As the days grow ever shorter, the temperature creeps downwards and eggnog lattes replace pumpkin-spiced on the menu, it’s almost the start of the holiday season. With little respite between Black Friday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, and digitally savvy consumers who know how to hunt the best deal, marketers require a strategy that will help them build genuine relationships with sometimes fickle consumers.
Those that win in this rather saturated marketplace will be those that deliver truly personalized marketing and experiences. Advertising to individuals with relevance and asking them about their interests, motivations, and desires, rather than inferring or snooping on them.
2020 may have been a year like no other. Festive drinks will have to be conducted on video chat, gifts purchased mostly online, and Santa will have to wear a face mask down the chimney, but Q4 will still prove a bumper, just a somewhat different time for marketers.
DOWNLOAD: The Holiday Campaign Book
Marketing with relevance
Every brand will be throwing huge amounts of resources at their holiday marketing campaigns, so it will be a challenge to rise above the noise and be front-and-center when it comes to purchasing time.
The key is marketing with relevance. To do that marketers need to deliver experiences that gather holiday purchasing preference data at scale. In Forrester’s 2021 marketing predictions, they state brands will invest more in technology solutions that collect the opt-ins, behavioral, and preference data to build more meaningful connections with consumers.
However, it’s not a case of ask and you shall receive. Digital consumers are more scrupulous than ever when it comes to handing over their personal details and preference data — to get on your customer’s nice list, you need to offer a tangible value exchange.
To collect the data required to power true personalization, consumers need to be entertained, engaged, and receive something in return for their attention and preference data.
Marketers can deliver this through holiday-themed interactive experiences that conduct research, accrue opt-ins, and deliver an altogether better experience with a value exchange for the consumer. Think favorite Christmas movie polls, trick-or-treat quizzes, or Thanksgiving menu social stories that incorporate reward mechanics that give consumers a genuine reason to engage and submit their data.
Capturing consumer motivations, intentions, interests, and preferences at scale allows for a truly personalized customer experience. And by leveraging the right mechanics, and offering a value exchange, your customers will tell you the holiday products they desire, what they look for in a service, and what motivates them to purchase.
That’s why we have put together this guide, containing 18 real-life campaigns from world-leading brands that are leveraging interactive experiences to connect with consumers and collect the permissions and preference insights to sleigh this holiday season.
