With e-commerce holiday sales set to increase 16.6% this year, up from $61 billion in 2013, marketers everywhere are trying to make the most of the holiday season. As you craft your own holiday marketing strategy, here are five best practices to steal from some of the top holiday campaigns in recent memory:
1. Make it personal, like OfficeMax
Everyone remembers the first truly viral holiday meme: OfficeMax’s Elf Yourself. Although the campaign launched nearly a decade ago, the crux of its success remains relevant today. The campaign personalized the user experience, and armed every participant with a unique, fun piece of content to share. In its first season, the site generated 193 million visits. Like any strong campaign (think Dove Real Beauty), reinvention is key. Elf Yourself has evolved, from adding new dances and timely background settings to developing a variety of social media integrations. Naturally, Elf Yourself now exists as an app, turning a quirky promotion into a revenue generator for the brand.
Expert Tip: Give customers something shareable to take away after interacting with your brand — and help drive more customers back to it.
