B2B Marketing and the Holiday Season

The holiday season is upon us! As we prepare to enter into the month of December, Christmas messages are all around. Well, some Christmas messages have been around since October (in the back aisles of Targets and Walmarts). For B2C marketers, the Christmas and holiday season is a huge opportunity for growth, business, and revenue. It’s a season of shopping and spending. For B2B marketers—does this still apply? Do holiday messages and campaigns have a place in B2B marketing strategies? B2B marketing and the holiday season have an interesting relationship, read on to learn exactly how (and when) they work together.

B2B Marketing and the Holiday Season

Generally speaking, B2B marketing can participate in the holiday spirit if it’s done in a thoughtful way. Holiday-themed B2B marketing is a very case-by-case sort of situation. As you know your own company best, use the following tips to inform your marketing campaigns around the holidays.

Learn from B2C campaigns:

The first step is to see what is working in the current Christmas marketing circles. To learn from this, look to B2C campaigns. See what’s working for them. These campaigns generally focus on emotions—both emotions in the messages and emotions of the audience. The campaigns usually leave the viewer with a warm feeling: think a fire in the fireplace, hot chocolate, and family gathered around. The vibe is cheery and bright. These feelings are some that you could transfer over to B2B marketing. Who doesn’t love to feel warm and welcomed?

Focus on quality:

However, in this process of creating a warm feeling, don’t get carried away. In B2B marketing, large amounts of money, long business contracts, and many decision makers all weigh in on buying choices, so a tug on the heart strings isn’t the only thing needed. Messages should be of high quality. Solid information, correct statistics, and clean copy are musts. The same goes for the visual content posted with your messages. High-quality images with themes that work with your company’s brand are the best way to go.

Brainstorm ideas:

While a Target-like advertisement may not work for your industrial manufacturing company, there are plenty of ways to incorporate the season into your marketing. Using the above practices, you can add seasonal content naturally into your email (or print) marketing and your social media marketing.

Christmas Cards

Christmas cards (or general holiday cards) add a personalized touch to your communication with potential and current customers. Retaining your current network of customers is one of the most important aspects of your marketing campaigns, so reaching out to them in this personalized way benefits your company. In a similar way, creating a solid connection with a potential customer increases lead generation. A company holiday card could be either a paper copy or an email/e-card. Remembering the above tips, this card should be proofread, the email tested, and the message approved before sending it out to your connections.

Content Series

Creating a content series around Christmas mirrors the season of Advent—both Advent church services or Advent calendars have some similarities. They are consistent, themed, and special. Increasing your content around the time leading up to Christmas, posting a series of related topics on your blog, offering special promotions, or creating a new theme across your social media for the month are just a few ways to build up to the holidays.

If you’d like to talk with us about marketing options you’re considering, give us a call at 262-363-4238 or reach out to us at [email protected]. Click here if an online form is more your style. Our services include branding, marketing, and website development with an emphasis on industrial sector companies.