- Nov 24, 2021
As families gear up to celebrate Thanksgiving, businesses and their marketing teams are in for a joyride. After all, this is a wonderful opportunity to make the most of the massive sales prospects.
In 2020, the much-awaited Thanksgiving weekend witnessed average spending of $311.75 per individual. If the trends are anything to go by, this year is going to be no different.
Staying ahead of the game is not a mean feat, and to do so, your business needs to ace the marketing challenge.
In this post, you will find a handful of cracking ideas you can use to develop outstanding Thanksgiving marketing campaigns.
Ride the Thanksgiving Wave with These 5 Ideas
Let your imagination go wild, and think out of the box. From thanking your customers, stepping up your social media game, to offering jaw-dropping bargains, here are a few of the countless ideas you can use to tailor winning Thanksgiving marketing campaigns:
1. Say “Thank You!”
Robert Emmons believes that by expressing gratitude, businesses can realize and acknowledge that most of the positive things happen due to the efforts of others.
Stay true to the festive spirit, and use the opportunity to thank some of your most loyal customers and clients. Please don’t send them run-of-the-mill, automated messages that don’t communicate value. Instead, choose to express your sincere gratitude by:
- Sending personalized and shareable Thanksgiving cards via email
- Showering your customers with praise across all your social media channels
- Rewarding your most loyal and regular customers or clients with exclusive deals, coupons, and bargains
Who doesn’t like to be acknowledged? If your clients can feel the gratitude this year, they will reciprocate by furthering their association with you.
This tweet by Nestle Toll House is an excellent example of how you can give thanks to your customers from the bottom of your heart.
Studies have shown that the benefits of thanking your customers are numerous – so, why don’t you get started?
2. Create Themed Content
Here’s a marketing strategy that allows you to have much fun while getting some work done. Let’s say that your business is all about providing companies with mailing lists they can use to reach their target audience.
You can write an informative blog post along the lines of “The Best Thanksgiving Email Subject Lines.” In this way, you are spreading festive cheer and generating value for your clients.
Not just blogs, but you can also generate infographics, funny long-form posts, case studies – anything that can educate and entertain with panache.
Nearly 57% of marketers ardently believe that customized, themed content is a force to reckon with.
For example, this post by Beth Kanter on the official LinkedIn blog, covering the Thanksgiving weekend, is what a well-written piece of themed content looks like.
3. Don the Hashtag Hat
Some of the most successful Thanksgiving marketing campaigns were the ones that could keep the conversation going. And that’s where hashtags can come in handy. Sit down with your marketing team, and pool your ideas together.
Try to come up with a hashtag that has the following elements:
- It should be related to your business, and it should imbibe your brand voice
- It should be relevant to the occasion
- Don’t go overboard – keep it simple
- Try to be as specific as possible. That will help you carve an entire space for yourself.
Once your hashtag is ready, use it wisely across all your marketing platforms. If you can get a conversation started, it’ll do wonders for lead generation and sales.
Even the statistics seem to agree: Every day, a whopping 95 million posts are shared on Instagram alone. And if you want to stand out, a branded hashtag can surely help you.
4. Try Influencer Marketing
If you are open to experimentation, influencer marketing is something you should definitely try. Here’s an example to help put things in perspective. Let’s say that you sell medical devices to hospitals and other healthcare agencies.
Join forces with industry experts and researchers, and ask them to promote your products or services. You can even get them to spread the word about the exciting Thanksgiving offers you have got lined up for the clients.
Bear in mind; you’ll have to give them something in return.
By doing so, you will be boosting your brand visibility – something that becomes super essential during the Thanksgiving weekend.
For inspiration, you can read this case study about how LiveHelpNow co-hosted a live webinar with industry leaders and instantly witnessed improved customer engagement.
5. Promote a Social Cause
Thanksgiving is all about expressing gratitude and giving back to the community. Why don’t you base your Thanksgiving marketing campaigns around the same? If you are already involved in social good, tell your clients about it, and get them to participate.
For example, you can organize a Thanksgiving fundraiser, where a sizeable portion of your proceeds will be donated to a charity or NGO that works for the cause.
Alternatively, you can encourage your clients to donate to an NGO, charity, or business you’re supporting in exchange for rewards like membership points or gift coupons.
Not only will your clients participate willingly, but together, everyone can bask in the ‘feel good’ feeling that always follows when you know that you have had an impact.
In this regard, take a leaf from Google’s book. In this post, the company’s CBO, Philipp Schindler, outlines how Google helps people find the nearest food pantries so that they can donate leftover food to the needy every Thanksgiving.
What’s more, this year, Google plans to pledge 2 million dollars to support food banks, pantries, and organizations working towards combating global hunger.
Final Thoughts
In this post, we covered the best and most innovative ideas you can take inspiration from to whip up unique Thanksgiving marketing campaigns of your own.
Apart from saying a heartfelt thank you to your clients, creating themed content and branded hashtags, trying influencer marketing, and standing for a social cause, you can also consider offering freebies to all your clients and customers.
Similarly, if your business relies on email marketing, you can throw in Thanksgiving-themed subject lines for a more significant effect.
