20 Tips for Successful Holiday Content Marketing

BLOG Oct 20 2021

Preparing your marketing campaigns for the holidays is all about standing out from the crowd. With increased ad competition, promotions and spirited campaigns, it’s important that you’re strategic about your brand positioning, the offers you make, the audience you’re targeting, your budget and your timelines. One of the best strategies to stand out from your competition is through holiday content marketing!

Content marketing is focused on creating content, which include blogs, videos and images that provide value to your audience, either through entertainment, education or inspiration. By providing your consumers with good content, you build a stronger and longer lasting relationship.

Content marketing can seem like it requires a big-time investment, but there are some easy, actionable ways you can build out your holiday content strategy that will ensure your consumers are engaged and excited to be shopping with you. Here are some quick and easy ideas, tips & tricks to fill up your feeds this holiday season!

1. Plan your social feed. Thinking about how your content will holistically fit together on your Instagram feed can help inform your overall strategy. Be considerate of coordinating your color scheme, including a variety of types of content and have consistent copy and brand messaging across all posts. Using a tool like Sprout Social can help with easily planning your social feed.
2. Develop your brand voice. Setting your copywriting tone and voice can signal to your consumers what your brand is all about. Whether you’re cheeky, serious or inspiring, your tone of voice should be consistent across all channels.
3. Quality over quantity. While it’s tempting to share everything all the time, it’s important that the content you share is thoughtful and accurately reflects your brand.
4. Share graphics & quotes. Feeling like you want to mix things up? There are hundreds of free design tools online that allow you to build simple graphics to add a little variation to your feed! Share inspirational quotes, tips and tricks, or consumer reviews! This type of content can be created quickly and easily, just make sure everything is color coordinated and use the same font with the rest of you brand content.
5. Utilize user generated content. People love to share content to their personal feeds, especially of products and services that they love and feel connected to. If you’re being tagged in images on social media, don’t be afraid to re-share that on your feed! Make sure you send a message to the person who posted to get their permission to re-share. This is a great way to get images of real consumers using your products.
6. Create a photo slide show video. Don’t have the budget for a video? Create a video of multiple different images together for a fun different way of sharing your content. Facebook has its own builder that lets you do it easily (and for free!).
7. Share stories of your staff and company culture. Give your consumers a “behind the scenes” look at your company, your brand and all the hard work that goes into building your products. This helps humanize your company and show that there are people behind the  products!
8. Post Instagram stories. Instagram stories are a fun, light hearted, short term way to engage your followers. They appear at the top of every feed, and last up to 24 hrs. Share videos or pictures of a drool-worthy dish as it’s being created or post the step by step process of a holiday recipe! The goal is to give your consumers an immediate behind the scenes look at your tasty content.
9. Organize a “stylized” photoshoot. Feeling like the images of your products are not captivating enough? Taking stylized photos of your products helps to show to your consumers how they look in a more ‘realistic’ setting. These photos should highlight the intricate details and quality of your product. Think of a close up of a baguette on a dinner table rather than a plain image of the product itself. Especially when sharing content related to food, it’s essential to provide your consumers with a variety of image styles, so they can grasp the smell, texture, and taste of your product!
10. Have a “lifestyle” photoshoot. Lifestyle photography includes images that are not necessarily related specifically to your product but help to portray the bigger picture of your brand. Maybe you have images of the country that your cuisine is from, or perhaps an image of a beautifully set dining table with your product as the hero dish. These types of images are aspirational and invite your consumers to picture themselves in the lifestyle and experience you created.
11. Create an industry Tip Sheet. If you’re a thought leader in your industry, consider creating a tip sheet that will help others like you succeed without giving away your ‘secret sauce’. Prove your expertise and create a valuable relationship with your readers at the same time!
12. Re-write relevant news or trend articles. Feeling stuck on what to put on your blog? Write a piece of content that takes inspiration from something that’s already out there. Put your own twist on it, and don’t be afraid to give your opinion! Blogs are the perfect place to show off your brand’s position and personality.
13. Write a holiday inspired blog. Is there anything your company’s doing specifically for the holidays? Contributing to a charity or volunteering as a team? Write about it! Share what the holiday season means to you, and how your team is participating this year. At THP, we’re all about food so every year, we give back to our local food drive.
14. Create a photo essay. A photo essay is a great way to share a story without having to be a good writer! Take photos of your products or something related to the lifestyle of your brand and put them together in a blog to help portray the feeling and experience that comes with your brand.
15. Add festive banner images to your website. Consistency across all platforms is key! Adding some festive images across your website will provide a thorough experience with your brand from the first moment a consumer sees your it, to when they make a purchase.
16. Create a 360° image or video. Catch your consumers’ eye with a 360° image or video. As social media continues to get more saturated, a sure way to stand out from competition is to get more people to engage with your brand in new and innovative ways!
17. Produce a how-to video. Developing video content can be simple! Let your content partner create a step-by-step recipe video or guide on how to enjoy your product. Tie it in with a key seasonal theme or national food holiday and you’re ready to rock n’ roll.
18. Produce an IGTV video. Earlier this year, Instagram rolled out its “IGTV” feature that allows you to share longer videos. Create a video that’s unique and provides another look into the value of your brand and products. Think about a long form recipe video, a product tutorial or even a miniseries! Videos posted on the regular Instagram feed can only be 60 seconds long, so this feature provides you with a whole new world of content possibilities.
19. Share community engagement and reviews. Screenshot a positive or funny interaction on Twitter, surprise and delight a loyal consumer on Facebook, or engage with your followers on Instagram in a cute way. These interactions show new consumers that you care about your community and have a great rapport with them. Wendy’s is great at this, although they can be a little cheeky!
20. Create a poll. Polls are a unique and creative way to engage your audience and get immediate feedback too!

These 20 tips are just a few ideas on how to bulk up your content marketing strategies. Content can show off your brand values and personality and is a great way to stand out from the competition over the holidays. Whether you’re posting videos, blogs or images, the most important thing is to be consistent and creative!