Happy Holidays: Messaging That Motivates

The holiday season is quickly approaching. It will be Halloween before you know, and then, just like that, it's Black Friday. Don't wait until it's too late to plan your holiday promotions strategy. Plan ahead, and get the grunt work out of the way, so that you can focus on what's important. Sales and more sales.

One critical element of any promotions strategy is messaging. It is even more important during the holidays because there are more distractions and competing businesses vying for your customers' attention. So how will you break through the clutter?... Start planning early. Be strategic. Be scientific. Develop a messaging strategy that resonates with your audience and permeates the noise.

Use these three easy steps to create holiday marketing campaigns that speak to your audience and drive sales.

1. Use Brand Archetypes to identify your audience's core desire. Brand Archetypes are based on the 12 Jungian Archetypes identified by Psychologist Carl Jung. He theorized that all people identify with at least one of the archetypes, and we all have an instinctual understanding of these personality types. The theory identifies 12 core desires that each of us, humans, aspire to achieve. Your job as a marketer is to determine which core desire your product alleviates. That is the desire that you want to ignite within your target audience. The core desires are:

2. Safety

3. Understanding

4. Freedom

5. Liberation

6. Power

7. Mastery

8. Intimacy

9. Belonging

10. Enjoyment

11. Service

12. Control

13. Innovation

14. Once you understand your audience's core desire, you then must consider their holiday season aspirations/pain points.

15. Identifying the perfect gift for their loved ones or co-workers

16. The desire to feel overwhelming joy

17. The desire to create overwhelming joy and memorable experiences for their loved one

18. The desire to give back to their community

19. The desire to relive childhood memories

20. To get through the holiday season without stress

21. Now that you have an understanding of your audience's desires and holiday season goals, it's time to create your messaging! The intention here is to marry your customers' core desire, as identified in the 12 Jungian Archetypes with their holiday aspirations. Use this insight to develop your key selling point during the holiday season. Communicate this holiday season "value proposition," in all of your holiday messaging and promotions.

If you've read this article, but are still wondering how you're going to implement a successful holiday marketing strategy, join my 3-Day Happy Holidays Promo Challenge. I'll walk you through the do's and the don'ts, and in three days, you'll have the perfect holiday season marketing plan for your business.