Handling holiday promotions in other countries may not be as easy as many companies think. While some holidays, like Christmas, are celebrated in many countries, they are stilln’t global holidays. So, many companies can go wrong with handling holiday promotions, which is why they need to be well-versed in how to handle these promotions the right way.

Plan Prior To the Campaign

The first thing you need to do to be prepared for the holiday promotions is to plan ahead. To do this, you must establish contact with your international partners in other countries before publishing your campaigns. It will help you avoid blunders that can damage the company’s reputation. You can also contact local distributors and the local market to get all the parts of your campaign to hit the right spots. After the holiday season, you can always compare the result to last year’s performance to ensure next year is even better.

Use Multi-Channels

Don’t limit yourself to using one channel to push your campaign to different markets. Social media, email messaging, text messages, and video platforms like YouTube can impact different regions and holiday events in countries. For example, social media platforms can target specific markets with customized and relevant messages according to their local events and holidays.

TV, print media, and radio provide channels that reach a large part of the potential market because of their involvement in holidays. People tend to stick to their TVs more during the holiday season, so don’t just stick to one media channel; use multiple channels to reach a larger audience.

Localize Words and Images

Sending a global “Happy holiday” message in the Christmas season may not be a good idea because there are many countries in your list that do not celebrate it as a national holiday. Even if they do, the use of images, songs and symbols may be not recognizable all over the world, so localization of the words and imagery is vital for the success of the campaign. Simply translating an ad or print promotion will not make the cut if the content is not relevant to local customs and holidays.

A good example to illustrate the importance of localization is an ad from the UK that shows a kid who wakes up in the morning to find his gifts under the tree. The same ad will not make much sense in Germany where gifts are exchanged the night before December 25th. Make sure to learn about the holidays that are more popular in other countries to make sure that your campaign hits the right notes. For example, in Pakistan, a minority celebrates Christmas on the 25th, while a large majority is celebrating a different holiday. So, appealing to what most people can relate to will ensure the success of your campaign.

The most important thing to remember is to think globally from the start. Do not wait for the feedback to get the desired outcome and do not hold back on communicating with your international partners.