Contrary to popular belief, the holiday season is not when you should be winding down, it’s actually full of great opportunities to get new clients. But, it can also be super stressful if it’s a busy time of year for you normally.
So I wanted to share some of the common branding mistakes that I see a lot of health coaches make that can prevent them from getting more clients during the holidays.
#1 It’s not always about major holidays
When we talk about the holiday season, we’re usually referring to the biggest holidays out there – Halloween, Black Friday, and then Christmas. But these aren’t the only ones and you could be missing out on what is important to your potential clients.
Just take Christmas as an example. There are a ton of other holidays that are happening around that time – It’s not just Christmas. There is also Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, for example, so make sure your messaging encompasses all of them instead of focusing on just one, or you run the risk of alienating some of your clients or prospects.
Top Tip: Having in-depth demographic information on your audience here is key. You’ll be able to tell which holidays they are really passionate about and which ones they aren’t bothered by. For example, St. Patrick’s day for some can be just as important as Christmas!
#2 Starting last minute
You can’t start with your holiday cheer a week before the holiday season starts. It requires careful planning, (particularly for the larger holidays) months ahead or you won’t be using the holiday to your strategic advantage.
How do you do this? Work backwards.
- Figure out your goal for the holiday, it could be new clients, new leads etc.
- Then decide on your special offer
- Look at how much time you have before your offer will expire (e.g. if your deadline Christmas day or new year?)
- With this key information you can then work on:
- Which platform and budget you have
- How often you will post and when
- Are you going to run ads?
This is really the essential basics if you’re in a rush, so this is why you need to be thinking of this ahead of time.
#3 Devaluing your services
Putting on a huge sale is awesome, but doing too many can devalue your brand. You can do better than continuous offers, discounts, and sales – you can offer bonuses instead.
If you devalue your services, chances are, you won’t be profitable at all long-term and you’ll get those new clients used to highly reduced prices so they’re unlikely to stay long-term.
Instead, you should add a special bonus during the holiday season that is specifically aimed at post-holiday time, like a workshop on getting back on track, or adopting new habits after holidays, learning to steer clear of sweets, dealing with transgressions, and reverting to bad habits – and so on.
#4 Straying away from your branding
This is a big no-no. Of course you want to have holiday cheer or celebrate but that’s no excuse for abandoning your hard earned branding, and it won’t resonate with your audience at all! Some common mistakes I see here are:
- Overly discussing religion if it doesn’t already feature in your branding.
- Jumping on Christmas trends that don’t suit your customers or your brand (e.g. Elf on the Shelf)
- Sharing blurry (and/or tipsy) holiday snaps with no branding, logos, or even being in focus!
There are plenty of ways to adapt your current branding and turn it into special holiday branding without disregarding what you’ve worked hard on for the rest of the year.
#5 Laying low
You think that people are too busy right now to think about their health and wellness? Have you planned to take it easy a bit and just vanish from the online world during the holiday season?
That’s a huge mistake. Holidays tend to make people nostalgic, and makes them stop and think about what they truly want in life. Plus, it’s stressful for many. Now is the right time to give that support, stay active online and help them get through the holiday and beyond. Whether it’s sharing tips to help them cope with stress, anxiety, or food related issues or offering videos on staying fit throughout the holidays, you’d be surprised how much content people consume still.
#6 Focusing on sales only
What happened to spreading cheer and giving away freely?
I’m not saying that you should put everything up for grabs (never devalue your services!), but you should look into offering some relevant freebies that people could really use right now, or doing something good for your community! It has the win-win of getting your name out there whilst embodying what holidays are actually about.
# 7 Over-the-top ads and marketing
Avoid trying to be overly commercial or you can stray into the Christmas cheesy realm. Remember, everyone is trying to get the customer’s attention, and advertisements are running wild with flashy graphics and trying to get that “wow” factor going.
Is it working? No, because everyone is doing it and we’ve all become a bit more desensitised to it. In fact, some of the best holiday ads in recent years have been the ones with heartfelt stories and that hit much closer to home than with the traditional sales pitch.
Ultimately, during any holiday, keep true to your branding and voice – just give it a little bit of a makeover with glitter and holiday cheer.
If you need help with preparing your branding for the holiday season, don’t hesitate to contact me today and we’ll avoid the pitfalls of tacky marketing together.
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