Last updated on December 26th, 2016 at 09:26 am
Merry Christmas from B2B News Network! With the holidays upon us, it’s been a light week for B2B social traffic, so we’ve decided to get into the spirit by spreading holiday cheer in the form of Christmas-related B2B tweets and social posts. You’ll find plenty of tips on B2B sales and marketing, we’ll check out some memorable B2B holiday ads and we’ll learn what Santa can teach us about digital marketing strategy. So pour yourself some eggnog, get warm by the fireplace and unwrap our little gift to you.
B2B Digital Marketing
NEW #B2B BLOG! What can Santa teach us about #DigitalMarketing Strategy? https://t.co/UtOzj20tcg #Christmas #Blog pic.twitter.com/AXUvVTHF6n
— Digital Mktg Inst (@dmigroup) December 21, 2016
What can Santa teach us about digital marketing strategy? The merry marketers at the Digital Marketing Institute explain how jolly old Saint Nick runs his North Pole operation like a business, with particular focus on Q4 performance. Training employees, advance promotion, staff parties, email promotion and remaining calm under the mounting stresses of the holiday season are all quite familiar to B2B marketers, and they’re all things Santa has long mastered as his enterprise expanded into a truly global endeavor. “Santa’s Christmas campaign is a colossal annual task, but he always manages to make it work,” the authors write. “With the right staff training and engagement, planning, content marketing, and teamwork, it’s possible to make any digital marketing campaign a success.”
B2B Christmas Marketing
8 Tips for #B2B #Christmas Marketing https://t.co/BLHJptczXE
— kwokdesign (@kwokdesign) December 15, 2016
Christmas has long been a lucrative season in the B2C space, but B2B marketers face challenges their B2C counterparts don’t when planning and implementing marketing campaigns for the year-end holidays. Onalytica offers eight tips for B2B marketing success at Christmastime, starting with giving your clients free gifts and New Year offers. Prepare plenty of advance content to spread your company’s message along with some holiday cheer. Ramp up your email marketing efforts, focus on social media and don’t forget events marketing. Follow these tips and your B2B Christmas marketing are sure to be a smashing success.
B2B Social Media
6 #Tips to Help #B2B #Businesses Manage #Digital Channels over the #Holiday Period https://t.co/q47S7MOOIT
— Nilo Di Stefano (@LaRadice) December 22, 2016
How is managing B2B digital channels different during the holidays from the rest of the year? Social Media Today principal consultant Bob Carver offers six helpful tips on how B2B social marketing professionals can keep on keeping on even in the face of diminished traffic and fewer eyeballs to engage during the holidays. Don’t stop curating, but understand it’s okay to post less frequently. Continue publishing original content, but adjust your publication schedules based on your analytics. While you may be publishing less, keep up community engagement and keep monitoring and analyzing data like you would at any other time of the year.
B2B E-Commerce
Do you need to supercharge your #Christmas sales? Thanks for sharing @PracticalEcomm #Ecommerce #B2B https://t.co/8CEwQSgQ7s
— Shopcreator (@shopcreator) December 8, 2016
Catalin Zorzini at Ecommerce Platforms shares 10 tried and tested methods to supercharge your online B2B Christmas sales. As more and more consumers choose Internet purchasing over the ferocious feeding frenzy of brick-and-mortar holiday shopping, it’s increasingly important for B2B retailers to carefully plan and execute campaigns. Start by decorating your online store accordingly, and be sure to include plenty of special offers for the special season. Post lots of relative content on social media and implement both paid and email marketing campaigns. Optimize for mobile and always remember to follow up with customers who purchase from your site.
B2B Holiday Ads
With #Christmas right around the corner, take a look at some of the best #holiday #ads by #B2B brands this year. https://t.co/TPU3qhcGWH
— Pepper Assistants (@pepperva) December 21, 2016
“Memorable” isn’t a word that usually comes to mind when thinking about B2B advertising, but like the Super Bowl, the holiday season often brings out the pitches that, at their best, stick in our heads long after the decorations are back in the attic. This year, Jade Daryanani at Pepper Virtual Assistant found five great B2B holiday ads worth sharing, including HubSpot’s innovative #HolidayHub microsite, WeWork’s #wwgiftguide and spots by Intel, Microsoft and Norton that range from hilarious to something approaching inspirational. Which one is your favorite?
That’s all for this week’s column; we’ll be back again next week with a special look forward at what you can expect in the B2B space in 2017. We wish a very Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and a happy Hannukah to our Jewish readers. We’ll see you all again soon; until then, you can check out last week’s edition of B2B Trending Conversations here.