12 Unexpected Holiday Marketing Ideas to Get Your Jingle On

The holiday season is just around the corner. Generally speaking, there are two marketing mistakes that real estate agents tend to make during this time, especially the colder winter months (shout out to the upper Midwest and Northeast). 

The first mistake is pulling back on their promotional efforts. Much of the industry tends to hibernate from December through February, but this is exactly why you need to plow ahead. As Glennda Baker makes clear, people always need to move, and if you’re the agent who’s consistently showing up in people’s inboxes, mailboxes, and social media feeds during the slow period, guess who’s going to get the call when the need arises.

Host a client appreciation event

Unlike events that are open to all, as a marketing strategy, client appreciation events are primarily meant to retain clients. By expressing your gratitude for their support, you can build trust, loyalty, and goodwill. Clients who feel appreciated are more likely to provide you with repeat business and reciprocate with referrals. Here are a few client appreciation events that resonate with the holiday season:

1. Rent an ice skating rink

I’ve written before about my brother Stephen, the founder of Acree Brothers Realty Team. Each December, he organizes a client appreciation event, and one of his most celebrated is when he rents a local ice skating rink for a few hours, and arranges for free skates, hot cocoa, and cookies. He makes a short speech to thank everyone for their business, share his goals for the new year, and wishes everyone a happy holiday season.

2. Schedule pictures with Santa

While most people will pay $30 or more to wait in a line at the mall for a picture with Santa, Angela Perry, a RE/MAX agent in Warrington, Pennsylvania, invites her clients to take a free picture with Santa. She hires the man himself for several hours in the morning, rents the requisite thrown, and pays for decorations, the printed pictures, and refreshments. (To make an impression on your most valued clients, do what Garrett Maroon does—frame their pictures and hand-deliver them.)

Angela maximizes the potential of her marketing by opening up the event to others in the community during the afternoon. She posts the information to Facebook, drives people to a signup sheet where for $10 they can select a timeslot. She also collects the information, which she adds to her database. (If you can cover the additional cost, you might consider making the $10 fee a donation that you give to a children’s or other appropriate charity.)

3. Organize a charity event

When Shannon Gillette, who leads the Gillette Group in Queen Creek, Arizona, first told me about this idea, I thought it was pure gold. At Christmas time, she takes 300 foster children on a shopping spree and invites her clients to participate as personal shoppers. Everyone feels good about giving back to the community, the kids have an incredible experience, and a videographer captures the excitement for Shannon to share later on social media.

4. Collaborate with a local chef to host a holiday cooking class

You might reserve this event for your top clients as the expense will likely be higher than some other ideas. Connect with a local chef to ask if they have an interest in hosting a class at their restaurant, or you can inquire about renting space at a local cooking school or food pantry with a kitchen.

Do a Pop-by

5. Surprise homeowners with an unexpected gift

Stop by at a client’s or prospect’s home, and it’s called a pop-by; stop by someone else’s home, and it’s called door knocking. Whichever route you take, bringing along a surprise gift will leave a lasting impression.

The gift doesn’t need to be flashy or expensive—but it does need to be thoughtful to be appreciated. 

For clients and prospects, being able to give a considerate gift is a matter of paying attention, which is yet another reason to stay in touch year-round—it’s how you gather intel to add to your contact database for reference during occasions, just like the holidays. Visit our Resource Library for free holiday gift tags you can attach to your client gifts. There are even ones to attach to a sweet treat for the kids. 

For prospective clients, a thoughtful gift that ensures they remember you is a promotional copy of a ReminderMedia personally branded magazine. Branded with your name, image, business, and contact info, it’s a great way to wish someone a happy holiday while leaving behind an impressive calling card. (I’ll explain more about our magazines in a minute.)

Post holiday-themed content to social media

6. Conduct a 12 Days of Christmas campaign

A lot of my clients will share content counting down to Christmas. We give them a library of content like holiday recipes, activities to do with the family, ways to decorate the house, safety tips, and party ideas, and they post them leading up to the holidays. This type of content gets a lot of engagement because it’s timely and not just about business.

7. Post personal content

Being active on social media is a way for your audience to get to know you as a person and not just as a real estate agent. Being able to connect with your followers on a personal level lets them connect with you over common experiences, promoting them to know, like and trust you. Share your holiday pictures, home decorating ideas, recipes passed down through your family, favorite holiday movies, and the like. 

Sponsor a holiday community or family event

From a marketing perspective, these types of events are great for boosting brand awareness and attracting leads. There’s a wide variety of opportunities and ideas, and all of them represent a chance to share images on social media to further promote your brand.

8. A workshop for Santa’s elves

If you pride yourself on being crafty, this is an event you can lead in a community all, library rec room, or even a senior center. If your talents lie elsewhere, there are hardware and big-box stores that routinely schedule holiday DIY projects for kids and adults in their retail locations (which saves you from having to collect the needed supplies). And when it’s done, everyone has their project to take home, reminding them of you and the fun they had.

9. Arrange a gift-wrapping get-together

You can send a custom postcard to your farm inviting them to a location like the ones mentioned above where you’ll provide all the gift-wrapping materials needed to design the perfect gift presentation. Make it a grand event by adding some holiday-themed drinks and snacks.

You get the idea—provide the food and the materials and you’ve got an event. Here are a few more creative and holiday community and family events:

10. Organize a gingerbread house decorating competition

This fun event is one where the kids can get involved. Consider partnering with local business or referral partners to cobrand the event and split the costs. (You can buy mini gingerbread house kits in bulk from suppliers like Amazon and bring along extra decorations.) Invite local celebrities like the mayor, newspaper editor, and Chamber of Commerce president to be judges. And as always, post your pictures and videos to social media.

11. Sponsor a holiday wreath-making workshop

Leading up to the holidays, florists and arboretums will sometimes host workshops where they supply fresh greenery and instructions for making holiday wreaths. Offer to help sponsor such an event and be prepared to help out with preparing the venue and delivering supplies.

Send a gift that keeps on giving

12. Give a free subscription to your own personally branded magazine

Sending a personally branded magazine from ReminderMedia surpasses the routine holiday card and serves as a strategic marketing tool to keep you top of mind with clients all year round. It’s the ultimate holiday marketing power play, fulfilling your need to both connect with clients this season and promote your services. And it does it for less than the cost of most Hallmark cards.

The festive cover of a 48-page, high-quality magazine is sure to catch recipients’ eyes—a surprise that offers meaningful, engaging content and shows you’re offering something special that ensures you’ll absolutely stand out from the competition. Even more, you can impress each recipient with a unique greeting by including a personalized holiday letter on the Front Inside Cover for each recipient at no additional cost, drawing on personal details to make your message stand out and strengthen their impression of you.

Take action

The holiday season is not a time to pause your marketing; in fact, it’s a time to start gearing up for the new year and the spring season soon to follow. But while sending a holiday card is a nice gesture, it does nothing to help you stand out, be memorable, or provide value. If you want to make a lasting impact and nurture your client relationships, you need to do better—you need to do the unexpected. This year, step up your marketing game by using one or more of the holiday marketing ideas suggested here. They’re powerful ways to foster celebrations while also growing your business.