months. We believe we can help you achieve this too with our 10 innovation Christmas Marketing ideas.

Starbucks launched a DIY-friendly holiday cup, inviting amateur artists to share their unique artwork on Instagram with the dedicated hashtag #GiveGood. A hashtag campaign is an example of user-generated content (UGC), a good way to engage your target customers.

KPIs:

• Number of hashtag mentions
• Number of likes and comments
• Brand awareness

Pros:

• Increase brand awareness
• Increase engagement
• Easy to see how well your campaign is doing

Cons:  

• Hashtags are overused
• Hard to create a representative hashtag

“Elf Yourself® App” by Office Depot  [source]

Dress up easily with Facebook’s AR filter! Office Depot incorporated Facebook integration to its well-known festive app “Elf Yourself”, allowing users to “elf” themselves with their Facebook’s camera AR filter.  Users can then share the videos with friends and family.

KPIs:

• App download rate
• Number of video sharing
• Brand awareness

Pros:

• Increase brand awareness
• Highly engaging

Cons:  

• Requires creativity
• Costly production

“Getting Reindeer Ready” Snapchat Camera Filter by Mcdonald’s 

Similar to “Elf Yourself” but simplified, “Getting Reindeer Ready” allows users to transform into a reindeer through the AR face filters. Meanwhile, the AR Filter Creation tool is also available on Facebook and Instagram.

KPI:

• App download rate
• Brand awareness

Pros:

• Engage a wide range of audiences
• Low-cost production

Cons:  

• Suitable for retail brands only

Instagram feed by Porsche [source]

You will see Christmas trees everywhere soon, but one made up of the world’s most luxurious automobiles? For instance,  Porsche has done a great job associating festive anticipation with the brand.

Pros:

• Keep fans and followers engaged
• Low-cost production

Cons: 

• Organic reach is in decline
• Keen competition

Instagram feed by Zara Home [source]

Make your products the effortless choice for Christmas gifts like Zara Home! For example, in the retail industry, a gift guide is a perfect solution for your fans who are currently searching for gift ideas. Moreover, a gift guide caters to more customers by creating a series of gift guides for different age groups and gender.

KPIs:

• Number of likes
• Number of comments
• Conversion rate

Pros:

• Engage a wide range of audiences
• Low-cost production

Cons:  

• Best used by retail brands only

Instagram feed by M&S [source]

Create a brand experience that lasts. M&S released a short video clip with music that sticks in the heads of the audience.

Moreover, apart from visual elements like text and still images, the use of animated video and audio will help get your audience in the seasonal mood with your brand associated with it. In addition, the goal is to engage the senses holistically to make your brand stick in the heads of your audience.

KPIs:

• Number of views
• Number of likes
• Brand Awareness

Pros:

• Enhance customer experience
• Connect with the audience emotionally

Cons:  

• More costly than feeds with still images
• There is sound only when it is turned on voluntarily

Youtube video by Samsung [source]

The details can be easily forgotten, however emotions last. Boasting over 4M views, this clip successfully associates the brand with positive emotions—by portraying the wonder, shock, and surprise of those receiving Galaxy VR set as a Christmas gift.

KPIs:

• Number of shares
• Brand awareness

Pros:

• High-quality videos can have a viral impact
• Connect with the audience emotionally

Cons: 

• Costly production
• The audience today has a lower attention span

Youtube video by Playlist Potluck from Sonos & Spotify [source]

Christmas is the time of coming together. Instead of everyone bringing a dish to share,  Sonos and Spotify are inviting us to contribute songs to a collaborative playlist. As a result, online events are great alternatives to offline campaigns in times of pandemics.

KPIs:

• Participation rate
• Brand awareness

Pros:

• Highly engaging
• Lower event cost
• Lessen the impact of pandemics

Cons:

• Suitable for brands with a large fans base only
• Requires advertising

WeChat H5 Campaign by JD.com [source] 

For those targeting the China market, the H5 campaign is a must-have. H5 is an interactive platform on WeChat with a range of interactive features including games, invites, animations, mobile shaking triggers, etc.

Furthermore, aiming to push holiday sales, China’s leading eCommerce site JD.com’s latest campaign features a cartoon character “Xiao Liu Ya” with engaging UGC content like customized avatar makers to encourage sharing among peers.

KPIs:

• H5 Page Traffic
• Number of shares
• Conversion rate

Pros: 

• Offers a range of interactive options
• Easy to share on WeChat, the largest social mobile platform in China

Cons:  

• Costly production
• Limited to WeChat users

WeChat H5 Game by Weiyun [source] 

Game creation sounds incredibly completed. However, Weiyun (Cloud Service by WeChat) makes it accessible for marketers. In addition to last year, Weixun released a series of H5 interactive games that allow customization of background and prize redemption.  Therefore, businesses can design their own branded games easily as if you are creating a Powerpoint.

KPIs:

• Game Traffic
• Conversion rate

Pros:

• Increase brand awareness
• Highly engaging

Cons:

• High cost
• Requires creativity