Customer Engagement Breaks Through The Competitive Noise
In 2020, the average American was expected to spend $998 on holiday gifts. That same year, on Black Friday and Thanksgiving combined, Americans spent $14 billion online. This make or break time has tremendous potential, but also the most competition for buyer’s attention. Adding a well executed Customer Engagement Strategy to your plans is a differentiated approach that lets you win attention and consideration in a space where your competitors aren’t even showing up.
It’s a slam-dunk retention play to keep top of mind with your biggest loyalists. There’s also a huge opportunity to activate those loyalists and harness their passion to help grow your brand during this shopping season, reaching their friends and winning new potential customers as the organic and authentic voice that shines through the heavy fog of media during the holiday season.
Crowdly’s end-to-end platform helps consumer brands build scale into their Customer Engagement efforts. Schedule a 15 minute intro to learn more.
We’ve provided 4 tried and true tactics, with some relevant examples from brands that executed them well in 2020.
- HOST A HOLIDAY UGC CONTEST – Incentivize your customers to create and share content on your behalf by hosting a social media contest. For example, if you’re a food brand, ask your brand fans to post pictures of creative holiday inspired recipes with your product. Share your favorites on your feed and stories to show your appreciation and involvement. This will also make users more inclined to share. Keep the ask relevant, fun, and easy to participate.
2020 Highlight– KitKat asked fans to share how they incorporate KitKats into their holiday crafts and recipes with the hashtag #KitKatSanta. The brand shared a few on their socials, and the campaign saw a lot of user generated content.
2020 Highlight: Petco hosted a holiday contest with Mario Lopez this past year. The contest challenged fans to film their pet’s reactions to opening their holiday gift from Petco and build an Instagram reel with the hashtag #PetcoHolidayContest. Winners received a $50 Petco gift card, a perfect incentive for the effort required in crafting a reel.
- DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS – There’s nothing consumers love more than free stuff. Giveaways on social media are an awesome way to engage your fans, stir up excitement, and gain new followers. Especially at the holidays, when giving back is a major touchpoint, consider hosting a giveaway series for your fans, asking them to tag a friend or share how they wear your brand in the comments. This gets tons of visibility from new faces, and your biggest fans will continue checking back on your page for new giveaway posts. If you’ve got a direct channel to them, activate them with each successive giveaway to really build momentum.
2020 Highlight: The innovative and stylish medical scrubs brand FIGS hosted multiple days of giveaways for the holidays in 2020. Each day featured a notable name in the medical field, like TikTok nurses, and the brand gave away an entire outfit to one lucky follower. Giveaways done right 👏
- INSPIRE FAMILY MOMENTS – Inspire people to share their gratitude for family and friends this year, the small moments that matter, and how your brand is a part of their traditions. Be sure to tie in your brand in the prompt. i.e. “Our brand is all about traditions and moments at home. Tell us how your little ones are a part of your traditions this year.” These heartfelt stories have incredibly high share rates because you’re asking your fans to talk about your brand values by talking about themselves, and sharing authentic stories that are very likely to drive engagement from their own inner circle.
2020 Highlight: Pampers does an incredible job of sharing UGC on their Instagram feed and encouraging their followers to share photos with specific themes or hashtags. This past holiday season, they asked their followers to tag them in their holiday photos to share how they are celebrating. Pampers shared a bunch of these moments on their Instagram, making their fans feel valued and bringing holiday cheer to their feed.
- CHARITY MATCH – Activate your fans to donate to a charity of their choice and share, and you will match donations to encourage giving back at the holidays. Another innovative way to host a charitable campaign is by committing to donate to a charity of your choice for every purchase made during a specific time frame, or for each social share or engagement. This gives your brand fans all the more reason to engage or make a purchase backed by a good cause, keeping you in-feed and top of mind during Holiday shopping. Making sure you have a charity that is aligned with your brand values is key to avoiding controversy or alienating customers, and gains you more brand equity with each share.
2020 Highlight: Women-owned Wander Beauty gave back in 2020 by donating 16 meals to The Farmlink Project, a charity supporting those struggling with food insecurity, for every holiday kit purchased. The campaign received ample positive feedback and surely boosted sales while supporting a worthy cause.
No matter how you’re supporting your holiday campaigns this year, it’s important to always stay true to your brand values and emphasize your brand voice and personality. People want to talk about their own values and stories when engaging and talking about brands that feel real and authentic. While the options can seem endless, don’t be intimidated on where to start; most brands aren’t building any scale into their customer engagement tactics, so doing the fundamentals well is usually enough to differentiate most brands from the pack.
If you’re an established consumer brand looking to grow your customer engagement efforts and move quickly to boost holiday sales, Crowdly might be right for you. If you’re interested in learning more about our end-to-end platform, optional full services, and low-commitment pilots, reach out to erin@crowdly.com.
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