Bloggers are always thinking ahead and scheduling posts or topics to target at certain times of the year or even month. So most of us bloggers have been preparing for this holiday season for some time now.
Is your blog and marketing campaign already all set up to target the major holidays this year like Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years Eve and Day?
Instead of burning out trying to promote the same specials everyone else is or giving reviews on the same products as everyone else you might want to step outside the box. Maybe try blogging on a more personal level, like how you plan for the holidays or perhaps some family recipes to swap or even how to keep track of your holiday budget, this will draw more quality readers then the other stuff that everyone else is already targeting.
The important thing is to create a plan early on and stick to it so you are not trying to change things up last minute. Here are two essential holiday blogging ideas that can help you now and for the other year round holidays:
1. How Can I Incorporate Holidays (That is Organic to My Site)?
I think of IFB contributors like Grechen, Cora, and Julia here – Grechen runs a secondary site, Grechen’s Codes, where she shares promotions and sales year round (just like she does on Grechen’s Closet). Cora regularly shares sales and promotions at The Lingerie Addict, and Julia often has special discounts in select posts at Fashion Pulse Daily. These three all share the same common trait – that discount codes and special promotions are part of their regular content. If they have a special code for their readers, they share it. They have weekly roundups highlighting sales and promotions in their niche. This makes it so easy, and organic, for them to transition into the holidays. It hasn’t shifted the way they run their blogs – it just shifts the REASON for the discount.
2. How Can I Promote the Holidays in a Way that’s Unique?
This is when I refer back to hitting so many gift guides. In the past, I created gift guides because they seemed popular. They were a way to make money. But in reality, it was a way to do what I felt like I had to (address the holidays), without finding the right way to do it for me and my site. Success in blogging for the holidays comes from taking this idea: “It’s about looking at what you do best as a blogger, and asking, “How do the holidays impact this, and what can I share?”” and also asking, “How can I share it in my own unique way?” What makes your gift guides different: Is it the layout? The type of product? The quirky people you shop for in your life? If you focus on sustainability, you can share gorgeous holiday gifts that give back to the community. Both of these ideas, creating organic content, and creating content that is unique, is intrinsically connected to who you are as a blogger. The goals and missions of your site, your personal aesthetic, the priorities in your life – they all can guide how you develop a strong, creative, and inspiring way to approach the holidays. As the holidays come up, I’ll be looking at how I do this on my own site, and developing a better M.O. for blogging during the holidays going forward!
Creating organic content as well as making it unique will really set you apart from the millions of other bloggers this holiday season.
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