Content marketing for the holidays, i.e. a Christmas Eve meeting of content marketing, Meta and TikTok

2023 is not over yet and we are already taking part in conversations about content marketing trends for 2024. The first guides and New Year’s guides in the field of content marketing presented the most popular content distribution channels on the Internet: Meta, Instagram, TikTok and Adobe. However, we want to return to the research and recommendations that appeared a few months ago… Namely, those regarding answers to the most frequently asked questions regarding preparations for setting up campaigns, creating creations and building Christmas content and general brand awareness.

Agenda:

1. Wstęp
2. Entry
   • Definition of content marketing – what is it and what does it consist of?
3. The state of the content marketing market
   • Guides from the largest social media platforms
   • TikTok – holidays are an important event!
   • Video marketing goals in social media
   • Content marketing strategy on TikTok
   • Meta – a beautiful and long Adventage+ ad
   • What message should you use to attract potential customers?
   • Meta – a good place for a campaign
4. Content marketing – entertainment, lightness, accessibility
   • Let’s create valuable content marketing with the help of AI!
5. Sources

The period between September and December is characterized by intensification of content marketing activities on all social networking sites. From TikTok, full of short video content, to the most sustainable in terms of development, according to the “Guide to Social Media in Poland by IAB”, LinkedIn.

Already in September and even August, the platforms began publishing guides that were intended to show their commercial users how to set up an effective Christmas campaign. He showed how to prepare content, i.e. a message, graphics (infographics, e-books), the so-called hooks (hook – the first, decisive seconds of reading the content), CTA, but also content marketing strategies.

Definicja content marketing – czym jest, co się na niego składa?

It is the content marketing strategy that is the issue that turns out to be the biggest challenge for marketers. However, despite the difficulties, one thing is certain – it must be created. Content marketing has been a strong trend for several years now.

No wonder, since it allows you to gain interest in the brand in an organic way. Additionally, it leads to achieving the last stage of the sales funnel – acquiring a loyal, returning customer. This strategy involves publishing valuable content that will meet the needs of consumers – answer the most frequently asked questions, dispel doubts or expand knowledge, but also fall within their area of interest.

Content marketing is indicated as a source of acquiring potential customers who are undecided or are conducting research.

Moreover, it comprehensively covers activities in every area of internet marketing: copywriting, SEO (Search Engine Optimization – positioning the website so that it appears high in search results through keywords or product descriptions), native advertising (tailored to its location in such a way as to make impression of an integral part of the environment), video, performance, UX/UI, AI, AR/VR, sponsored articles and others.

The state of the content marketing market

Let’s briefly summarize the current appearance of content marketing in Poland based on the study “Condition of the content marketing market in Poland. Summary of the results of the 2023 study prepared by the Content Marketing Polska Association. One of the first conclusions is that awareness among entrepreneurs about research and quantitative indicators is beginning to increase.

Namely, they are not always the most satisfying and reliable. Therefore, brands are increasingly turning to qualitative research, which shows that an appropriate content marketing strategy is a qualitative activity.

How to measure the effectiveness of content marketing?

However, despite awareness of the effectiveness of content marketing activities, still approximately 60% of surveyed companies do not know how to measure them appropriately and, above all, effectively.

Which is a big problem considering that more than half of them declare increasing the budget for the distribution of content marketing activities, which may turn out to be ineffective despite the larger amount of money spent. Moreover, there is still a worrying “cutting” of costs in the production of the above-mentioned products on the market. content, which in such a case will not be of the desired or even satisfactory or acceptable quality.

Moreover, 89% of companies still heavily use social media promotions. Unfortunately, at the same time, we ignore the entire range of available content marketing solutions that affect the image, customer acquisition and, above all, building trust and brand awareness. It is worth remembering that marketing is not only about social media and running a company fanpage.

Marketing also means a website, e-books, infographics, SEO activities (selected keywords will affect the website’s visibility and increase traffic).

In marketing, promotion in the Google network is also important (important: the quality of content is important, setting the budget at a higher level will not affect the Google algorithm if the competition’s activities are more qualitative – the algorithm focuses on the distribution of attractive content), PR (industry blogs, trade press), but also native articles, not to mention the general product placement that goes beyond the Internet to television, radio and the press

It seems that over time, entrepreneurs began to forget about the main principle “earned, owned, paid”.

Content marketing – a warning

An important conclusion resulting from the study is also a warning addressed to marketing, advertising, creative and digital agencies regarding how content marketing activities are perceived by (here: 40% of respondents) entrepreneurs. Namely, as a form of strategy that is supposed to bring immediate profit, which unfortunately is not possible.

