The advent calendar is a Christmas tradition that has lasted for centuries. Since its invention in the late 1800s, each day in December has been something to savour in the build-up to Christmas Day.
While most of us think of chocolate advent calendars, we’ve now seen cosmetics advent calendars and even alcohol ones – so why not try a marketing advent calendar?
Since it’s such a tradition and a widely known concept, the idea of an advent calendar is perfect for marketing – but how would that work?
What is advent calendar marketing?
Advent calendar marketing is an opportunity for businesses to promote their products or services each day in the run-up to Christmas Day.
By applying the well-known ‘countdown’ process, your brand can make this idea your own by producing a wide variety of content on your website, social media, emails and more.
What are the benefits of advent calendar marketing?
The concept of a traditional advent calendar
- Boost brand loyalty
- Highlight products and services
- Improve your authority
- Generate anticipation
- Generate user-generated content
12 advent calendar marketing ideas
- Create a social media ‘series’
The 12 days of Christmas are the perfect opportunity to create a ‘series’ of social media content that will be anticipated by your audience.
Whether it be sharing one tip or piece of content each day, asking your audience questions or sharing some funny moments from the office, your audience will start to look forward to seeing your post each day, building their loyalty to your business.
- Create a video or podcast ‘series’
Similarly to social media, you could take things one step further and create a video or podcast series.
Maybe you could publish an interview with an insightful guest each day, provide a useful piece of advice or discuss hot topics within your industry.
These videos or podcast episodes don’t need to be long either!
- Create an email ‘series’
Schedule your emails to be published every day leading up to Christmas. This will generate anticipation amongst your audience and increase brand loyalty.
The content of your emails can vary from company updates to product offers, sharing blogs, case studies or helpful tips.
- Build a multi-platform campaign
You could combine these ideas to create a multi-platform campaign that gets as many relevant eyes on your content as possible.
From emails to videos, social media posts, case studies and PDFs, your campaign could take up some or all of your advent calendar marketing.
- Share your culture
We love the office vibe when it comes to Christmas! What better time to share a glimpse of your company culture than by sharing what your team is up to over the festive period?
Or if you work from home and don’t meet in person, why not share a screengrab of your virtual team social?
- Gamification
Your marketing advent calendar doesn’t have to just be all about you!
You could create a quiz or survey with your audience and provide a helpful outcome for them upon completion, using a tool like ScoreApp.
- Offer a discount
Advent calendar marketing gives you the chance to offer something different to your audience each day.
You could run a discount on your product or service that lasts just for one day, incentivising people to make the most of a bargain!
- Incentivise or run competitions
Everyone has a competitive streak, so why not run a competition on your social media platforms?
The prize could be a copy of your book, early access to a new product or a discount on one of your services.
- Run a direct mail campaign
At Christmas, people will appreciate a gift through their letterbox more than ever!
Write a social media post explaining there is a limited number of your product available and inviting them to comment to get their hands on one!
Then, send your product directly to these people in the post with a personalised message or even a Christmas card.
- Repurpose previous content
December is the perfect time to reflect on the year. Repurpose your best pieces of content into a montage, blog post or reflective social media post.
This may open your audience’s eyes to helpful content they missed!
- Run a Q&A
This could take the form of a blog post, social media post or even a livestream, allowing your audience to ask your questions face-to-face.
(Remember: it’s so important you build anticipation ahead of your livestream on social media. Nothing prepares you for the feeling of presenting a livestream with no-one watching!)
It gives you the chance to showcase your expertise and position yourself as a figure of authority within your industry.
- Leverage trends and memes
You don’t want to look like you’re jumping on the bandwagon, so make sure the meme or trend is actually relevant to your business and audience.
Here’s an example:
Each year, Spotify releases Spotify Wrapped, summarising their customers’ listening habits over the previous 12 months. It might be funny to recreate their recognisable graphics and make the content relevant to your business and audience.
And lastly… wish your audience a Merry Christmas!
We hope this article has given you some inspiration for your own advent calendar marketing this December.
Remember, showcase your products, use your customers, get creative and have fun!
If you need any advice or help to implement an advent calendar marketing strategy, get in touch with our team at Flamingo Marketing Strategies.
Christmas is a busy time all around, but we can help you stand out from the crowd and generate sales over the holiday season!
Keen to give your business a head start in 2025?
Building your marketing strategy is the first step towards generating brand awareness, getting ahead of the competition and securing high-quality leads in 2025.
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Book your free 60-minute strategy call with our Managing Director, Emma Sansom, today.
