Holiday Marketing Psychology

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It happens every holiday season.

Your email inbox becomes a battlefield of

competing headlines, each promising a deal better

than the last. The small percentage that catch your

attention earn your engagement, the rest fall by

the side, unopened and deleted.

How can you get your marketing

messages to stand out above the

clutter this holiday season?

With science on your side,

grabbing that attention is easy.

Here are 7 strategies that call on different psychological

principles.

Give one, or all, of them a try this

coming season and see how you can

better control your audience.

CuriosityTempt with a secret gift.

Remember the days of your childhood when you

would eagerly grab a gift, shake it vigorously, and

try to guess what was inside? What made you do

that? Curiosity did. It works on adults too.

• Hide a portion of your message. People want

to know what lies at the end, and they will go

to some pretty extreme lengths to do so.

• Try teasing, sensory language that coaxes

users to interact with your brand.

How to use it in your next campaign:

Let’s look at some campaigns using curiosity...

PSD2HTML: Easter Egg Hunt

PSD2HTML uses curiosity in an Easter Egg Hunt email that asks

their audience to “Go Hunting!” to reveal their discount.

JCrew: Oh my Gourd

JCrew uses a play on words and curiosity to promote their secret fall sales. Their

audience must click through the email to see what “all the excitement is about.”

FOMO/UrgencyFeed the rush.

Create urgency with timed offers and feed into the

holiday frenzy with countdown timers. You can call on

our innate fear of missing opportunities and deadlines.

• Create time sensitive offers that play into your

customers’ habits. Count down timers also

add to the rush.

• You have got to give a little to get a lot. Try

running a time sensitive contest or giveaway.

How to do it:

Take a look at some FOMO examples…

Old Navy: #OneMillThrill

Old Navy’s #OneMillThrill campaign gave the first 100 people in line at each Old

Navy store a game card entering them for a chance to win $1 million. They also

coined the hashtag #OneMillThrill to spread the word.

Frank Body: Order now in time for Christmas

Frank Body reminded their customers to order now to get it in time for the holidays.

LoyaltySay thanks.

The holidays are the perfect time to say thanks to your most

valued customers. Jump on the gift-giving bandwagon and

give your customers the love they deserve and expect during

this time of good cheer.

• It pays to know your audience. Understand

which holidays they celebrate and it becomes

easier to offer them appropriate gifts. New

Year’s Day is usually a safe bet.

• Send a special gift to only your most loyal

customers. This will make them value your brand

more and increase customer lifetime value.

How to do it:

Here are a couple of loyalty examples…

Best Buy: Black Friday in July for members only

Best Buy rewards their most loyal customer segment with early

access to their Black Friday in July sale.

Nordstrom: Private holiday shopping party

Nordstrom hosts an annual private holiday shopping party for

their loyal customers as a special thanks.

Competition/User Generated ContentCreate a sense of community with a contest.

People like competitions. We want the chance to be

unique, to stand out in the crowd and to leave our mark.

Use this to your marketing advantage.

Using competition as a theme in your holiday marketing

campaigns not only increases engagement, but it also

takes the hard work of content creation out of your hands.

• Create a holiday contest in which your customers must

participate and give them something for winning, even

if it is just recognition.

• Feature user generated content on your website or

social media and pick a hashtag that goes with your

brand and contest. This will unite your campaign across

channels and create a social sharing atmosphere.

How to do it:

Let’s look at some examples...

LG: “My Better Life with LG G2!”

LG asks for reviews in exchange for prizes. This is one way a brand can get

recognition for their great products and create a digital community.

Tasty Burger: “12 Days of Ugly Sweater” contest

Tasty Burger started a contest called “12 Days of Ugly Sweaters” contest to

increase brand engagement. They asked their audience to post pictures of their

ugliest sweaters on social media using their hashtag and then rewarded the

winners.

HumorBe real.

Using humor in marketing has proven itself to be one of

the most successful tactics. Most of us don’t have perfect

families with spotless white table cloths. We are messy,

loud, flawed and human. Your customers will relate best

to, and remember, what is real to them. Sometimes that

means depicting life, (and the holidays) as broken, messy,

and funny as they actually are.

• It’s okay to poke fun at the absurdities of the

holidays. Jokes about awkward or imperfect

families, travel, and gift giving work well.

• Video is a great place to show off your humor.

Tell a funny story with a clever video. Many great

brands that manage to do this correctly also end

up going viral.

How to do it:

Take a look at some campaigns using humor…

Dollar Shave Club: Has a Face

Dollar Shave Club used clever graphics to show their audience who

would be a perfect recipient for a subscription to dollar shave club.

Hallmark: #KeepsakeIt Together

Hallmark goes against their typical grain with these life-like videos. They show their

audience the real and humorous side of the holiday gatherings we all have.

SentimentPartner with a cause.

There is no better time to get all touchy-feely, mushy-gushy,

than the holidays. Pick a cause your brand feels passionate

about and run with it.

By picking a “bigger than you” cause, your brand will gain

the best kind of recognition. People will connect your

brand with sentimental feelings of giving and generosity.

• Pick a cause that resonates well with your brand and

audience and take action. This could be in the form

of an event, a fundraiser, or a donation.

• Bonus: Partner with a nonprofit or charity

organization. Co-market with your organization of

choice to expand both of your audiences.

• Display emotions like kindness and empathy to

relate to your audience and strike a chord with them

during the holiday season.

How to do it:

Let’s take a look at some sentimental examples…

Macy’s: #MacysBelieve

Macy’s partnered with the Make a Wish Foundation to spread holiday cheer.

Macy’s customers were invited to write a letter to santa and drop it off or submit

online. For every letter, $1 was donated to the foundation.

UPS: Your Wishes Delivered

UPS invited their customers to share their wishes on their website or on social

media using a special hashtag. In exchange, UPS donated $1 to selected charities.

This was a great way to stay top of mind and reinforce a warm company culture

during a time of the year when shipping isn’t always the most pleasant experience.

InspirationalTake a stance.

We all want to be inspired. We look for people or organizations

that get us going and make us want to be better people. Your

brand could be that inspiration to your audience.

A good way to inspire your audience is by taking a stance for

or against something. Be a shining example of what your

customers wish they were and you will be actively sought after.

• Pick an issue that speaks to your company culture or

motto. This will make it easy for your audience to draw

the connection between you and your cause.

• Get social! Post about what you are doing. Invent a

hashtag and ask your customers to use it when they

post about what you are doing to create a community.

How to do it:

Take a look at some inspirational examples…

REI: #optoutside

REI took a big chance with their #optoutside campaign. By taking a stance against

Black Friday and closing their doors on the most profitable shopping day of the

year, REI was able to truly practice what they preach. Now, the hashtag and

campaign have gone viral and become synonymous with the brand.

Cards Against Humanity: Black Friday

Cards Against Humanity took a similar risk by taking their entire site offline

for Black Friday. They left a portal where people were invited to pay $5 for

literally nothing. The humorous stint got them lots of attention. What’s even

better is they donated that money to charity.

Want to see more examples of these psychological principals in action?

VIEW OUR HOLIDAY USE CASES

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