How to Engage Your Audience with Holiday Storytelling
Stories bring people together, unifying readers on common emotional ground. This is most prevalent during the holidays, when positive sentiments flourish and people want to be with and give to their loved ones.
Holiday storytelling encompasses any type of content that's designed to evoke seasonal feelings and enhance the emotional bond with new and existing readers. It helps engender positive brand sentiment in the near- and long-term, making it a powerful engine to help generate more conversions and revenue than any other time of year.
The power of holiday storytelling
During the holiday season, consumers are eager to celebrate, reminisce, and connect with loved ones. The holidays drive a strong desire to invest in meaningful gifts, experiences, and charitable causes. This gives you the chance to share compelling, brand-aligned stories that resonate with the festive spirit. Embrace the power of holiday storytelling by combining impactful copy and thoughtful design to inspire joy, evoke nostalgia, and celebrate the selfless spirit of giving. In doing so, you can also drive significant conversions by:
Showing appreciation for prospective clients
Strengthening existing client relationships and loyalty
Boosting brand visibility, identity, and memorability
Adding overall content variety to your site
How to engage audiences with holiday storytelling
Start brainstorming ways to deliver holiday content that makes the most sense for your brand and audience. The following are tips you can adopt to make the most impact:
Blog posts
Blog posts are the most common form of website content, and traditionally feature your experiences, expertise, advice, opinions, and anecdotes. Your blog is a great place to share your emotions, allowing your audience to relate and connect with you on a deeper level.
For example, you might write a blog post about what the holiday season means to you. The post doesn’t need to promote a specific web design service or package—its purpose is to connect with readers and offer a glimpse into your values, particularly those that shape your creative design approach.
Another way to contribute to holiday storytelling on your blog is to write articles about seasonal web design best practices. Write about your techniques and approaches to redesigning websites for the holidays, or share quick holiday elements to implement for those who may have waited too long to solicit your services.
Whether you write articles that are sentimental or action-oriented, prioritize creating content that puts your clients first.
A themed email campaign
Brand-aligned email campaigns are one of the most direct ways to send clients holiday greetings. By delivering cheerful holiday sentiments straight to your clients' inboxes, you show that you're a designer who celebrates not just the season, but your clients as well.
Holiday emails can be used to:
Express gratitude for client support and their loyalty to you
Wish clients a happy and healthy holiday
Share a recap of your year
Preview what next year will look like
Offer limited-time holiday discounts
Share active referral programs
Distribute holiday-themed blog posts
A holiday landing page
Create a special holiday landing page that’s dedicated to celebrating the holiday spirit. Use it to showcase seasonal offerings and promotions, highlight a commitment to spreading good will through a charitable cause, and as proof of your ability to build delightful websites.
If you’re not keen on blogging your holiday sentiments, this landing page can serve as a place to share gratitude for clients. Write a few sentences in a short thank-you note-style format, or upload a video message conveying your appreciation.
Pop-ups and announcement bars
Pop-ups and announcement bars are simple elements that you can quickly add to your site to share season’s greetings, highlight promotions, and direct visitors to other relevant holiday content.
Share a holiday message or greeting
Personalize the message with a warm holiday greeting that reinforces brand values or celebrates togetherness. You can keep it simple with something like, “Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season!” Or, use it to drive visitors to your blog by saying something like, “Happy holidays! Enjoy stories of joy, giving, and gratitude on my blog.”
Offer seasonal tips and tricks
If you typically focus on education or lifestyle content, your pop-ups can link to seasonal tips. An announcement bar might say, “Get inspired for holiday decor ideas on my blog!” or “Holiday tip: don’t forget to send your holiday-themed email campaign!”
Host a holiday countdown or giveaway
Build anticipation with a countdown to a special day or event. For example, you could organize a holiday-themed giveaway for clients such as, “I’m celebrating my clients with 12 days of giving. Enter to win new giveaways daily!”
Announce holiday hours or deadlines
Use an announcement bar to remind clients of key dates, like when you plan to be out of office and return back to work. Alternatively, you can use the announcement bar or pop-ups to set expectations around email responses for new project inquiries.
Showcase a holiday-themed story or video
Add a link to your holiday landing page that features a holiday-themed story or video. A pop-up might invite visitors to “Watch our holiday story and see how our team celebrates the season!”
Support a holiday mission or charity drive
If you support a particular charity, use the announcement bar to raise awareness and encourage donations. This is a great way to show visitors what causes speak to you.
Encourage newsletter signups with a seasonal twist
Use a holiday-themed message to encourage newsletter signups, like “Sign up for our holiday newsletter—exclusive deals and cozy content await!”
Seasonal products and services
Holiday-themed products and services are memorable gateways to client conversion. These can highlight your festive spirit, cementing the emotional connection between you and your clients while encouraging them to think of you as future holiday seasons approach.
For instance, you could offer clients a custom holiday webpage or holiday-themed site overhaul. If it’s too late to complete holiday-themed projects, you could offer services to help clients prepare for the new year instead.
Social media content
Create social media posts that share concise, impactful holiday stories. For instance, you might write something like, “This holiday season, we’re here to help you spark more joy in everything you do.” Use your posts to foster direct engagement as well, such as asking followers how they’re spending the holidays, which can help deepen their loyalty to your brand.
Repurpose existing site content strategically through your social feeds to save time and drive traffic. For example, the main takeaway from a blog post—such as “Holiday-Themed Websites Boost Cheer—and Clicks”—can become a compelling social post, complete with a link to the original blog for audiences to learn more and explore purchasing opportunities.
Finally, amplify the reach of your holiday social content by including festive hashtags to maximize visibility. Using a few holiday-themed hashtags aligns your content with trending topics, broadening your reach and attracting new audiences.
Personalized gifts
Another way to spread holiday cheer to your clients is by sending thoughtful gifts like gift cards, snacks, or any personalized present you know they’ll appreciate. Alongside your gift, include a hand-written note thanking them for their business. Forgo using personal notes as promotional opportunities. Instead, focus on expressing how important that client and their business is to you. Recall valuable memories and anecdotes from working with that client–and express what those moments meant to you–to further cement yourself as an invaluable part of their lives, someone they’ll want to continue working with for years to come.
Engaging clients with holiday storytelling
During the holidays, emotions run deep, making it the perfect time to connect with your clients on a more personal level. Share content that shows you genuinely care and value your relationship with them. By fostering goodwill and loyalty, you can make this season truly memorable for both you and your clients.
Explore more ways to prepare for the holidays.
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