Resource Roundup: Your Reference Guide to Sleigh Holiday Marketing

The holiday season is right around the corner, and for many marketers, it’s the busiest time of the year alongside the most wonderful time of the year.

While holiday marketing campaigns can be stressful, they can also be super fun to ideate, create, and execute.

Since so many of us are busy working on campaigns for one of the biggest shopping seasons of the year, we thought we'd help out and compile a roundup of resources you might need if you need some new ideas to test this holiday season or if you want to add a direct mail component to your campaigns.

Here are all the holiday marketing resources you could need right at your fingertips.

Marketing checklist for holiday campaigns

First up, let's go over our marketing checklist for holiday campaigns to make sure you have all the necessary elements in place. It's time to make your list and check it twice and find out what campaigns are going to perform real nice.

7-step holiday marketing checklist

1. Clean up your data
2. Pull the right data sets for segmented campaigns
3. Understand when to time your campaign based on past customer behavior
4. Reward loyal customers this holiday season
5. Automate your marketing campaigns
6. Test marketing workflows
7. Set up digital ads, such as social media and retargeting

Want to dive a bit deeper into each item on this holiday campaign checklist? Read the blog!

Holiday campaign ideas

Trying to come up with some new ideas to add to your holiday marketing mix?

Here are 10 ideas of holiday campaign ideas to get you started:

• Mailbox stuffer: Send a festive postcard that introduces your best-selling products that can fit inside a stocking - even if that's a simple gift card.
• Holiday gift guide: Create a catalog or gift guide. This catalog can be both physical and digital for maximum reach.
• Holiday party playlist: Create a playlist on Spotify or YouTube that features holiday classics or go the extra mile and use the titles of the songs to send a message to your listeners.
• Spend the holidays with an influencer: Partner with an influencer and leverage their audience to reach new people and generate awareness of your brand. Maybe they’re working with you to launch a new product line, be a spokesperson, or are joining your brand for a series of in-person or digital events.
• A wishlist: Send a postcard or letter to those in the interest stage with a wishlist of items other consumers like them have purchased or feature your best-sellers with customer testimonials or reviews.
• Letters from Santa: Reverse it and have Santa send your prospects a letter telling them why he wants to bring them your product or service, but he can’t so here’s a coupon code for a percentage off.
• Weather-related campaigns: Help those in the consideration phase take the plunge by offering weather-related discounts and deals, such as 32% off when it drops below freezing.
• Holiday-themed webinars or live videos: Create fun and festive webinars or host live videos that call attention to the holiday season. Is your brand in the retail space? Talk with a fashion influencer about how to dress for different holiday events. Is your brand in the beverage industry? Share fun holiday drink recipes and demonstrate how to make them. You can then send a happy holidays postcard with the recipe and a QR code to get a coupon for their next purchase.
• Holiday combos: Another option is to stack promotions or offers during the holidays to encourage higher purchase orders. Maybe if they spend a certain amount they qualify for a free gift or gift card that they can keep themselves or give to someone special.
• Pre-book special: Prospects may want to take advantage of holiday specials but if they’re in the B2B space, they might not have the budget to act this year. Let them pre-book a meeting in the next quarter and they’ll be locked into the discounted rate if they move forward.

Not finding the right fit for your brand? We have 11 more ideas over on our blog post on Holiday Marketing Ideas That Drive Revenue!

Build your marketing list

If testing direct mail this holiday season, a marketing list is the most crucial aspect of your campaign. You cannot personalize or make your mailer targeted if you don't know who you're targeting.

Build your list and check it twice (okay, we’ll stop that!) for an upcoming direct mail marketing campaign:

1. Define your ideal customer
2. Utilize data to refine your targeted audience
3. Segment your audience
4. Expand your reach with lookalike audiences
5. Maintain a clean and updated mailing list
6. Test and optimize your approach

Master list building in your marketing by reading the full blog on this topic.

Interested in lists? We have an entire Lobcast Podcast episode dedicated to the topic!

Identify the right triggers for automated workflows

Marketing automation has been a game-changer for marketing teams to set up high-performing, low-maintenance marketing programs. An important part of that automated campaign is selecting the right trigger to initiate the program, especially during the holiday season when consumers are getting marketing messages left and right.

Types of triggers to use to run automated marketing campaigns:

• First purchase
• Website visit
• Items in shopping cart
• Subscription renewal
• Personal event

Continue reading about trigger-based direct mail and how to set up automated campaigns for success.

Add direct mail to your abandoned cart strategy

The holiday season is a busy one, not just for us marketers but consumers as well. It’s easy for consumers to get distracted while doing online shopping, so make it super easy for them to complete their purchase by refreshing your abandoned cart strategy.

Let’s talk about abandoned cart marketing best practices:

• Use retargeting or lead capture technology that can grab the email address or physical address even if the transaction isn’t completed
• Send a reminder of what they left in their cart
• Use images and personalization when possible
• Test both triggered emails and direct mail in your abandoned cart strategy

Dive deeper into abandoned cart strategies on the blog.

Time is a gift, but sometimes we, as marketers don’t get it

Run, run, Rudolph, your direct mail campaign has to hit mailboxes in time! Rudolph may not be your best ally here, but Lob sure can be. Our system can get your mail printed and in the mail in days, so you can squeeze in an extra touchpoint to your marketing campaigns this holiday season.

Short on time? Try these five hacks to quickly create a direct mail campaign:

1. Repurpose digital campaigns
2. Repurpose again, in a different mail format like a letter or postcard
3. Use AI to speed up creative
4. Use a template
5. Leverage Lob’s print delivery network

Read about these five direct mail marketing hacks in more depth on the blog.

I'm dreaming of an ROI-driving campaign

Stop dreaming about a great campaign and see what it takes to create one. When in doubt, look out - outside your organization, that is. Check out some examples from our Best Direct Mail Campaigns collection to get inspired to create a fantastic direct mail campaign based on best practices in action.

• Best Holiday Direct Mail Campaigns
• Best Direct Mail Campaigns: eCommerce and Online Retailer Brands
• Best Direct Mail Campaigns: eCommerce and D2C

Mail your own holiday cards

It's a two-for-one sort of deal! Give Lob a test run and get your own personal holiday cards in the mail at the same time. Learn how to mail your holiday cards with Lob, while your creative team works on the design of your brand's campaign.

Our present to you

The gift that keeps on giving?

Education!

Continue your education on the topic of holiday marketing via direct mail with our seasonal eBook, The Data-Driven Guide to Holiday Direct Mail Success.