B2B Branding for the Holidays: Smart Strategies to Stand Out

Are your B2B accounts strategizing about how they can stand out in the noise of holiday marketing? This is the time of year when they can reinforce B2B branding. They can increase visibility by publishing the right kind of content with the right partners.

How to survive the B2B sales lull during the holidays

Industry experts point out that B2B sales typically slow down between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. While sales reps may develop their own plan for staying in touch with decision-makers, your accounts should have a bigger B2B branding strategy in place to stay visible.

How to improve visibility

Most B2B accounts do not run promotional campaigns at year-end. There’s too much competition for attention from the B2C operators. In fact, many B2B operators fall silent at this time of year. That behavior opens a large opportunity for your accounts to raise their profile.

How unique content serves as a B2B branding tool

Publishing unique content is one way to attract attention. Maria Alonso, a marketing executive at Forbes, points out that year-end insights or predictions make an impact. Decision-makers who are reviewing posts during the holiday season will take notice of content such as a listicle of predictions for the new year.

Our B2B BuyerSCAN survey indicates that 20% of senior decision-makers will increase consideration of a vendor or supplies who shares a useful blog post.

What is the definition of useful? Keep in mind that surveyed decision-makers struggle not just with their business but the weight of their position. Content that helps them improve some of their key challenges can be beneficial. They report facing the following issues:

• Decision fatigue 16%
• Short-term pressure vs. long-term vision 16%
• Gap between strategy and execution 15%

It’s all about adding value and offering content that make your account look like an expert in the field. The decision-maker who notices this content on Christmas Eve likely will not act immediately. But they will remember the name of the brand.

Using the right content creators

The right content creators can help B2B marketers increase visibility at year-end. To make the most of these resources, the experts advise marketers to establish a relationship with them early in the year. Over time, decision-makers will be accustomed to identifying specific content creators with your account’s brand.

With a unique twist on a holiday tradition, a content creator can establish a reputation for the brand, and this angle can continue indefinitely. Depending on the brand’s mission, content creators can develop humorous or serious videos: “Something audiences expect each year” states Lauren Banks from RepuGen.

Content creators’ impact is not limited to the B2C ecosystem. According to our B2B BuyerSCAN survey, 20% of senior decision-makers will increase consideration of a brand if they were referenced by a social media influencer.

Tie messaging to the spirit of the season

If your company participates in volunteer or charitable work, highlight these activities through content marketing. Whether it’s a blog post or social media, emphasizing giving during the holidays reinforces a positive brand image. To increase authenticity, this type of campaign should show evidence of charitable activity taking place throughout the year.

These messages can be especially impactful when they feature employee advocates.

Closing thoughts

Senior decision-makers don’t have much time or patience for complicated ad campaigns. On a broader scale, our research shows that over 20% of consumers believe most businesses do not have credible marketing practices. And over 40% also noted that businesses can improve their credibility by highlighting the following activities: showing the real people behind the business and showing how they give back to the community. Emphasizing these details in a B2B branding campaign during the holidays will positively impact your account’s ROI.

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