It may only be July, but searches for Christmas and the holidays are up 77% from last year on Pinterest! What does this mean for your holiday marketing? It means opportunity!
After being stuck at home for months and watching a whole year worth of plans get cancelled because of Covid-19, people are anxious to plan an extra special holiday season.
A recent report from Pinterest:
“…holiday searches on Pinterest in April 2020 jumped 77% higher than April 2019. That trend included a 3x increase in searches for “Christmas gift ideas”— 8 months before December. Other holiday-related searches like “holiday recipes” and “Christmas” jumped more than 90% and 80% respectively. This year—for planners and the brands that want to reach them—early is on time.”
It may seem silly to start creating your holiday marketing strategy when it just turned July, but this trend creates a great opportunity for brands and ecommerce businesses to offer some value to their audience and also increase their overall sales this year. And Pinterest is the place to do it!
People plan and shop earlier on Pinterest than any other search engine. Pinterest searches have already started increasing, while Google’s don’t increase until December.
Here are some ways to start your holiday marketing NOW:
1. Create an Early Bird Gift Guide
Your blog is a great way to start your holiday marketing (10 Holiday Blog Posts to Help You Sell). This year instead of just doing a gift guide, write an additional Early Bird gift guide. This should be full of special gift ideas available this time of year that would make a great holiday gift. You could also do a special summer-holiday discount on your product for anyone who buys before Sept. 1st. Create urgency in your post with deadlines and early bird sales!
2. Invest in Holiday Imagery & Branding
It’s never too early to start pinning your holiday photos and branding. Photos of your product gift wrapped, gift guides and any holiday themed assets you have are fair game. If you don’t have top notch holiday imagery, then this is the year to invest in it! Make a list of Christmas focused keywords for your product or service and fill your captions and pin titles with them so you can start gaining traction. Create and pin to holiday boards consistently from now until December.
3. Run a Christmas Promotion
Do a “Christmas in July” promotion where you sell your product gift wrapped for Christmas to encourage shoppers to buy. You could also create a special product offering especially for early shoppers. Maybe it’s an essentials kit or a special combination of your services that they could buy in a bundle, and then offer a discount to increase urgency. Use your social media channels, blog and Pinterest to promote this promotion until the end of the month.
4. Inspire Pinners with Holiday Recipes & Inspiration
Pinterest is a platform for inspiration, so what content can you create that will help pinners make their holidays extra special this year? 50% of pinners said they want brands to help them take the holidays “to the next level” in 2020. How can you meet that need? Maybe you use your product in a Christmas decor DIY project or recipe, maybe you do a round-up of holiday outfit ideas, find a way to serve your audience as they prepare early for the holidays.
5. Create a holiday opt-in or ebook.
With several months until the holidays it’s a great chance to build your email list so you have a big pool of leads to market to as the season nears. Create a special guidebook or checklist designed for Christmas that you can promote throughout the rest of the year. Some examples: 10 Extra Fancy (& Easy) Holiday Drink Recipes, 20 Family Outfit Combinations for Christmas Cards, How to Make a Turkey to Perfection (a Beginners Guide) and 25 Ways to Make a Quarantine Christmas Extra Special. Write a sequence of emails that will go out after someone signs up for their ebook. You could also offer a special discount in the sequence to encourage sales.
6. Create a “Window Shopping” Website
Online shopping is going to be bigger than ever this year. People won’t be able to go out and shop like they used to and will miss out on the simple beauty of holiday window shopping, make your website as pretty as a display window to inspire them. Showcase your product in new and fun ways that will entice people to buy. This is the year to tighten up your website so it’s absolutely perfect for online shoppers!
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7. Easy Shipping
Since Covid-19 happened, shipping has become even more important. How can you make shipping easy for your customers? If it’s possible, offer free shipping over a certain dollar amount (even if you have to raise your prices to do it), or have an easy flat rate. People are concerned about shipping delays and delivery dates, so make sure you are transparent and supportive.
If you’d like more help with developing your holiday Pinterest marketing strategy, download our Holiday Guide below!
