Holiday themes are one of my favorite things about marketing. They’re an easy way to connect with your audience on an emotional level, and tugging on the heart strings of potential leads is a great way to build your relationships (it’s called resonance).
For some companies, using holiday themes in marketing is an easy task. They can go all out with email templates, temporary website changes, themed social media galore, but for others it’s more difficult to bend the branding guidelines. Many B2B companies that provide solutions for industries like healthcare, finance, biotech, engineering, or others, have to maintain a certain professional tone in their marketing, because that’s what their audience expects.
We’re a B2B company and I’ve enjoyed bending those guidelines in one way or another, for example this email promoting a webinar, but also calling out one of the best holidays around, National Deviled Egg Day (November 2nd for those wondering).
Why did I think this was appropriate to send? This was the final promotion for a webinar we were hosting, so I figured if I had a chance to play around with the copy and design, this would be it. Anyone who was really interested in the topic would have probably signed up by now, but there’s always a chance to get more registrants. While National Deviled Egg Day isn’t on everyone’s calendars, I figured most people would enjoy a gif of a parachuting deviled egg having the time of its life.
I digress…let’s move on to actual examples of great holiday-themed marketing from B2B companies.
Guardian Data Destruction
Guardian Data Destruction, a U.S. government approved data erasure, created an amazing video that features a Guardian truck, driving through some scary woods. As it passes ghosts, a black cat, and even a skeleton, a sign appears wishing viewers a “Happy Halloween”. In the end, the truck arrives safe and sound, picks up data from their customer in their secure truck, and disappears into a smokey cloud of pumpkins and candy.
I like this kind of B2B marketing because it’s a short video, 25 seconds at most, and the branding in their video matches the branding on their website. It’s short, simple, and to the point.
Uberflip, Bizible, and LeadMD
I love this. Webinars are such a perfect example of content you can easily re-design based on the holiday. The other day I got an email promoting this upcoming webinar with Uberflip, LeadMD, and Bizible, Re-engage the Dead With Killer Content Experiences.
If you’ve seen anything by Uberflip, you know this is 100% on brand for them. I recognize the overall design of this image from their other webinars (there’s no mistaking that pink overlay), but I also appreciate the subtle nod to Halloween through their title and background image. Yes, both are Halloween themed, but I know that when I register I’m going to get information on how to re-engage “dead” leads with all three of these technologies.
ZoomInfo
Even though Halloween is just around the corner, we can’t forget the other holidays coming up. Enter ZoomInfo, with their 6 Things to Be Thankful For infographic. As you scroll through, you’re presented with tips like “video on social media generates 1,200% more shares than text and images combined”, but also images like the one below that clearly emulate a Thanksgiving feast.
Or this image below that offers a fun fact on sales and marketing alignment while showing off a fresh out of the oven turkey.
This is a great example of marketing that resonates with a large audience, but still offers crucial information. Sales and marketing teams alike would benefit from these juicy little tidbits of knowledge (pun intended).
Holiday marketing for B2B companies can be done in a fun way that doesn’t break from branding guidelines or tone of company voice. Here’s a worksheet to help you get a jump start on winter holidays. Who knows, maybe you’ll be inspired by Cat Herder’s Day (December 15th for interested parties).