Clever Ways to Approach Holiday Marketing In 2024

Ready to make the most of the holiday season without feeling too “salesy”? 

In this episode, we’re sharing feel-good, practical ways realtors and entrepreneurs can build authentic connections during the holidays. 

From heartwarming storytelling that captures the spirit of the season to simple gestures of gratitude, we cover meaningful ways to show appreciation that clients won’t forget. We're also sharing some tips on reflecting on 2024’s biggest lessons and getting excited for 2025! So whether you’re looking to engage, celebrate, or simply connect as we wrap up 2024, this mini-episode is packed with holiday marketing magic just for you!

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• Not Nice Clever
• Candice Carcioppolo
• Kat Torre

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Transcript

Hi, I'm Kat, marketer turned brand storyteller. And I'm Candice, educator turned entrepreneur. And you're listening to Not Nice, Clever. As CEOs and leaders, it's your job to always have the answers. But sometimes you need a little help. Leverage, if you will. We get it. This is the place for you. So wherever you're listening, 530 AM Club at the gym, on your way to your next meeting or putting out today's fire, let's get into it.

In today's mini episode of Not Nice Clever, we're talking about holiday marketing, how we approach it from a stance of authenticity. How do you show up in holiday marketing while you are being yourself and without being salesy? So we put together, we have here six tips for y'all on how to do this. So the first one, what do we got Kat?

This is probably one of my favorite devices to use in marketing and that is storytelling, but we want to make it seasonal because we want to make it relevant to the holidays and y'all your greatest element that you are sleeping on and connecting with your audience and breaking through that holiday noise, the Black Friday sales, the cyber Mondays, the giving Tuesdays, Christmas, New Year's, all of that is to lean into stories and specifically sharing stories of how you celebrated the holidays growing up.

Now, I was very lucky in that I had a family to celebrate it with. have some really great traditions. There's some things that we struggled with around the time of the holidays, but there were many things that we could be grateful for. And so I love leaning into how I would basically steal a can of those, the cranberry sauce, like you would like slice and like have that for dessert. I would just take a can of that and like hide in the den and then like eat the whole thing because I loved it so much.

I just, and it was so processed. was so sugary, but that was like my favorite thing to do. And just by sharing that story, like Candice, you just laugh now and we're smiling. Like you were probably thinking of your own Thanksgiving story and your thing you did as a kid. grandma's house and seeing that. Like I could have like imagined the little ridges from the can that's on the... Exactly. Yeah. Cranberry. lean into storytelling and don't think about pitching whatever it is you're selling, but just share.

the stories that you remember, whether you were a teenager or in college with friends giving whatever it might be. And I think this is an opportunity for you to share things that might differ from whatever you think is traditional. It's great to share your own family takes how you do things, how you don't do things. All of that starts conversation. And as you know, the real winning when it comes to social media is just

having conversations with more people, making people feel connected, making people think, making people feel open to share. That's really where it's at. So the next part is gratitude campaigns. And I almost don't even like that I use the word campaigns when I'm sharing this, like, how do you show up for your people with gratitude, with intention? So this sometimes looks like a series of

communications that you send to maybe your past clients. So this could be a series of emails, it could be a series of text messages, but maybe you're going to pop by with a gift. Then you're going to follow up and ask them a question, see if there's anything that they need. But just points of contact, the holidays are a really great excuse to reconnect with people. so points of contact, checking in on your people, appreciating them with a gift if that feels appropriate.

Those types of things help to build connections and make people feel like, you know, you're thinking of them. And it doesn't mean that you're going to ask for a sale, just staying top of mind for people, recognizing them, thanking them. Yep. The next thing to keep in mind for your holiday marketing strategy is community centered events. So again, this is not about pitching a product or a service or asking for the sale. It's really about, like Candice was saying,

getting in community and in front of and better connecting with the people that literally make your community possible where you have your business, right? And give you those opportunities. So whether it's doing, you know, volunteering at the soup kitchen, that was something I used to do when I lived in San Francisco, because that was a really needed thing that didn't cost me any additional money to do. was just my time and, you know, I was able to be really humbled and really grateful for everything that I had.

during that time of year. And if you are the person who is hosting some type of community event for your sphere of influence, for your audience, we love that. Also put small things in the event that allow you to make deeper, meaningful connections in the future. So for example, if you are doing a Christmas event, you have Santa Claus, you're maybe taking family photos, then gather their email address so that way you can send them an email with the photo.

But also in 2025, you have added a person to your email address or to your email list, and then you can market to them. Right. So be intentional with small things like having people register for the event, having people sign up to get that photo. Those things will set you up for success long term. And they're small. They don't take away from the event at all. They don't feel salesy in the moment, but long term, you know that you're growing your sphere. it. this is a fun one. What's next, Candice?

