With the UK economy reeling from the double whammy of Brexit and the Covid-19 global pandemic, businesses need to make full use of seasonal marketing opportunities.
Christmas is the perfect example. For every £1 spent on Christmas advertising, the UK economy benefits by £6, which is an enormous boost.

The question is: how do you take advantage of the Christmas season in a cost-effective way that will benefit your business?

Christmas promotional products have always been a favourite way of engaging with customers—after all, who doesn’t enjoy receiving gifts at Christmas! Read on to discover how, when and why you should use promotional products as a part of your Christmas marketing strategy.

How to Use Christmas Promotional Products

The important thing about using Christmas promotional products in your marketing is to set a SMART goal. SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound) goals ensure you achieve your aim within a set time—in this case, Christmas.

For instance, is your goal trying to sell something to your customer, or use Christmas good cheer to remind them about your company? Perhaps you simply want to thank them for being your customer? Whatever your goal is, there is a Christmas promotional product and strategy that’ll help you achieve it.

In the past, Christmas was always the major winter marketing opportunity, but now there are many Internet ‘Cyber’ type end-of-year events vying for the consumer’s eyes and wallets. The key factor for ‘Cyber’ events is that their sales offers have an expiration date. If you intend to include sales offers in your Christmas promotional product marketing, make sure you do the same. For example, you might offer a 10% discount if you buy before the end of Christmas – this will create excitement and drive sales.

Is Marketing using Christmas Promotional Products Effective?

These days a lot of companies rely solely on email marketing to get their message across. This is a fine marketing strategy; however, customers know the Christmas-themed email in their inbox is likely to have gone to hundreds or even thousands of others. They’re less likely to take it seriously, or even to read it.

However, a signed Christmas postcard or other promotional gift is prepared and sent by a real human being – not from an email list stored somewhere in the ‘cloud’. It is the personal touch that gets you noticed, and makes your business stand out from the rest.
Also, using Christmas promotional marketing isn’t only about selling to your customer. Sending quality promotional gifts to your own employees is a powerful way of boosting morale and engendering company loyalty.

What Kind of Christmas Promotional Products Can I Use?

There are many items you can choose from to promote your company at Christmas time. However, some of the most popular Christmas promotional products are postcards, vinyl fridge magnets, personalised mugs, and (of course) Christmas cards. Let’s discuss each one in more detail now.

How to Use Postcards for Christmas Marketing

Let’s deal with something right off the bat—don’t be the grinch! If you send promotional postcards to your clients at Christmas, use 1st class stamps. It is a small thing that won’t cost you much extra cash, but people will notice and appreciate it.

Postcards are a great way to promote your business at Christmas, and there are many imaginative ways to use them in marketing. Upload your own Christmas-themed artwork to catch your clients’ eye – you could even commission a custom drawing from talented freelancers, incorporating your business’s logo.

Here’s how to use Christmas postcards:

1. Say Thanks: Christmas is a great opportunity to show gratitude to your clients and increase customer loyalty by emphasising how important their business is to you.

2. Update Information: Perhaps you’ve lost touch with your customer, they’re not answering your calls, or your emails are bouncing. A Christmas postcard can be a friendly way of asking them to update their details—don’t forget to add a special offer as an incentive!

3. Service Reminder: Large companies have many suppliers, and they won’t always remember your company name or what you do. A promotional postcard with a tempting sales offer can be great for reminding them of who you are.

Companies often start new projects after Christmas, and putting your company’s name fresh in your customers’ minds with a postcard helps you gain an advantage over the competition.

How to Use Vinyl Fridge Magnets for Christmas Marketing

The custom fridge magnet is another powerful promotional gift. They may be printed in any colour or design, and come in various sizes. You can even customise your vinyl magnets with your business’s branding, logo, and contact details.

Here are some examples of how vinyl magnets may be used:

1. Christmas Promotion: For Christmas promotions, the company’s unique image may be updated with a splash of Christmas colour and an appropriate seasonal message.

2. Magnetic Business Card: Magnets make an eye-catching and unique form of business card that may be printed in many colours and any shape or size. Being more substantial than a normal business card—and magnetic!—they are harder to lose.

3. Custom Sales Opportunity: Include a special deal or discount printed on the magnet itself to encourage your customers to do their Christmas shopping with you.

The big advantage of magnets, of course, is that your customers will almost certainly stick them to their fridge – meaning they’ll be reminded of your business every time they go to fetch milk for their cup of tea.

How to Use Personalised Mugs for Christmas Marketing

Personalised mugs are a good value and highly functional way of promoting your business. Consider the design and message carefully, as this item could be part of your customer’s everyday routine.

Some things to consider:

1. Quality: Ensure you order a quality product and not a mug whose handle falls off after two washes. As personalised mugs might be used every day, if it looks cheap or breaks easily, it sends a message about the quality of your company or service.

2. Make It Look Attractive: Take some time to think about your design. Your mug has to stand out and be nice to look at. Otherwise, the customer won’t be tempted to use it for their everyday cup of tea – what a missed opportunity!

3. Include a Call to Action: of course, upload your company’s logo and contact details to the design. But to make your mugs effective at drawing in customers, include a call to action, such as “visit our website today”.

4. Postage: Mugs are, of course, bulky and slightly pricey to send – so you can’t really post them to your entire mailing list. However, consider including them as free gifts with an order, or offer them as prizes at your company Christmas raffle.

If you get the above right, then the promotional mug is perhaps the most powerful gift of all. This is because ceramic mugs aren’t designed to single-use – they might remain in your client’s home for many years.

How to Use Cards for Christmas Marketing

Christmas cards are probably the most common form of Christmas greeting. However, in this day and age, someone might wonder why they send their customer a paper Christmas card. Wouldn’t an emailed greeting do just as well?

The fact is that emails are easily missed (and dismissed). Taking the time to print, sign, and post a physical card will show your customers that you truly value them. They can also display it on their desk, or somewhere around the office where colleagues would have time to read it – further spreading awareness of your business!

1. Standard or Unique Message: Depending on how many customers you’ll be sending cards to, have a standard Christmas greeting and then write a personal greeting at the bottom. Or if it’s a customer of particular value, you can have something more meaningful written or specific to the customer. This will add a personal touch that your clients will love.

2. Consider the Tone: Depending on how well you know the customer, consider how familiar to be in the greeting. For a customer that you don’t know very well Mr/Ms/Mrs might be the appropriate greeting, or use their first name if it’s someone you’ve known for a while.

3. Include Your Branding: Choose a customisable Christmas card that will allow you to plug in your business’s name and contact details. For a completely custom card, choose a photo upload design where you can add your business’s logo directly to the front!

Are you ready to start your Christmas marketing campaign? Head to 123Print, where we offer professionally printed, fully customisable business stationery and promotional products. With our 100% satisfaction guarantee, you can trust us to deliver year after year.