Whilst Thanksgiving isn’t a regularly celebrated holiday here in the United Kingdom, you shouldn’t completely ignore it when trying to expand your organic or paid reach online.
Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the United States and Canada that traditionally celebrates the harvest and other blessings of the previous year. Some people even consider it a bigger holiday than Christmas, which to us Brits seems bizarre, as it’s so sparsely recognised by UK households.
The Black Friday and Cyber Monday traditions have been greatly assimilated into British culture, but perhaps because of the tradition and history behind it, Thanksgiving has been left to the Americans and Canadians.
We’re here to try and encourage you to consider incorporating Thanksgiving-themed traditions into your own brand identity and marketing strategy, and hopefully, you’ll be able to appeal to the hundreds of millions of people across the pond.
Thanksgiving-ify Your Social Media Profile
If you want to welcome a new audience to your brand, giving your social media profiles a makeover can show that you’re trying to appeal to more people. It could be as simple as adding an orange hue to your existing logo or updating it completely to be in line with Thanksgiving tradition.
It doesn’t have to be a completely radical, out-of-the-box, name-changing refresh, but your own brand’s little twist on a Thanksgiving design can be advantageous.
The benefit of doing this is that you’ll be seen as a business that’s willing to adapt and make changes to accommodate a certain tradition or group of people, which can do wonders for your personal image.
This shouldn’t stop with Thanksgiving, though. Regularly updating your logo or brand image around the other yearly holidays, including Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Valentine’s, and more, can show you’re able to keep up with trending events and that you’re not afraid to be a little different and fun.
Market Thanksgiving-Related Products
Stocking Thanksgiving-related products can be a great way to encourage consumers to shop with you.
You could be an independent craft company that decides to make small, knitted turkeys or even a large-scale vaping brand that chooses to produce brand-new creamed corn or sweet potato pie vape juices (our bets would be on the latter being tastier).
Whatever industry you place yourself within, there’s bound to be scope for the introduction of a limited-time Thanksgiving-specific product or service. For example, the local, Manchester-based business Kindred Fires released a Thanksgiving-inspired candle for people to gift to friends and family.
It doesn’t necessarily matter how bold or subtle you decide to go with your Thanksgiving products; as long as you’re doing something, people will recognise the effort, and some may even be appreciative of it.
Bundle Your Products Together
Whilst this holiday is all about being grateful for those around you, the idea of gifting also plays a heavy role.
If you create a bundle of products on-site and reduce their overall cost, people will be more likely to choose you as the place to go for Christmas gifts.
Shampoo, shaving cream, body lotion, and moisturiser can all be thrown together into the same box and become branded as a “Men’s Grooming Kit”. The possibilities are well and truly endless.
That being said, don’t just bunch any random stuff together for the sake of it. Make it appropriate to the holiday or tradition behind it, and market it as a much-needed, Thanksgiving-specific bundle for anyone to enjoy.
Offer Small Presents or Thanks
Thanksgiving is also about saying “thank you”, so offering customers a gift with their purchases can seriously encourage them to shop.
You don’t have to throw all your money towards this; even a percentage discount on their next order with you would suffice, as long as it’s something to incentivise a purchase or future purchase.
Even if you’re not attempting to use this tactic to encourage people to purchase, shoppers would still be incredibly grateful to receive a small thank-you card when they open the delivery package containing their order. Little things like this show you’re a brand that cares.
Join in with Black Friday Sales
The Thanksgiving tradition may not have crossed the waters over to the UK, but Black Friday certainly has.
Over the years, the November shopping period has grown exponentially, with many brands now hosting ‘pre-Black Friday’ and even month-long ‘Black November’ sales. Millions of people are getting involved with Black Friday, so you don’t want to fall behind the crowd.
You don’t necessarily need to go overboard with the sales and offer “99% off everything”, but hosting exclusive events, limited-time sales, or giveaways is more than enough.
Plus, if you’re trying to appeal a little more to your US audience, offering free or even discounted shipping to the States will encourage more people to purchase from you. International shipping can sometimes be quite costly, especially if the purchase value of your products is quite low, so reducing your shipping fees is a way to alleviate this issue.
Send a Thanksgiving-Themed Email
Email marketing is a great way to be creative with your business-to-customer and business-to-business communications. Sending emails can inform your audience about any company updates, including product releases, important news, and more.
Granted, plenty of other brands incorporate emails into their marketing strategy, so make sure you go one step beyond. Entice people with short, catchy subject lines and don’t overfill the body copy or designs with unnecessary, clunky information.
If you’re aiming to appeal to an American audience with your emails, make sure you send specific ones to your US subscribers. Don’t send them ones that provide details of UK delivery; instead, list how much US shipping is, and make sure that all American spellings are correctly used (e.g. favorite vs favourite).
Collaborations and Partnerships
A great way to tap into existing US audiences is through partnerships with creators or businesses.
US creators typically have a well-defined and engaged audience that matches your target demographic. Not only that, but creators often have a strong rapport with their followers; any recommendations can be seen as more authentic and trustworthy than traditional advertising.
Collaborations also lead to user-generated content, an incredibly valuable asset for a brand’s marketing efforts, which can be reused and repurposed across various campaigns.
So, there you have it! A few of our top tips on how you can appeal to an American audience during Thanksgiving as a UK-based brand.
Thanksgiving is an incredibly busy time of the year, so ensure you’re active and engaged with any attempt you make to bridge the gap between your UK and US audiences.
Interested in learning more about what we can do for your business? Check us out online. We’re experts in paid social and PPC ads, email marketing, graphic design, copywriting, and so much more!
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