This leads to the conclusion that this area requires appropriate education and explanation so as not to lead to unpleasant misunderstandings. It should be remembered that content marketing activities are intended to interest recipients, encourage them to look at the brand, get to know it and observe it, which may result in future conversion, but also loyalty.

And it is loyalty that defines the customer as the acquired one. You will have to try again to acquire other customers, and therefore, you will have to allocate new budgets for this acquisition.

Guides from the largest social media platforms on content marketing strategy

In response to the content marketing demand among Polish brands, the largest social media platforms have prepared guides on building campaigns and strategies for the pre-Christmas sales peak, i.e. the fourth quarter. The guides focused on activities aimed at increasing the number of loyal customers thanks to content marketing, which involves the distribution of content.

Extensive guides could be obtained from TikTok for Business after completing the form and the Meta Platform, which sent appropriate messages to business accounts via notifications. The research reports contained therein were prepared on the basis of competition analysis.

TikTok – holidays are an important event (for content marketing activities)!

Christmas is an important event for each of us – also on social media platforms, but especially on TikTok! Why? TikTok’s guide this year ‘Christmas is a hot time on TikTok. “The collection of business strategies for the holidays 2023” began with this truistic sentence: “The holidays are an important event on TikTok.”

However, apart from the surprisingly brilliant introduction, we are able to draw some interesting conclusions related to content marketing from the guide.

The first interesting observation is that TikTok for Business points to July as the beginning of the holiday season, when it recommends configuring basic tools and starting to test campaigns – creations, CTAs, and valuable content marketing content. In October, he encourages you to get to know the recipient at every stage of the sales funnel.

It suggests activities such as remarketing or building similar audience groups, which is important we should not forget about regular creation. And video content marketing in its application is not difficult, but specific. Moreover, we can learn from the guide that it can become intuitive to create once you understand the basic rules of the platform. There are 6 of them and they are:

1. Especially for TikTok – let the content be festive, but at the same time adapted and consistent with the video appearing in “For You”.
2. Structure, i.e. remember about the Christmas narrative and CTA.
3. Note – editing techniques are meant to help us maintain attention – emphasize the importance of the brand.
4. Sound – use those that train and appear in the context of holidays from other creators. Let music become the background to your story.
5. Trends – take advantage of holiday trends.
6. Diversification – the content should be of high quality. Additionally, refresh your creations – so that users don’t get “overfed”.

Video marketing goals in social media

TikTok also emphasizes in its guide to remember about authenticity, which is extremely important on the platform. The message is clear: we should show ourselves as we are – far from perfect.

An important aspect is also to remember the structure of the film, which should consist of a slogan, content and ending. The slogan is supposed to attract attention and increase the engagement of our target group before the content appears. The ending should be a clear and clear call to action, such as “Buy now”.

From our perspective, it is important to realize that there are 8 needs satisfied by watching short videos. The topic of the published content should correspond to one of them.

1. Unwind, i.e. “airing” the head – material that promotes relaxation, which we listen to in the background during everyday activities.
2. Distract, i.e. content that will distract you for a moment and take you away from your daily duties.
3. Indulgle, i.e. content, viewed for pleasure. Most often it has to do with passion and pleasure.
4. Experience – video materials watched by a larger group of loved ones.
5. Escape, i.e. content that takes you to another world, exists to “break away” from reality for the user.
6. In touch – video materials that assume that we stay “in touch”. In this case, it is related to reality, i.e. it refers to news videos from around the world.
7. Comfort – universal, pleasant and charming, often appeals to a wide audience, e.g. videos with small animals.
8. Do as “do!”, which encourage action by showing how to perform a given action.

Content marketing strategy on TikTok

TikTok supplements this information in its educational materials, suggesting a specific path, or rather a development strategy: WALK, RUN, FLY. It assumes that the brand’s presence in the application should start with paid activities (WALK), in which materials generated for other platforms can be used (content recycling) and adapted to TikTok over time.

The most important factors for this customization are full screen, sound (preferably spoken text) and verticality (creativity, openness in the sense of authenticity).

The second step is RUN. This is the moment when we start creating content prepared especially for the platform – consciously and after the first conclusions drawn from users’ reactions to the range of products or services offered. This content should be prepared with the mobile environment in mind and be authentic, creative and respond to the needs of a specific audience. At this stage, the brand can also consider collaborating with other creators on the platform.

The last phase is FLY, i.e. the moment when the brand has already become familiar with the platform and has already conducted the first cooperation with its creators. This is the stage in which the profile begins to conduct regular advertising campaigns, influencer collaborations and creates its own materials tailored to its specific target group and prepared for the TikTok platform.

Meta – a beautiful and long Advantage+ ad

Meta shared a similar guide with its users and also recommends recommendations regarding campaigns and creating valuable content. The first tip that we can find in the report is the instruction to record short video materials, the so-called Christmas-themed rolls – they will add variety to advertising campaigns (Meta strongly encourages the use of the Adventage+ tool).

