Let it Sell!❄️ How to Increase Sales During Christmas

Let it sell, let it sell, let it sell! In this blog, we will look at how to increase sales during Christmas and the New Year.

Marketing budgets at Christmas are expected to grow by around 20% in 2023 to accommodate the shift in consumer spending and behaviour. Although raising your festive budget is not the only option, it’s something to consider.

How Do Consumers Behave During Christmas and New Year

The festive season changes people in all sorts of ways. Many often feel a heightened period of joy and enthusiasm. Christmas is the most popular holiday of the year, according to Statista, with 93% of Brits celebrating the holiday.

Tradition

The popularity of holidays like Christmas is widely connected to basic human psychology. It shows that those who celebrate the holiday are likely into a tradition or two. Humans are creatures of habit, and tradition falls right into this.

Since I was young, my family tradition at Christmas would involve a festive activity on Christmas Eve. This would range from the cinema (depending on what’s on) to ice skating, followed by a Nandos for tea, always a Nandos.

This tradition is widely expected in my household and contributes to a yearly, dedicated cost and breaking this tradition would almost feel scandalous in my home.

FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)

I have a confession: I am a huge sufferer of FOMO all year round, but missing out at Christmas feels criminal. How often have you heard a friend or yourself say, ‘Why not? It’s Christmas!’ or something along those lines.

This one line can apply to many situations: a cheeky tipple after work, an exclusive Christmas event, or festive nights out. Or, my favourite, even popping out ‘window shopping’ and coming home with 73 bags from Zara and half of the Perfume Shop.

Studies have shown that approximately 75% of young adults struggle with FOMO, not even during Christmas and New Year!

Urge to Splurge

Christmas is the devil for making purchases that aren’t exactly necessary, or ‘impulsive buying’. Evidence from psychologists has shown that the urge to splurge during the festive period is often a result of the human desire for a sense of empowerment and boosting one’s self-esteem.

Over the festive period, most of us feel heightened joy and excitement! What happens when we purchase or spot a deal too good to resist? A sense of achievement and joy results in a significant boost to our self-esteem.

Despite the cost of living crisis in 2022, Britons are expected to spend the same amount on Christmas in 2022 and into 2023, with 10% even admitting to increasing their budget.

The increase in marketing material and discounts also heavily encourages consumers to splurge at Christmas. Deals are often too good to resist, and remember our earlier saying, ‘Why not? Its Christmas?’, a perfume that’s 30% off – perfect for nan and discounted! As more ads catch your eye, you’ve spent more than you would’ve done for a full-price perfume sooner or later!

The art of temptation in the form of a discount is not underestimated.

Financial Pressure

From relatives, friends, and colleagues, any conversation about money is uncomfortable. It also indirectly creates a feeling of pressure for consumers across the globe. No one wants to be the person who spends less on someone; it sucks. Although everyone beats around the bush about it, no one wants to be that person.

This creates a psychological reaction in the brain, increasing the urge to spend. That’s not just on the cheap stuff but on things that may be over our budget. Giving a gift(s) often leaves you confident, happy and content with the joy your gift receiver may feel. However, it can increase stress and regret as a buyer after feeling pressured to keep up with others financially.

How to Increase Sales During Christmas

Here are 6 tips and tricks to increase Christmas and New Year sales.

Tempting Discounts

As previously mentioned, a discount or offer is hard to resist, never mind over the festive period. Businesses are more inclined to give a little; offers like % off, BOGOF, and price slashes.

If you’re a service-based company, ensure you take the time to work out how this best suits your offering. For example, you could offer a ‘25% off’ for the first two months of your contract to ensure you maximise business opportunities in the long run.

Tis the Season to Give-Away

Who doesn’t love a giveaway? They are a great way to increase engagement with your business and can lead to increased sales. The want and desire to win a giveaway often results in a feeling of need, which can result in entrants heading to purchase whether they win or lose.

We suggest offering entrants a discount code if they have not been the allocated giveaway winner. A simple ‘Sorry you didn’t win!☹️ But, here is a 30% off code as a treat GIVE30 – use it wisely😉’ could create new sales opportunities.

Christmas Comms

Don’t be a Scrooge this festive season; spice up your communications and tailor them to benefit your business. Why should a customer or company purchase from you or take out one of your services? How does their doing so relate to Christmas? Ask yourself these questions and use your ideas to create on-brand, on-trend content.

For example, we recently asked ourselves how our PPC Management Services can support businesses during the festive period. The answer was through detailed targeting and consumer research during the festive months.

We turned this into a pretty snazzy social media post, which you can see below👇

Festive Ads

Your holiday marketing campaigns should affect your online advertising and the language used across your ads and overall content. Ad copy should reflect current trends and ongoings within the industry. This means taking the holidays into account.

Visual and display ads could include festive graphics, snow, or something else Christmas-related to catch the eye of your audience. This does not have to be overpowering but a small change to your visual ads.

Ad copy requires a little more depth when writing ads during the festive period. It also offers an unprecedented opportunity to target your audience.

We suggest some examples of ad copy for businesses: ‘Get it Now for Christmas’, ‘Ahead of the January Blues’, ‘Festive Freebie with Your Order,’ and ‘Talk to Santa, our Sales Exec Now’.

Create Urgency

On the back of our tips and examples for rejigging your festive ad copy, a key component of your festive marketing strategy should be creating a sense of urgency.

You can do several things to create a sense of urgency as Christmas snowballs around. Remind consumers of the last purchase dates, the last chance to buy at the festive price, and the last chance for delivery.

If a person sees your product or service, they could think, yeah, this will work for me at some point!

But, if a person sees your product or service saying, ‘DON’T MISS OUT! 25% off our digital consultancy services for four more days!’ This person may be more inclined to enquire/purchase now at the risk of missing out on a discounted rate.

Don’t just post about these; think outside the box, create a video to advertise your products and create urgency by speaking directly to your consumers.

Continue to Show Your UVP

Just because it’s Christmas and sales fluctuate doesn’t equal panic mode! One of the most crucial things you can do as a business is show your unique value proposition. Do this through your social media platforms, marketing channels and content on your website.

Although the temptation to slip into fes the festivities is hard to push away, remember your business goals. Use these, to reiterate your UVP across the festive season.

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