The moment Halloween ghosts and ghouls frenzy is over, B2B marketers will bang their heads together to develop ideas for B2B branding for the upcoming festive season. Corporate customers will be bombarding businesses with emails and phone calls for the products and services to stock up their inventory.
The magic of festivities brings the out of us all. Something about holidays makes standing at the top of your office building with a loudspeaker and shouting out your deals a normal behaviour. Unlike their B2C cousins, B2B marketing teams have to try extremely hard to ride the high tide of the holiday season. Here are three festive ideas for B2B branding in 2021.
1. Running a Charitable Giving Campaign
Supporting a charity is an effective B2B brand awareness strategy. It helps boost your branding because people love businesses that give back to the communities. It shows the corporate customers that you are a business with ethics and empathy towards others.
For example, Randy Frisch, CEO of Uberflip, promoted the launch of his book in 2019. He added a funny twist to the entire event by placing a swear jar next to him to slip the money in during his presentation. He even encouraged other presenters and speakers to fill the jar – not by singing in a choir (if you know what I mean!)
The entire presentation laden with profanity had a charitable purpose of supporting SickKids, a hospital for sick children. This tour brought in $1,000 and over $100,000 through other efforts by the company. Who knew having a potty mouth could be useful for a noble cause.
UBS China collaborated with the Chinese University of Hong Kong to sponsor Operation Santa Claus. The crowdfunding page will invite people and investors to come forward as the cause will help 48 homeless people find careers through mentorship. Efforts like these will not only help the brand earn a good reputation but also expand its network of investors.
Being chartable can help you widen your business network, as like-minded businesses may want to collaborate with you or become valued customers. Companies involved in charity work also enjoy tax deduction benefits.
Everlane, a t-shirt manufacturing company, initiated a Black Friday Fund in 2020. The brand leaned on email marketing to inform its customers that all proceeds collected during the Black Friday campaign will go toward improving the working conditions at their Chinese factories.
The company also mentioned the sales figures they planned to achieve during that particular festive season. The email message was non-pushy and simple enough to strike a chord with many of their buyers.
2. Gifting Something Useful
Strategic gifting is a great way to show gratitude to corporate customers. It can improve brand image, develop B2B relationships, and generate more leads resulting in a sales conversion rate. Customers love businesses that offer added value without sounding salesy at all.
Not asking you to start sending trucks loaded with your products to every customer or write them big checks. A carefully considered giveaway with a message will make your brand far more memorable. A simple thank your customers, but intriguing enough so they will remember you.
Hubspot nails the gifting strategy for B2B branding during every festive season. From Black Friday to Cyber Monday, leading all the way to Christmas and New Year, the site offers consistently added value to the B2B clients.
The platform maximizes its marketing efforts during the holiday season by putting up a holiday-themed microsite. From free blogs to helpful tools and e-books on successful marketing, this site offer benefits to its visitors.
3. Dressing Up Your Brand in Holiday Themes
Ever noticed brands dressing up their retail stores with holiday themes? For instance, during Halloween, you will hear a scream here or there on the high street, just because someone scared themselves to death because of a scary mannequin.
Similarly, a holiday theme can add an oomph to your B2B marketing campaign. People love themes as it continuously reminds them of the upcoming festivities and joy of being at home with their loved ones. Therefore, do not be afraid to add some holiday swag to your online presence. This includes your website, logos, content, social media pages, banners, and posts.
Google is the perfect example when it comes to practicing this strategy. You will notice Google using a holiday or festivity-themed banner throughout the year. Google gives its banner a makeover for every upcoming holiday or noticeable event.
From New Year to Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day to Easter, Labor Day to Thanksgiving, all the way to Christmas, you will see a playful twist on Google’s banner. This is a perfect example where the company does not offer any physical product but a free value that strikes an emotional chord with its users.
Google’s Santa Tracker is another classic example of incorporating a holiday theme into your B2B marketing strategy. Both kids and adults can track and watch Santa delivering toys around the world on Christmas Eve. The program unveils a new area of Santa Village on each day in December until Christmas Eve.
More than 150,000 visitors only gather on the website to follow Santa’s journey. This is the best way to market your brand without sounding “salesy” or spending a fortune.
The Takeaway
The festive season is when businesses and customers feel a bit frivolous in stacking up their inventory for the upcoming sales frenzy. Therefore, using any of the above-mentioned ideas for B2B branding can boost your brand awareness while giving you bragging rights.