Next is we talk about your Instagram stories all the time because it's such a simple way to stay connected to your audience, but using polls and quizzes in your audience, asking them, maybe showing them your home decor, asking them, Hey, drop a photo of yours, add yours on Instagram using that little sticker where you can let someone add their own version. That's really great. Asking them like, what's your favorite holiday dessert? just made

pumpkin pie? Are you team pumpkin pie? Or are you sweet potato pie? Just things like that that are relatable. And you know, like I'm, picking holidays that I celebrate, maybe you celebrate different holidays. So fill in with whatever holiday you're celebrating and ask people what it is that they do, what traditions they have. that just, once again, starting conversations, that's so important. One thing I think too, it's like,

Speaking of people who celebrate different holidays, so one of my best friends growing up was Jewish and I would always remember how we would spend Christmas a certain way. We had our own routine for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and for her family, it was they would go and get Chinese and then they would go and watch a movie at the theater and that's how they would spend Christmas. They're like, this is our Christmas tradition. We already celebrated, but now this is what we're doing because we don't have to deal with crowds and Chinese food is always a good idea. I was like, Jenny, you're so right. You're so right.

Yep. So it's a great, again, to connect with people. Yep. I love it. Okay. What do we have next? showing the BTS, people want to see the behind the scenes, the holiday vibes, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Maybe don't showcase all of your family drama, Rama Rama. If you have that, just showcase like the real real of having to balance it all. Like if you are a busy parent and a business owner and you have pets and you have human children, like

And you're trying to coordinate all the things amidst and like you are the one who's hosting for the holidays, like God speed to you. I bow down to you. Show it, you know, take a few moments to capture that. You're not going to look like a hot mess. You're going to be extremely personable and people are going to relate. Yeah. People are going to appreciate you not trying to be like, that Sarah Jessica Parker. How does she do at all? It's like, doesn't, she has mental breakdowns every day, right? But like being real about it. So I think showing that behind the scenes.

people love a behind the scenes look because they love to know that you're human too. Yep. The relatability definitely. I also feel like check yourself. Are you doing too much? Maybe you're doing too much. Also that, that's okay. It's okay to not like my mom is the mom and I love her and she's amazing, but she's the mom who makes like

seven different kinds of cookies when we'd probably be fine with two. my gosh. You know? don't need to spend that many hours doing that, mom. Like, we would be really excited with just this, you know? And more time with you. Yes, more time with you and you not stressed out and yelling at us because you have so much to do, even though we care more about spending time with you than how many different varieties of everything that we have.

I appreciate her and I love her and I know why she does it. But like also, we're okay with less things and stuff and food if it means more of her, you know? I hear you. All right. The last and final thing to keep in mind for your holiday marketing is to reflect and look ahead. So this is one thing that's really great in building trust and relatability with your audience is to really

take a moment to analyze and reflect on how your year has gone and everything that you have learned, sharing the stories of the people you have helped, being transparent about the challenges that you have overcome, like the good, the bad, and the ugly, showcasing that. love doing this in like a carousel style post that usually, if we're talking about Instagram specifically, that usually does really well, because people love to see.

like a full view look, right? Like a before and after or a year in review. And it's a great exercise to show how far you've come, to show your audience how far you've come, not just telling them and super valuable for like planting those seeds before you maybe launch a specific sales campaign in the new year. another tip that we didn't write down, but I think is really important is look at a calendar right now and

plan on when you are going to share some of these things, like for example, the kind of year in review carousel, like maybe sharing the ups and downs of the year. I also like that because we're kind of at, we're at a new point when we share that and we're kind of sharing the, we're sharing scars, not wounds thing. And we talk about that sometimes. So I think that's a great idea. But if you don't have it in your calendar,

You can get really stressed out on, you know, December 30th or 31st when you're like, I need to put this together and we don't want that for you. So plan ahead, make a plan, maybe use a scheduling tool where things are going to go out. So you don't have to take away time from your holiday or your family. And you can still be really present while also being mindful and thinking about 2025, you know, using some tools that can help you. Like calendaring and scheduling tools like Metricool is one of my favorites.

planning. We love that. love Metro Cool. Working smarter, not harder, like we said, guys. Yep. If you haven't already, leave a five-star review. If you haven't already, leave a five-star review for Not Nice Clever. And we will see you in the new year. I don't know when this episode's coming out. Maybe that makes sense. Maybe it doesn't. Who knows? We will see you when we see you, Clever Crew.

Thanks for joining us on Not Nice, Clever. Remember to follow Not Nice, Clever wherever you listen to audio. And if you haven't already, drop that five star review. Share your takeaways. Tell us your story. We love to hear it. Signing off, you're not so nice, but so clever besties that mean business. See you soon.