Your Brand Amplified™: Meaningful Holiday Campaigns

Holiday time is upon us once again. In a pandemic, where Halloween was "canceled" in many parts of the country, how do you help your Brand stand out for the holidays and continue to establish a relationship with your partners, clients, and customers?

Company Messaging

There is no better time to start than immediately! If you don't have a company newsletter, I cannot stress how this needs to be part of your ongoing marketing and PR strategy. While no one likes to be inundated with email, a once a week message is a great way to communicate with your audience and continue to build brand loyalty.

If you don't want to recognize every faith's holidays, that is ok. You can still get into the holiday spirit! An easy way to do this is to stay attuned to your client or customers' needs and wants. This year, with everything that has gone on in the world around us, it is more important than ever to make sure you are providing information that is timely, relevant, and uplifting.

Everyone can use a break from the day-to-day stress of daily life, whether they're unsure about work, dealing with home school while working from home, or any of the number of issues that have been brought upon us.

Share what you are doing to give back and to promote the spirit of the holidays in your newsletters and on your social media.

For Thanksgiving, share what you are thankful for as a company, as well as individuals; sharing what your team is grateful for creates content for your social media and other communications outlets and personalizes the company. If your team or company volunteers or makes donations to local shelters or food organizations, share photos! Do not be afraid to share what you are doing.

If you participate in Christmas or other holidays, create a countdown on your social feeds, websites, and newsletters with fun facts for each day, favorite Christmas movies and memories, and unique "Deals of the Day".

Corporate Gifting

For those higher up on your Thank You list, it's always a good idea to send gifts and cards the old-fashioned way – aka the USPS or another delivery service. People like receiving meaningful mail.

For my company, I created a client Google form asking them for a mailing address, their favorite dessert, their favorite charity, and key members of their teams whom I should also be asking. Spoiler alert, with two clients who have delicious gourmet treats, everyone on my personal and corporate lists are likely to get something from one of them or both of them! Here are a few tips: If you need to, segment your lists by size of the customer, importance, or other customer/ client loyalty measures, and allocate a certain budget or type of item for each category. Send out a hand-written holiday card where possible or a personalized message if sending a gift sent directly from a company. If you are a business with many customers, create a general video message to use on social media and send to your customers. Support small and Black-owned businesses – you can even share your favorites on social media and in your company newsletter, creating goodwill across social media! Charitable donations towards your clients' favorite causes, or your favorite cause in their honor, are also great ways to go to show your appreciation.

Team Building

Make sure that your team feels appreciated during this holiday season. One of the biggest morale builders you can offer is to take care of your team. Are they singles who have been alone for months? Young families who can't see their extended family? Or older folks who are experiencing loss at not seeing the grandkids? The messages you send internally, especially this year when you might not have been together for months, are more critical than ever. How can you connect authentically and lift their spirits? Have your leadership create short, personalized videos on their phones for every team member, telling them how much they're appreciated and why. Text the first right before Thanksgiving telling them why you're grateful for them. Do it again before the New Year and mention a new goal to motivate and inspire them for 2021. There's no cost and the response will be overwhelming. Do something good together. Select a local charity, adopt a family, send cards to your local responders, etc. Ask your team for their suggestions. Then figure out what you can do together (that you pay for). Or, if you opt to make a corporate donation because the usual opportunities to volunteer aren't on the agenda this year, don't simply sign the company's name. Include every team member's name (with their permission).

How is this PR, you ask? There is simply no better PR than a team that feels valued, appreciated and loved. Special Thanks to my fellow Publicists for their suggestions and contributions! Natalie Tate Phlox Partners Phloxpartners.com Jayne Morehouse Jayne & Company Jayneandco.com

Anika Jackson Owner- AnikaPR www.anikapr.com