Creative Holiday Marketing Ideas for Low-Cost Company Branding

Oct 5, 2011
Diane Seltzer

Get Creative with Holiday Marketing Promotions to Customers - Photo courtesy of diamondbackcovers

These low-cost and festive holiday marketing ideas celebrate the season while helping to build a memorable company brand and improve customer loyalty.

The holidays are a great marketing opportunity for companies to demonstrate their appreciation for customers, partners and vendors by communicating or sending holiday wishes. While traditional holiday greeting cards are always nice to send out and receive, the cost of producing and mailing quality cards can be cost-inhibitive. Standard corporate holiday or Christmas cards also lack creativity and tend to leave little to no impression on recipients.

There are many creative ways for companies to get into the holiday spirit without spending a lot of money. And a little creativity can go a long way in creating a more memorable company brand or improving customer loyalty.

Building Customer Brands with Low-Cost Holiday Marketing

While many companies must represent themselves in a more formal or serious manner throughout the year, the holidays can be a time for companies to interject some personality into a brand. With a little creativity, a brand can benefit from holiday marketing ideas that show a festive side of a company – without breaking the bank.

Here are some low-cost holiday marketing ideas that also have brand building benefits for companies:

Create a personalized company holiday e-greeting or e-card. Creating a holiday e-card or Christmas card is a low-cost marketing idea for sending out holiday greetings. A clever holiday e-card can also have the added benefit of becoming viral.
Create a holiday message or greeting video. For little or no cost, a company holiday greeting can easily be recorded and uploaded to YouTube to share on a website or in email communications. Again, more creative or humorous videos are more likely to benefit from viral sharing.
Decorate your company logo for the holidays. Companies with a well-known company logo can have a little fun during the holidays by decorating their logo in a similar way as Google who creates fun versions of their logo for holidays and major events.
Add holiday décor or greetings to your company website. Simple updates to your company website – like adding a holiday version of your logo, holiday colors or special holiday greetings – can make your company brand seem more festive.
Update social media with holiday graphics. In addition to decorating your company website, be sure to update all social media outlets with holiday colors, logos or graphics to build on your holiday branding. This includes Facebook photos and profiles, Twitter background wallpaper and even LinkedIn group messaging.

Holiday Marketing Ideas to Improve Customer Loyalty

If budget allows, your company may want to consider sending or creating a holiday gift that will leave a lasting impression. Personalized gifts that are creative and memorable will have the biggest impact during the holidays and lead to improved customer loyalty.

Here are some holiday marketing ideas to consider for customer gifts that are sure to create loyal customers:

Personalized calendars. Companies can easily create a personalized calendar that features more than a company logo. Use a calendar as an opportunity to creatively highlight product photos or case studies each month of the year. Online calendar creation services make it cheap and easy to create custom calendars in smaller quantities if needed.
Personalized promotional items. Find low-cost promotional items that are branded with your company logo and are useful for customers throughout the year. Pick promo items that are actually useful in an office environment to remind customers of your company each time they use it.
Create custom Christmas cards. Although holiday e-cards are more low-cost than printed cards, a nice customized holiday or Christmas card is more likely to spend time hanging on the wall – especially if it is created with a creative design that incorporates your company. Sometimes making an investment in old fashioned paper cards are the best way to show customers you are thinking about them during the holidays.
Special holiday promotions. For customers that may appreciate the gift of valuable discounts, special holiday promotions can be created with free offers, discounts or other bonuses. Local holiday marketing promotions can increase sales during the holidays and throughout the year.
Annual coupon book. Create a coupon booklet that includes special offers for your customers to use each month throughout the year. They will be more likely to hold onto the gift for the entire year (providing you with an ongoing marketing opportunity) and continue patronizing your business beyond the holiday season.
Charitable donations. Select a charity that is meaningful to your business and designate donations to the charity on behalf of your customers. Be sure to communicate why the charity is important - such as helping your local community – so that your customers know the holiday gift is a thoughtful gesture. Demonstrating your commitment to a good cause is a great way to ensure long-lasting customer loyalty.