Everyone seems obsessed with Black Friday. I’d write about it too if I didn’t have more valuable information to impart. What’s more important than Black Friday and other holidays? Understanding the smart way to use holidays for your business, that’s what. And I mean any holidays. I hope this will encourage you to see them in a different light and use them to advance your business.
Holidays are great fuel for any business engine. And you know why?
Many digital products that start out strong gradually lose their audience and conversion rates to the competition. Once the draw of the new fades and routine sets in, product owners tend to sit back and relax. They think that everything is already running smoothly and the website will simply keep bringing in money by itself. But that’s not how it works.
A website’s or app’s effectiveness relies on more than just usability, design, and tech support. These products need continuous care to work. If you buy a car and then neglect to refuel it, it won’t get very far, will it?
So what is the fuel that every business needs?
It’s not about holidays per se. Any business that’s stuck in the past is already dead. Internet users think and act in the here and now. The moment they feel something is outdated, they lose interest and switch to a rival service.
A holiday is a good excuse to show your users and partners that:
- you are always on top of the game,
- you move with the times,
- your offers are fresh and current.
Use every chance to show that you are acting today. This doesn’t necessarily have to be Black Friday, Christmas, or some other holiday. Share the spirit of the season through design elements, incorporate recent information in your content (new facts about your product, relevant news or discoveries, storytelling, recent reviews).
Adding a snowflake to a webpage may seem like a minor thing. But to the users, it signals that your website is actively being updated; and if someone’s there to do it, someone will be there to help them. This is a major thing.
Outdated design may still look pretty good. But to the users, it is already dead, so they will stay away. Such design quickly becomes a burden for the business simply by virtue of its irrelevance. This is simply today’s reality, and it’s not apt to change anytime soon. So what can you do to save your product at minimum cost?
Just follow this recipe. You can go a long time without a major redesign as long as you implement small festive elements on your main page, social media accounts, ad banners, etc.
Some businesses may find it more worthwhile to create a dedicated landing page for holiday deals and new offers.
People associate holidays with joy, generosity, prosperity, and gifts. Festive-spirited companies are always perceived as more successful.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money to create a more generous and successful image. Sending out emails with holiday cards to your partners and clients is a cheap and effective solution. (You can also attach info on new deals, discounts, and offers.)
Broadcast the spirit of festivity and generosity, and people will respond in kind. Holiday season makes everyone feel more generous, positive, and willing to splash out — if not on themselves then on their loved ones. Most companies focus on the material aspects of holidays. Few realize that there’s also an intangible foundation of success, which is what guarantees the future progress of your business. Everything you do (and don’t do) for your customers during holidays works toward your company’s image. Even if it’s just a greeting card or a message that make them feel warm and grateful.
The things we do today determine our reality tomorrow.
Many companies regularly incorporate small festive elements into their brand identity. You can decorate the logo, temporarily alter the colors or fonts. It’s important, however, to preserve the recognizable part of the brand.
Why are such changes helpful? They are not just for fun. A decorated logo attracts more attention. If people didn’t notice or remember it before, they definitely will pay attention now and remember it the next time they see it.
But don’t use stock decorations. They make your design look cheap and vulgar, which damages your company’s image. Hire professionals to create an appropriate and attractive design. Good design stays relevant much longer and can be reused later.
It’s not advisable to move the main page elements to make way for ornaments. This confuses the users. The logo must always remain in its place. Google can afford to use all kinds of decorations because the logo always never moves.
A holiday is a good time to improve your relationships with anyone. Specifically your business partners. It’s also a good excuse to establish relationships with new partners.
Orchestrating your festive changes across all platforms — Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, media ads — creates a powerful and memorable brand experience. It takes some effort, but the payoff is well worth it.
In both the human and animal worlds, it’s not the strongest that survive but the smartest, the most resourceful, and the most provident. What kind of provisions can you make for the holidays?
I recommend stocking up on content and design templates. This will save you time and energy, which are always at a premium during the holiday season. In between all the celebrations, find some time to create templates. Put them in a dedicated folder and sort them into categories.
Useful templates include:
- a festive brand template (your brand with festive design elements);
- text content (greetings, messages, drafts for social media posts, ad copy);
- decorative design elements for different holidays (for landing pages, social media, ads);
- cards, illustrations, small greeting inserts for gifts and products (if applicable);
- animations, gifs, videos.
In this context, templates are marketing provisions that can (and should) be altered according to present needs. It is most definitely not stock decorations. It is textual and visual content that sends an essential message to your clients and partners. If you want your business to survive, the content must change with every new development in the digital world. But the central core remains the same. So save your time by preparing in advance and it will be much easier to make small adjustments when necessary. And time, as we know, is money.
You can gather plenty of material, prepare useful content and design, but if you’re even a little bit late, all your efforts will be for nothing. To avoid this, you must structure the material and arrange everything by date, relevant event, and client / partner / target audience. Apart from a folder to store informative and visual content, it’s good to have a calendar app with reminders of upcoming holidays set in advance.
A holiday is an opportunity to remind everyone about yourself and your business. Nothing is stopping you from creating more holidays for your users. The first fall leaf, a new winter day, your company’s birthday, World Smile Day (yep, it exists!) — look for any reason to celebrate. A holiday is a lot of work. But it’s worth it!
Hectic and perfunctory holiday preparations will not bring you much money or success. You can only achieve it through a deeper understanding of the essence of holidays and a creative approach. Dynamic thinking and a well-managed organization of festive processes are much more effective than standard, by-the-numbers preparations for Black Friday or any other holiday.
Happy holidays! May you have new and interesting creative solutions!
