November 23, 2021
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As we get closer to the final weeks of the year, it’s not too late to use content marketing as a catalyst to boost year-end sales. But what content should you publish to get traction before the New Year?
Below are strategic content marketing recommendations – including what kind of content to publish and how to promote it – to gain brand exposure, word-of-mouth marketing, and sales revenue in December.
Three types of content are known to drive attention, sharing, and sales at the end of the year. Be sure to prioritize them in your marketing plan and have budget dollars set aside for each opportunity.
Gift guides are extremely popular during the year-end holiday season. People are actively looking for gift ideas, which makes them effective not only to increase sales but also to increase word-of-mouth marketing. That’s because people love to share gift guides with the people they know – particularly across social media channels. Bottom-line, a single gift guide that is well-promoted could lead to a lot of sales very quickly.
People spend a lot of time online during the holiday season looking for gifts and connecting with friends and family. Take advantage of those behaviors by creating videos that tap into the emotions of the season. Rather than simply promoting your products in your videos, tell stories about how people use your products, how your products change their lives, and more. The goal is to create video content that people want to watch and share, so add value in every video.
Visualizations, like infographics, charts, and so on, are most often associated with data sharing and simplification of complex topics. However, visualizations that tell stories and help people through processes can work very well to jumpstart brand awareness, sharing, and sales. Think about a story you can tell or a process you can explain that evokes emotions and explain it visually.
The key to turning year-end content into year-end sales is to make sure you share and promote that content to get as many people as possible to see it. Email marketing, social media marketing, influencer outreach, digital advertising, and text message marketing are some of the most effective ways to do it. Let’s take a closer look at each.
Every piece of content that you create can be shared via email marketing. Choose your target audiences based on who would be most interested in each piece of content that you create, segment your lists, and send personalized content to each segment of your audience.
The goal is for people to see your name or brand name in their inboxes and instantly know the message is for them and will include something useful or meaningful – something they’re interested in – so they’ll open, click, share, and buy.
Social media marketing is all about sharing useful content and telling stories. Spread your content far and wide on social media and be sure to use hashtags, compelling descriptions, and links to your website (when possible) to make it easy for people who see and share your posts to quickly learn what value they’ll get from your content and feel motivated to take action.
Who already has the eyes and ears of your target audience? Who are the people that help influence your target audience’s purchase decisions for products and services like yours? Those are the influencers you want to reach out to via social media and email. Explain what your content is about and why it’s valuable. If they agree that your content is useful to their audience, they just might share it, which can lead to more sales for you.
While many digital advertising opportunities aren’t available to businesses operating in and with the cannabis industry, there are some online publications that will work with your brand. Identify publications that your target audience is likely to read, and place ads during the final weeks of the year that promote your highly relevant content. The right story just might turn a consumer in the middle stages of the buyer journey into a customer who is ready to buy from you.
Text message marketing (SMS marketing) to people who have opted in to receive promotional text messages from you is a perfect way to promote your content with a goal to generate end-of-year sales. People are typically very busy during the final weeks of the year, but they’ll always check their text messages. If your brand shows up in their text messages with a useful piece of content and a holiday promotion, you could see a quick jump in sales.
Using content marketing to boost year-end sales is a great way to keep your brand in front of people without continually sending self-promotional messages to them. In addition to your promotional ads and messages, sprinkle in some useful content. You’ll get traction at the end of the year and will build relationships that can lead to more sales in the New Year and beyond.
Want to connect with cannabis and hemp license holders to boost your sales now and in the future? Schedule a demo of the Cannabiz Media License Database and see how it can make your sales and marketing efforts more successful than ever.
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