Holiday Marketing Strategies to Set You up for Success

During the holiday season, it's easy to fall behind on your marketing as you focus on family and holiday duties. Do yourself a favor and set up as much automation as you can.

Here are tips on how you can make the most out of automation tools so you never miss out on opportunities despite a full holiday calendar.

1. Create a drip email campaign

   Touch base with prospects who have made inquiries in the past year. Start a drip campaign to keep your name top of mind any time they're ready to take the next step.

   A drip campaign is a series of emails designed to go out on scheduled dates within your desired timeframe. The messages you send should be customized to appeal to different segments of your audience based on their areas of interest, status, behavior, and so on.

   An excellent year end email blast would be a retrospective report for the year, summarizing real estate market trends and activities in your area with forecasts for the coming year.

2. Be prepared with auto responders and calls to action

   One way to simplify a drip email campaign is through autoresponders. You can choose from a number of email marketing apps, such as Getresponse, Mailchimp, and Campaign Monitor, depending on your marketing goals and budget.

   Autoresponders are emails and messages sent automatically to your subscribers or prospects who wish to connect via your website, social media direct messaging, or other points of contact.

   You define the auto response based on certain triggers. For example, if someone signs up to your mailing list, the autoresponder sends them a welcome message. A few weeks later, the recipient can get an email with useful tips or information, and the week after that, they can receive an invitation to follow you on social media.

   A great auto response or e-newsletter includes a call to action that prompts the recipient to take action by simply clicking on a button.

   While not all email campaign tasks can be automated, autoresponders can help you do the job without missing a beat during the busy holiday season.

3. Set up focused ad campaigns for the start of the season

   Once you've set your ad campaigns to go out on certain dates, you only need to spend twenty minutes a day managing them -- you can even do it over your morning coffee.

   

4. Create holiday posts and encourage engagement

   In developing a drip campaign, don't forget to include holiday posts and greetings, as well as any special promos you may be offering.

   The holidays are also a great time to show the human side of your business. Share family activities, recipes, crafts, and other engaging hobbies or interests related to the season. Here are some suggestions:

   • If you're involved in a community project, the holidays are the best time to highlight that. Or perhaps, you can start your own "give back to the community" effort and engage your subscribers and prospects to foster a personal bond.

   • Stage homes for sale for the holidays by adding festive decors and lights, and share their photos or videos on your social media

   • Feature holiday themes on your blog, particularly activities in your community

5. Have your marketing strategies planned before the season starts

   By planning ahead and kickstarting your holiday marketing activities before the festivities go into full gear, you can step back a bit, focus on your holiday duties, and take a much needed break so you can hit the ground running in 2021.

Need more marketing tips for the holiday season and beyond? We will be happy to help. Get in touch with us at 1.800.979.5799 today.