Seasonal marketing can be feast or famine. Join us as we examine where the greats of the ad world get it right… and discover who’s on the naughty list.

Holidays are comin’, holidays are comin’. So says the perennial smash Coca Cola ad which is, by now, synonymous with Christmas itself. Ain’t nobody drinking Pepsi on 25 December if they can help it.

Yes, get your seasonal marketing right and you’ll win yourself some serious festive clout; nearly 65% of shoppers take gift ideas from social media. Of these, 67% go on to purchase. We’ve spoken elsewhere about our favourite Christmas ads which get it very right indeed.

But get it wrong and, well…

Customers are savvy and saturated whenever a public holiday rolls around. We’re using Christmas as the ultimate example, but Easter and Halloween also produce their share of turkeys.

To help you out, here are our three tips for producing seasonal content which is more cheeseboard, less bored and cheesy.

Celebrate reality

At the time of writing, nine million people have enjoyed John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners collab about a girl and her friend, an over-enthusiastic dragon:

These ads are always instant classics because they drip with genuine emotion like a goose-fatty roast potato.

Excitable Edgar is all about standing by your mates, even when it’s hard. It’s about touching gestures and togetherness. If your heart doesn’t grow three sizes when he lights that pud, there’s something wrong with you.

Your own seasonal marketing should likewise touch on something real which resonates with your audience and doesn’t feel forced. Even a little riff on your brand name can look classy if, for example, it melds with a spot of timeless crooning:

Avoid the holiday clichés

Christmas is many things, but it’s not a free pass for lazy copywriting. Just as important as focusing on the real is taking pains to avoid the forced, the shoe-horned, and the unbearably cringey:

This is a trap which marketers fall into all year round. We’ve seriously received a mailshot around Bonfire Night one year with the subject line, “Gunpowder, treason and business lessons!” Couldn’t unsubscribe fast enough.

Nobody has a keener eye for wonky punnery than a pro copywriter. One of our favourites, the inimitable Vikki Ross has made a festive tradition of it.

Her annual Christmas Copy Bingo shines a light on brands who take their creative crowbars to common seasonal turns of phrase… with varying degrees of originality:

Carry on the story

In 2014, Marks & Spencer’s Follow the Fairies TV ad shared the story of two fairies spreading festive joy via random acts of kindness. So far so good, but their agency, Unity, went one step further and did it for real.

They brought snow to a Cornwall primary school, used drones to fly fairies across the Tyne, and left boxes of cupcakes outside a vet’s office. The ad had stepped out of the screen and become something more.

Now, we’re not suggesting huge PR stunts should be part and parcel of your festive marketing, December is a busy month. But what is essential is backing up your efforts with something tangible.

Pair your email marketing with direct mail. Make it consistent with the creative of your wider strategy and you gift your audience with their very own winter wonderland to escape into.

Even smaller businesses without that kind of budget can get imaginative and send physical presents to a few favourite clients. The 2018 Sookio word search tea towel went down a storm because it was fun, relevant, and something people will actually use:

Seasonal marketing by Sookio

Being a digital marketing agency, we’ve seen a lot of inspired Christmas joy over the years… and a lot of soggy sprouts.

As we careen into the 20s, isn’t it time your business took a fresh look at the way you sell online?

Whether you need pro copywriting services, social media training, or expert digital strategy, we’d love to hear from you!

Get in touch with us today, and let’s get ready to party.