Another issue that comes up is the recommendation to start activities in September or October. This is the optimal time to start working on product photos and videos. It is important that they are varied, e.g. a video with a loyal customer’s opinion about the service or a photo during everyday use of the product. It is worth preceding such content marketing activities with a competition analysis so as not to distribute content that potential customers will not be interested in.

What message should you use to attract a potential customer?

Another important issue is promotion – as many as 82% of respondents declare that it is the price reduction that convinces them to make a Christmas purchase. Therefore, it is worth preparing a special and unique offer for the pre-Christmas period, which can still be communicated.

The next important conclusion from the guide is to emphasize that the user, i.e. the potential customer, must act quickly. The phrases that worked best were: “limited edition”, “last pieces” and “while stocks last”. Such statements are intended to interest users on the Internet.

It is also necessary to emphasize the message by when the pre-Christmas delivery is guaranteed. Can orders be placed a week in advance to receive them before Christmas Eve, or should customers think about it even earlier? This is an interesting issue for consumers who shop online. Moreover, a guaranteed delivery option for orders placed just a few days before Christmas will add value to e-commerce platforms!

Meta emphasizes that during this period, emotions and quality are important elements of the message, so it should contain information about e.g. ecological composition, innovative, original design, Polish production, etc. The authenticity of the products is to increase their sales and the visibility of the website, because one of the key phrases in internet search engines are product compositions, e.g.: 100% wool, cashmere, silk, etc.

Moreover, it is worth explaining all the steps that will guide recipients through the purchase process – such material in the form of a video will certainly make it more attractive.

Content marketing w Meta

Additionally, Meta shows in its research that as many as 50% of respondents learned about mega sales from their platform. However, 56% of people discovered the brand in the pre-Christmas period. They also emphasize that Facebook and Instagram were indicated by 35% of people as places where they can find more relevant Christmas products and services than on other platforms. This data effectively encourages advertisers to run campaigns in this medium.

The report in the guide also tells us that there are 11 reasons why people decide to buy a specific product or service in the pre-Christmas period. The most popular of them are price (87%), product quality (87%), product authenticity (82%) and knowledge of the store or website (73%). It is worth focusing on these issues in the message and taking them into account when establishing a sales (content marketing) strategy.

Content marketing – Content marketing – entertainment, lightness, accessibility

To sum up, decide on a mix of valuable content and various advertising creations – everyone may like a different style, may receive a different argument and a different message. In particular, remember about reels, which can minimize the costs of social media campaigns. What you need to remember when creating them: focus on entertainment, lightness and accessibility, i.e. show imperfections, but preferably in a perfect way.

Additionally, you can choose to publish posts with an action button encouraging you to send a message. Create copy that catches the customer’s attention and encourages questions, the main task of which will be to persuade users to click on it. What is extremely important, simple, and often underestimated. The report shows that 78% of people prefer contact with a company through messages, while as many as 68% will be more willing to purchase products or services from a company that they can contact via messages.

Let’s create valuable content marketing with the help of AI!

The pre-Christmas period is an extremely intense time when we prepare a lot of content marketing – from Advent calendars or St. Nicholas posts to Christmas wishes. Additionally, nowadays we already have extraordinary tools that use artificial intelligence, which will not only advise us on certain issues, but also improve our daily work and marketing activities.

Our task as marketing, advertising, creative and digital agencies is to ensure that these activities are accompanied by consistency and a previously planned and well-thought-out content marketing strategy that was created with the brand’s target group in mind.

These activities should be holistic and include the website. Inbound marketing (valuable content prepared for a specific group of recipients, which is intended to engage users by answering their needs and questions – this action has a positive impact on the appearance in search results, i.e. the website’s position, and therefore the sale of a product or service ).

Be inspired by these tips in the last weeks before the holidays and draw conclusions for the future – New Year’s or even Christmas communication for 2025.

Find more content on content marketing activities on our blog!

Sources:

1. We believe in the potential of people, przewodnik od META [dostęp 5.12.2023: https://scontent-waw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.8562-6/400222267_356370526901264_2070391141980610617_n.pdf/GetMoreSales.pdf?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=e280be&_nc_ohc=qPqrQl9kNCEAX9TX8Yw&_nc_ht=scontent-waw1-1.xx&oh=00_AfAd4kfXEwlbqr8sACDNjdaC4UYlb1BX0y28ETUycfA3Bg&oe=6571B7D3]
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7. Raport QUALID: Jakość w reklamie https://www.iab.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/10/IAB_Polska_Raport_QUALID_Jakosc_w_reklamie_cyfrowej_092023.pdf
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