In recent years, the growth of social media has increased the power that it has on purchase behaviour at Christmas but this year, social media will be more important than ever before!
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Why is Social Media so important?
With a Christmas social media campaign, you can promote your brand, extend your reach, attract more customers, drive engagement and sell more during the holidays. With more than 3.2 billion social media users worldwide, it’s an avenue you must explore!
Research shows 79% of businesses who sell via social media marketing outsell their peers who don’t. A massive 76% of consumers enjoy interacting with businesses on social media. In addition, 59% of respondents say they prefer watching videos on social media, rather than watching television.
We’re going to take a look at the top 5 most brilliant social media Christmas campaigns in recent years to find out why they did so well.
1. John Lewis: #ManOnTheMoon
The 2015 Man on the Moon Christmas campaign for retailer John Lewis is a prime example of the value of a hashtag. Playing out over a cover of Oasis’s Half the World Away, the advert features a little girl who uses a telescope to spot a lonely man living on the moon one Christmas.
After repeated unsuccessful attempts to contact him, she eventually manages to send him his own telescope, attached to helium-filled balloons. She’s thrilled when he receives it, sees her on earth and waves back.
The message is, “Show someone they’re loved this Christmas,” which has a universal appeal, as it aims to combat loneliness, especially among the elderly.
The advert boosted online Christmas sales by 21.4% and the retailer amassed £951 million sales in the period from Black Friday to the post-Christmas sales. It was one of the most talked-about ads of the festive season and sparked many shares.
Brands capitalised on the trending #ManOnTheMoon hashtag – as everyone from BBC3 and MTV to New Look, Weetabix and Domino’s Pizza shared posts with the hashtag.
2. Sainsbury’s: Christmas 1914 centenary ad
In 2014, the Sainsbury’s Christmas ad depicted Christmas 1914 to mark the centenary of the start of World War 1. It featured the true story of the unofficial ceasefire between Allied and German troops, who came out of the trenches to play football in No Man’s Land on Christmas Day.
As one of the most famous ads of all time, it lasted for more than three minutes, when traditionally, adverts are no more than 60 seconds long. The campaign was launched in conjunction with the Royal British Legion, and Sainsbury’s donated the proceeds of sales of a chocolate bar to the veterans’ charity.
The sentimental advert trended on social media, although it received a mixed response. While it was described as a “masterpiece”, with the “right blend of poignancy and sentimentality”, some critics found it “disrespectful” to the millions of troops who lost their lives. “It’s no way to sell groceries,” said one disgruntled columnist.
Love it or hate it, the iconic ad remains a massive talking point to this day. It helped Sainsbury’s to halt the slide its sales had suffered throughout 2014. Its Taste the Difference label increased sales by 5% year on year, turkey sales rose by 8% and clothing sales were up 10% at Christmas 2013.
3. Costa Coffee: Photo giveaway contest
Costa Coffee always likes a good Christmas campaign. Their 2013 Costa Christmas Giveaway competition was one of the most memorable – fans had the chance to win some great prizes by producing their own Advent Calendar.
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The brand launched a fun photo contest for customers, asking them to share their own moments of festive fun. Any kind of photo, from a selfie to a group pic, or a photo of their favourite pet, could be submitted via Social Media, as long as their Costa Christmas cup was in the snap.
Costa set up a microsite for the campaign, enabling fans to upload their photos, customise their images, share them on social networks and then send them as e-cards to family and friends. The brand gave away numerous prizes every week for the best photos.
The promotion helped Costa achieve record profits of £412 million for the year ending 27th February 2014 – a rise of 16.5%.
4. Sky Bet: Online Advent Calendar
In 2013, Sky Bet launched its online Advent Calendar, enabling fans to win festive football league match tickets. The promotion ran until 24th December and saw the brand giving away five pairs of tickets for a football match every day.
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Promoted via social media, the campaign asked fans to identify which football star was behind each door of the football pitch Advent Calendar. They were invited to follow a series of picture clues to help them out, including the player’s squad number being the same as the number on the door.
The campaign was shared thousands of times all over social media, not only by fans, but also by individual football clubs on their social media feeds and club websites. It was also shared by the English Football League and other football-related organisations for a full month.
5. Coca-Cola: Sleepover in the Christmas truck
You know it’s Christmas when the famous Coca-Cola Christmas truck rolls into town! Packed with bottles of ice-cold Coke, it first sped across our television screens at Christmas 1995.
Accompanied by the catchy “Holidays are Coming” song, it led a glittering cavalcade of red trucks, covered in Christmas lights, driving in a convoy spreading festive cheer into the towns and cities where they stopped. Free bottles of Coca-Cola were handed out to the public, epitomising the spirit of giving.
In 2017, Coca-Cola took it one step further by inviting fans to win a sleepover in the truck, which was decorated with a woodland snow scene, fairy lights, a warm and cosy fireplace and a Christmas tree. The guests could listen to Christmas music, watch their favourite festive movies and open presents crammed into Christmas stockings.
Guests were also treated to a festive breakfast, Christmas dinner, free bottles of Coca-Cola and tickets to the Coca-Cola London Eye. To enter, fans had to write online why they were the “ultimate Christmas fan”. The sleepover took place at a secret location in the UK just before Christmas.
The brand said the ad campaign was all about sharing “magical experiences” with loved ones. People in more than 100 countries promoted the Coca-Cola advert and the campaign also used the famous #HolidaysAreComing hashtag. It was a nice example of creating seasonal buzz online and across all the social media platforms.
If you’re interested in finding out how social media campaigns can help your business this Christmas, contact the experts here at Page1.
