level up your holiday marketing with hummingbirds
level up your holiday marketing with hummingbirds
10/25/2023
Holiday season is an incredibly busy time for retail stores. With families getting together near and far, it’s also a busy time for the travel industry, CPG brands, and services! According to Forbes, in order for brands to succeed during the holiday season, they must find a way to cut through the noise and stand out, and Hummingbirds can help brands do just that!
the power of people
Some sources estimate that we see between 6,000 - 10,000 advertisements per day. Can you name even five that you saw today? Probably not! But do you remember what your coworker posted about on Instagram or your aunt posted about on Facebook? Probably!
As humans, we care about what people in our circle of influence are doing, where they’re going and what they’re saying. Unless it’s a very clever ad, we’ve become conditioned to scroll past ads and pause at content from people that we’re connected with and care about.
Hummingbirds leverages these peer-to-peer relationships that already exist by partnering place-based brands with real people who are active in their community. These people, called hummingbirds, experience the brand and then share about their experience on social media. When their network is scrolling on social media, they stop and listen (or read!) about their experience. More often than not, the followers will try out the brand themselves or tell others about it.
The great thing about working with real people is that the influence doesn’t stop after they post on social media. Hummingbirds are excited to experience brands because they LOVE their communities and will keep talking about it when they grab coffee with a friend, go to the gym, or chat with their dog’s groomer.
3 ways hummingbirds can boost your holiday marketing
1. GET TRAFFIC TO YOUR STOREFRONT
One of the biggest challenges during the holidays is getting people to shop at your store, mall, or even visit your town versus another. More often than not, holiday shopping is chaotic and people tend to stick to places they’ve been or have heard about from someone in their network.
Every store will have a flashy window display, so name recognition goes a long way in getting a leg up over the competition. When a hummingbird posts pictures or a video of/in your store, it will create awareness when people are choosing where to shop and recognition if they’re out and about and see your store.
2. activate new customers and keep them
Sometimes, the most difficult part of acquiring new customers, especially during the busiest shopping time of the year, is getting them in the door. When a brand works with Hummingbirds, they post a campaign on our dashboard, hummingbirds mark if they’re interested, and then the brands select which hummingbirds they want to participate. Unlike publishing an ad and hoping someone interested sees it, our unique, double opt-in system identifies people who are already excited and likely to become repeat customers for your brand!
After brands select their hummingbirds, they give them complimentary perks to experience their brand. One example of this is a $50 gift card for dinner at a restaurant. While the hummingbird could be diligent and only spend $50, they’ll likely bring a friend or two and end up spending significantly more. Then, because they had such a good time, most, if not all, will return again and again!
3. advertise specials
Our hummingbirds love the holidays, and that includes experiencing your holiday specials! Activate hummingbirds to experience your specials right away so their network has time to take advantage of them, too. If your specials change throughout the season, there’s a very good chance that the hummingbirds will come back to try them all!
While we never tell hummingbirds what to say, we can ask them to include details when they post on social media, such as the dates that sales or specials are running. It’s also a great way to create FOMO!
Ready to get started?
Whether or not you activate Hummingbirds right now, we hope you have an incredibly successful holiday season! If you are ready to learn more about Hummingbirds, visit our website, book a call with someone from our team, or send us an email at sales@thehummingbirds.co.
