Your holiday marketing playbook must put sincerity before sales

Specific holidays can be great opportunities to emphasize your brand’s values or offer your audience special discounts. Days like Valentine’s Day, the 4th of July, and the December holidays are on everyone’s list because they’re generally associated with joy and coming together. They also have entertaining themes, making standout copy and design.

However, to ensure your brand remains authentic, you should avoid trying to capitalize on EVERY occasion in your email marketing calendar. Juneteenth and Veterans Day, for example,  might seem like good sales opportunities, but they will carry a deeper, more poignant meaning for many of your subscribers.

Unmissable celebrations

There are some dates that any marketing team will be familiar with. They’re your key dates, big tentpoles, cashflow-boosters and nearly any business can capitalize on them.

These are:

• January 1: New Year’s Day
• February 9: Super Bowl
• February 14: Valentine’s Day
• February 17: Presidents’ Day
• March 8: International Women’s Day
• March 17: St Patrick’s Day
• May 11: Mother’s Day
• June 15: Father’s Day
• July 4: Independence Day
• September 1: Labor Day
• October 31: Halloween
• November 27: Thanksgiving
• Late November: Black Friday and Cyber Monday (weekend after Thanksgiving)
• December: Festive Season (typically December 8 to December 27)
• December 31: New Year’s Eve

What do these days all have in common? They’re all celebratory occasions, and many of them (like Mother’s Day and Christmas) traditionally revolve around gift-giving, which makes them the perfect time to use the products and experiences you offer to strengthen your customers’ connection to your brand.

Most subscribers pretty much expect you to have sales on these ‘big’ holidays, and they’ll be keeping an eye on their inboxes for great deals, so it’s best not to disappoint them.

It also means you have an audience that’s more susceptible to making a purchase, so even more reason to give your customers the value they’re looking for.

However, there are caveats when sending emails and promotions on certain holidays.

Handle these with care

The key differences between the list above and the dates below are subtle, but crucial for your brand. That is because some dates must be handled with respect and sensitivity; otherwise, your brand could very easily be seen as exploitative. They’re either celebrated by a specific community or they’re observed rather than celebrated at all.

Here are a few examples of dates that require a sensitive touch due to their cultural and religious nature:

• Martin Luther King Jr Day: Unless you have something meaningful to contribute or are a minority-owned business, running promotions on MLK Day can offend your subscribers.
• Juneteenth: Be real, be genuine. Holidays are far from just one more way to bring revenue in, and we marketers should never lose sight of that. Juneteenth is an incredibly important day where we commemorate the end of slavery in the United States – something we should all focus on rather than sales. As with every holiday, we as marketers have taken over – for better or worse. What remains important to remember on all holidays – especially those with such deep and important meaning – is to act civilly, express genuine appreciation and care, and never lose sight of why we’re celebrating it in the first place.
• ​Memorial Day: It is best not to tie your brand to the observance. Ditch any “Memorial Day” wording and run a stand-alone sale. Or make your campaigns more summer-related to appeal to a broader audience.
• ​Religious Holidays: When it comes to deeply religious holidays like Hanukkah, Eid or Diwali, it’s best only to run promotions if your business is associated with the denomination or you have something meaningful to contribute.

Should dates like these be avoided altogether? Not at all – you have the potential to build a genuine rapport with customers who might feel marginalized by mainstream marketing. That is, if your messaging is sincere and your brand has real value to bring to the customer experience. If not, it’s best to refrain from the conversation, as it may do your reputation more harm than good.

Best practices

As you well know, there’s more to marketing than just slapping a “20% OFF” sticker on a holiday email campaign. Even some mainstream dates might not be a good fit for your brand – selling crypto shares doesn’t quite lend itself to a Valentine’s Day promo, for example. The trick is knowing your brand well and deciding which dates work best for you. It’s perfectly acceptable (and even encouraged) to skip a major holiday or celebration if it doesn’t fit your brand’s tone.

Before planning a sales event, ask yourself these three questions:

1. Will everyone feel included? Even Mother’s Day and Father’s Day can be sensitive subjects for some customers. Consider sending an opt-out email to subscribers who might want to skip a specific holiday or celebration.
2. Are we adding value or simply selling? If it’s the latter, you’ll need to rethink your strategy and find an authentic way to incorporate your brand into the holiday, e.g., donating a portion of your sales to charity.
3. Do we need a sale at all? Often, simply wishing your Hindi customers a happy Holi is enough to show them they matter. If you have something nice to say, say it. As long as your message is genuine, subscribers will likely appreciate it.

Bottom line

Companies changing their branding to Pride flags during June have become a meme, proving that customers can spot insincere messaging from a mile off. Whatever holiday celebrations your brand connects with, a sincere message is exponentially more beneficial than a knee-jerk attempt to squeeze into the conversation (or boost revenue). Be genuine, respect your customer, and know when not to sell. After all, marketing is about building real connections, not changing profile pictures.