Once November rolls around, it’s only a matter of time before people find themselves digging through dusty, old boxes, searching for their favorite holiday decorations and prepping for a winter full of festivities. Aside from putting up a tree and exchanging gifts with family, as a company, this action-packed time of year gives your business opportunities to connect emotionally with your consumers.
Brands can choose to do this in many different ways– like with a catchy jingle or expansive social media campaign– but we’ve found that a particularly effective way to resonate with your target audience is by using experiential marketing to create a memorable holiday pop up shop.
Let’s quickly establish what a holiday pop up shop is and why it’s beneficial before we discuss holiday pop up shop ideas at greater length! We hope that by the end, this blog leaves you with exciting ideas and creative touches you can put on your holiday pop up this winter season.
What Are Holiday Pop Up Shops And Why Are They Beneficial?
Holiday pop up shops are retail stores or services set up in a temporary location during the holiday season. They’re beneficial for businesses looking to build brand awareness, expand their retail footprint, or bolster sales— and this is true across all industries. Whatever type of company you are— skincare, software, food and beverage, beauty, etc— employing this marketing strategy can give you a leg up over your competitors and even make the difference in a fiscal quarter or year.
Let’s take a closer look at three advantages:
Expand your retail footprint.
Sample your products in real time.
Connect with consumers.
Established brands use holiday pop ups to test new potential store locations, while still attracting foot traffic to their main store. If you’ve ever wondered where you should open your next store, a holiday pop up is a helpful and reliable way to find out.
Commercials and old-fashioned advertisements aren’t completely obsolete, but they can limit your marketing abilities in some important ways. For instance, a person can’t really know if they like your product through a TV or phone screen, which is why holiday pop ups are the perfect occasion to sample your products in real time and make consumers fall in love.
In the same vein, holiday pop ups make it easy to connect face-to-face with consumers. Since you will likely have your team or brand ambassadors on-site at your pop up shop, you have the opportunity to put a face to your name and, therefore, have trained and friendly representatives better communicate your product.
Now that we’ve established what a holiday pop up is and what it can help your company accomplish, let’s discuss specific ways that you can design your holiday pop up shop for this upcoming season. Our company has been helping brands execute holiday events like these for years, so we know the tips and tricks of the trade better than anyone!
5 Holiday Pop Up Shop Ideas
1. Serve Specialty Holiday Drinks
When the winter season replaces fall, people trade out tailgating and apple-picking for curling up next to a fireplace with a good book. And what’s the one drink everyone craves when it’s too cold to step outside? Hot chocolate! Whether aware of it or not, most people have an emotional attachment to hot chocolate; perhaps it reminds them of fond childhood memories, or maybe it evokes a certain cozy feeling during the holiday season in general.
Regardless, the fact that this drink is delicious, easy to make, and pulls on so many people’s heartstrings means it’s the perfect beverage item to consider serving at your holiday pop up! Here are some big-name brands that have taken our advice and used hot-chocolate as a way to attract foot-traffic and resonate with consumers at their holiday pop ups:
Chanel
Gopuff
Rose Inc
Though we’ve seen a lot of success with hot chocolate, this isn’t your only drink option. You can also decide to serve holiday cocktails, hot coffee, or anything else that you think gets consumers in the holiday spirit.
2. Customize Food and Beverages to Fit the Holiday Theme
Use the holiday spirit to customize your food and beverage items and packaging! This small detail makes your culinary component not only more enjoyable in person, but more instagrammable too, leading to organic social media traffic and growth for your brand name.
We helped Happy Socks do this by customizing cake pops to look like Christmas trees and ginger bread men!
3. Accentuate Your Pop Up With Christmas Decorations and Garlands
When you partner with Food Truck Promotions, your vehicle is already fully customizable via our wrapping and branding services. With that in mind, you can also choose to add other exterior touches that take your holiday pop up shop to the next level.
During the Christmas season, this can mean garlands, decorative gifts, and other installations specific to the holiday theme. Below are a few snapshots from companies in the past!
Compass
Lulu & Georgia
Bacardi
4. Offer Special Holiday Deals
It should go without saying that any discount, prize, or deal you can offer your consumers will go a long way. Especially during the winter holiday season, consumer spending is already extremely high, so any time people can save is greatly appreciated!
Give away bounce-back cards and discount codes that encourage people to engage with your company far after the holiday pop up ends.
5. Integrate a Social Media Feature
Most of a holiday pop up shop’s appeal is that it makes for memorable in-person experiences. With that being said, this day and age, an event like this also carries the potential to be posted on social media— especially when you implement some kind of element that encourages people to post about your holiday pop up.
Implement a photo-booth with props, a holiday pop up hashtag, or a polaroid capture moment to translate your in-person event to social media organically. This extra coverage will create more exposure and result in greater overall reach.
Wrap Up
With November in full swing, it’s time to start thinking about what your company’s holiday pop up might look like this year. Whether this is the first holiday pop up you’ve ever put on, or you’re a seasoned vet, we hope that we’ve left you with 5 excellent holiday pop up shop ideas!
If you’re interested in learning more about what Food Truck Promotions has to offer, you can contact us here and speak with our team in more detail. We can’t wait to work with you and produce a holiday pop up shop that’s a true Christmas miracle!
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