How to Ace Holiday Video Marketing

Is it just us, or does it feel like the first half of 2020 was on ‘slow-motion’ and now, as we reach the home stretch, someone hit the ‘fast-forward’ button? The holiday season always tends to sneak up and winter is coming! There are so many things no one could have predicted about this year, but a common thread tying it all together? Video and music. It’s shaped the way we stay connected both personally and professionally. 

For many, this holiday season is a chance to make up for lost face-time with friends and family, and if gifting is on the agenda, even more reason to give creatively and show loved ones how much they mean to us. 

We’re here to help you get into the festive spirit with this upbeat guide to Acing Holiday Video Marketing. Throw on a Christmas jumper, grab a glass of eggnog, and get ready for emotive tips and tricks for holiday marketing strategies! 

First up, how does holiday shopping look in 2020?

Look, we didn’t want to bring up the ‘c-word’ at the family dinner table, but COVID-19 has pretty much defined 2020. So, what does it mean for holiday retail trade? Well, we’re happy to report it’s not all doom and gloom. While businesses aren’t expecting a high percentage of growth on last year’s figures, there’s still an uptick expected: Mastercard estimates 2.4% growth this year, and notes that in the 2008 recession, holiday sales fell 3.5% versus the prior year.  

A consumer survey by AlixPartners found that “45% of Americans plan on doing the majority of their holiday shopping online, and amount up 15 percentage points from last year’s survey.”

More fuel to the Yuletide fire: Market research company NPD’s annual holiday purchase intentions study “reveals that three in ten holiday shoppers are planning to spend more than last year because they have fewer expenses related to activities like dining out and travel. In addition, 40% of consumers indicated that, as a result of COVID-19, they will buy more gifts to bring joy during challenging times.”

And, for those who won’t be seeing family in person as a result of COVID-19, it’s predicted that over 40% of holiday shoppers will be shipping gifts. The report by NPD also suggests that “while the emphasis will continue to be on items that are useful to the consumer’s new way of life, the holidays are likely to prompt upgrades to up the ante on many of those practical purchases.”

What this tells us is consumers are looking for useful gifts—particularly gifts for at-home lifestyles—from electronics to home cooking appliances, and self-care items in the beauty and health categories. Consumers are also trending towards ‘quality over quantity’ as they strive to simplify their homes and lives.

How can video marketing help your business succeed during the holiday season?

For retailers, the most important commodity used to be foot traffic (i.e. people visiting stores) and face-to-face customer service. Nowadays, (and what’s of benefit to smaller businesses), is shopping no longer happens just in bricks and mortar stores—it happens in online stores and social media through our computer screens and smartphones. Instead of a paper catalogue, marketers get customer attention with video! And with the huge uptick in consumer’s buying behaviours over the holiday season, there’s even more reason to be on the video marketing bandwagon! There’s even whole YouTube channels dedicated to gift guides, where vloggers dole out advice on the perfect gifts.

Need more proof?

Here’s the stats to clear any doubt in your mind on the power of video marketing for business: 

Google says, “videos really do guide gift buying. In the consumer electronics category, for one, 68% of smartphone shoppers turn to YouTube for ideas about what to buy.”

According to Smart Insights, 88% of video marketers reported that video gives them a positive ROI.

Oh, and for more light reading here on the Clipchamp blog:

How Can Videos Build Customer Loyalty

3 Simple Video Marketing Tactics You Need to Use

Holiday video marketing examples

Joy: it’s the only kind of infectious thing you want to spread around during the holiday season.

These great Christmas marketing campaigns and boxing day campaigns offer consumers a moment of joy and help brighten the mood, especially after the storm that 2020 brought round the world. 

Also, anything feel-good, do-good, and heartfelt!

Apple

Thanks for the feels, Apple, this video has a wide appeal from the young to the old and a positive message about sharing.

H&M

Add a dose of whimsy, a negative turned positive, and the art-ier the better in this H&M video ad directed by Wes Anderson.

Heineken

And, of course, a good old LOL is always a winner. Here Heineken lightens the mood, poking fun at the calamities of life, and pressure of the silly season.

How to create a great holiday video ad

Now that you’ve got inspo from some of the best holiday videos out there, you can take that big brand prowess into creating a memorable video for your business too, no matter the size.

With Clipchamp, low-no budget = no worries. 

Creating marketing videos has never been easier—our online video maker empowers you to produce great video content for free in a matter of minutes. 

Holiday templates

Using a collection of pre-prepared video templates will save you precious marketing time as the holiday calendar rolls around. Our team has designed a range of Holiday promo video ad templates that you can customise with your own message. 

Holiday video stock

Why not select one of the Happy Holidays stock videos to send your customers a virtual Christmas card video and remind them of the your holiday season sale or special offer? 

Holiday audio stock

Nothing gets customers in the holiday spirit more than festive sounds! Make sure your holiday marketing appeals to eyes AND ears by including some of our Holiday stock audio – it's filled with musical tracks and magical sound effects.

Now, get on your merry way!

It's time to get started on your own Holiday video marketing. Then, when you’ve saved yourself the drama of decking the halls with boughs of holly and the expense of renting that Santa suit for your Christmas marketing video, you can focus on the bigger picture for your business next year; 2021! You can also add some music to the holiday seasons!

Get your resolutions sorted here! (see what we did there? Ha!) Surely making more marketing videos and making them easier to create is on the top of your business goals for next year? That’s where Clipchamp comes in—with all your video needs in the one place. Edit, compress, convert and even webcam record to whip up professional marketing videos quicker than you can say “‘tis the season!”