Amplify Your Message with National Holiday Campaigns

#1 Understand Your Target Audience

Before you can determine which national days are best for your consumers, and therefore your business you need to understand what your customers are looking to your brand for. Is it advice? Education? To be leaders in certain topics?

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory can help with this. The theory investigates the motivations surrounding human needs and how these influence an individual's behaviour. The 5 categories are physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualisation needs. It’s important to consider how your products or promotions fulfil these needs during national holidays. An example would be celebrating pride by emphasising products that highlight individuality and self-affirmation. The Expectancy-Value Theory is also beneficial in understanding your target audience. It focuses on the customer's beliefs and expectations about the outcome, and the value they see in the product, or service after the outcome. By understanding the customer's expectations and values associated with what you are offering, you can align with this and increase satisfaction. 
 

#2 Plan Themed Marketing Campaigns

Creating a marketing calendar that highlights all of the national days your eCommerce brand can directly align with will give you enough visibility to jump on these as and when they roll around. Understanding the buying patterns of your audience can also help to understand where they are in your customer journey. If you have products that are bought at a certain time of year and not at others you can make sure that the positioning of this product is reflecting that. You might also want to consider how you can shed light on important topics too - helping to build brand credibility and alignment with your audience as opposed to only using them to drive sales. You could create pride merchandise for Pride Month where some or all of the proceeds go to an LGBTQ+ charity such as Stonewall.

An example of a brand that did this successfully was Boohoo. They created a designated collection to pride where 10% of the proceeds went to Outright, an LGBTQ+ human rights organisation that addresses human rights violations and abuse against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

Using the scarcity effect by offering time-limited promotions and exclusive deals can help to encourage a sense of urgency for your customers, which can drive them to make a purchase and participate in the national day celebration.

#3 Utilise Digital PR 

Whether you’re amplifying an important cause or sharing a gift guide, Digital PR is a great way to extend your reach while helping you gain some quality backlinks.

It’s worth noting that journalists love data, infographics, reports, creative concepts and gamification - any of these things will help you to stand out from others pitching similar stories while also producing more creative content that can be used across your own channels.

Digital PR can also be leveraged to amplify causes and your brand’s involvement in them in a positive way without focusing on commercials. For example, you could use Mother’s Day as an opportunity to amplify the voices of working parents in your team and help raise awareness of the importance of flexible working. This approach not only amplifies your brand but can help attract talent by showcasing your commitment to your employees.

Read our guide to Digital PR for eCommerce brands.  
 

#4 Optimise Your Website UX

If going after commercially driven National Days is part of your marketing strategy then it’s important to consider how your website customer journey supports users in their quest for information and products.

According to Esteban Kolsky, 72% of customers will share a positive experience with 6 or more people. On the other hand, if a customer is not happy, 13% of them will share their experience with 15 or even more.

With this in mind, page load times, navigation, mobile and app responsiveness as well as general UX should be high on your agenda ahead of any big campaign launches or commercially driven holidays. 

Take a look at our tips for a more personalised customer experience and how to boost your SEO rankings ahead of Black Friday. 

Key Takeaways

There are so many ways that you can utilise national days to amplify your brand and stand out from your competitors. So remember:

1. Understand your user’s motivations first, use these to determine which national holidays you should be prioritising throughout the year. 
2. Plan themed marketing campaigns to capture attention and hone your focus, it should be a combined channel effort not a social post with no strategic input. 
3. Consider how Digital PR could play a role in your commercial awareness and your alignment with key causes and charities as part of a wide cultural strategy. 
4. Optimise your website to reduce friction and create seamless checkouts for users wanting to buy. 
5. Consider collaborating with influencers to extend your reach and build authority in new markets. 

Start planning your national holiday coverage with our marketing content calendar.