The gap between Christmas and New Year can feel like a vortex in which time is a meaningless construct. Your belly is full, your head is pounding, and your bank account is running on fumes. The last thing you want to do is spring right back into work. But what if we told you that you were missing out on some of the best opportunities to market your business? 

In our view, yes, you should be posting on social media between Christmas and New Year. Here’s why. 

You can still enjoy the holidays

If you clicked on this article hoping that the answer was no, you don’t need to post, we get it. You want to rest and recover after the Christmas festivities. Not hunch over in front of a laptop poring over marketing campaigns.

But don’t worry. Simple marketing tools like Hootsuite mean that you can schedule everything to post automatically, at a time and date of your choice. You will have to organise a little bit in advance, but once it’s done it’s mostly hands-off. Alternatively, you can get in touch with a marketing agency, and it will be completely hands-off. Our 24 fingers will do the work instead. 

Most people are home, on the sofa

It’s cold, it’s dark, most people want to be indoors. As the famous quote goes ‘home is where the central heating is’ (that is how it goes right?). That means there are a lot of eyes on screens that you could be reaching. The few days between Christmas and New Year are particularly busy online, as most people have mandatory days off around this time. Why let that go to waste?

 It’s a great time for ‘Brand Awareness’ marketing

Ok, so most people are home. But are they in the mood to purchase? After all, products with a long-term payout (gym memberships, B2B services etc.) feel like a January to-do. At the same time, their bank account is still recovering from buying all of those presents and making merry, so impulse purchases are a no-go. Apart from that must-have piece of art from Seth Armstrong. (Ed’s note: no clue). 

So what opportunity could there be? Well, this is a great time to practice ‘brand awareness’ marketing. The goal of ‘brand awareness’ marketing is not to make immediate sales. Rather, you want to put your brand in front of consumers. Let them know who you are, what you stand for, and why they should like you. That way, when they start to make purchases again, you will be the first brand that they think of.

As for what you should be posting, keep it light. Nobody wants to read whitepapers while the fireworks go off. 

Generate hype for the New Year

Here’s something that you can only do at the end of December. Create hype campaigns for the New Year. Are you planning to kick off the New Year with a new product launch, or sale, or a webinar on how to get more leads from digital marketing? The gap between Christmas and New Year is the perfect time to tease your fans and create hype. Why not post a countdown, or share info about a new product line in dribs and drabs? 

And yes…B2B companies need to post too

It can be tempting to think that B2C marketing is all about ‘vibes’, while B2B marketing is about appealing to data, insights and rationality. There’s some truth to this, but don’t take it too far. Buyers and decision makers are people too. In fact, B2B content with a personal touch gets 37% more engagement than sterile, corporate pieces.

Not sure what to do? B2B marketing over this period could look like strengthening your relationships with clients, with handwritten ‘Happy New Year’ cards from the CEO. Or showing off your expertise with a ’Trends to expect in 2026’ post (here’s ours). Or maybe you want to showcase your highlights with a ‘Year in review’. The possibilities are endless.

Hopefully we’ve convinced you to keep on posting between Christmas and New Year, but if you’re still not sure how to go about it, don’t panic. The small business marketing elves at 24 fingers can sort it for you. Our hands are here to help, through Twixmas and beyond.

Wouldn’t you know it, not only is it Friday the 13^th, but it’s spooky season as well. To celebrate, we’re going to take a look at 13 of the scariest, most bone-chilling marketing stuff-ups to ever exist. If you’re in marketing, don’t read this one before bed. You might have nightmares.

Susan Boyle’s Special Invitation

2012 was a different time. Britain’s Got Talent was peak entertainment, X was still Twitter, and Susan Boyle was still a big name. A big name needs a big album release right, so Susan’s PR department took to Twitter to promote the project. Unfortunately, the hashtag they chose could have used a second reading.

#Susanalbumparty was a source of hilarity among dirty-minded Twitter users, who quickly realized that the lack of spacing opened the door to a more… intimate interpretation. Boyle’s PR team hastily swooped in to replace the hashtag with the more innocent #SusanBoylesAlbumParty but by then, the damage was done.

Dolce & Gabbana’s Noodle-Brained idea

In 2018 D&G was growing rapidly in China, which had become their top-performing market. Naturally, they felt a campaign to cement their presence there was a good idea. Given the importance of the Chinese market, we’re sure D&G put a lot of effort into localization and came up with something that respects the history, culture and traditions of the Chinese people. Let’s take a look.

…Oh. Nevermind. Things went downhill even faster when messages from co-founder Stefano Gabbana were leaked, in which he blasts China as ‘a country of (poop emojis)’ among other racist remarks. All in all, the scandal cost D&G 98% of its sales in China that year, and D&G remains a controversial brand in China.

Scott Disick uses copy and paste

Scott Disick is an American media personality best known for his appearances in Keeping up with the Kardashians. Disick caused an uproar in 2016 when he uploaded a post to Instagram endorsing Bootea, including very specific instructions on how to promote it. The caption read “‘Here you go, at 4pm est, write the below: ‘Keeping up the summer workout routine with my morning @booteauk protein shake!’”.

Truly terrifying stuff.

A&W Has Fun With Fractions

American brand A&W had the brilliant idea of introducing a burger to rival McDonalds’ 1/4 pounder. Their new product the ‘1/3 pounder’ was going to undercut McDonalds’ by offering more meat for the same price.

Unfortunately, most consumers saw that 4 is bigger than 3 and assumed that McDonalds’ burgers must be bigger. Puzzled why they would pay the same price for less, the burger was a huge failure. Maybe what’s really scary about this story is the math skills of the typical consumer. We guess there’s a lot of people out there who need to ‘do the math’.

‘Doing a Ratner’

In the 1980’s Ratners was an extremely successful chain of jewellers. They made jewellery feel affordable and achievable by offering low-priced ranges and huge discounts. They were a beloved British brand. That is until 1991, when then-CEO Gerald Ratner addressed a conference at the Royal Albert Hall.

Explaining how his company can afford to sell products at such low prices, Ratner explains ‘because it’s total crap’. He goes on to joke that some of his earrings are ‘cheaper than a prawn sandwich from Marks and Spencer’s, but I have to say the sandwich will probably last longer than the earrings’. This speech nearly killed off the company overnight. The value of the Ratner group plummeted by £500 million and in the end, they were forced to change their name (they’re now Signet Group) to escape the bad publicity.

As for Gerald, he was dismissed as CEO and people still refer to gaffes like this as ‘doing a Ratner’. Now that’s the stuff of nightmares.

An Album for You, and You, and U2.

Giving away free samples is a great way to get consumers on your side. But in 2014 U2 took this advice a little too far. ITunes users were thrilled to open their library and discover that they had been ‘gifted’ a free copy of U2’s latest album, and there was no obvious way to delete it. Thanks Bono.

Pepsi’s Brand Goes Flat

2017 was a tense time in the USA. The wounds from a divisive election were still fresh. Black Lives Matter was a hot topic. The nation wondered how to move forward in uncharted waters. Enter Pepsi.

According to PepsiCo, their video ad ‘Live for Now’ was an attempt to promote ‘unity, peace and understanding’.

In it, Kylie Jenner is doing a photoshoot when she sees a protest pass by. The protesters are holding signs that say ‘peace’ and ‘join the conversation’. They are smiling and happy. Jenner snaps into street clothes and joins the marching crowd. She makes her way to the front and hands one of the officers a Pepsi. The crowd waits with bated breath to see if the officer will accept this peace offering. When he finally takes a sip, they explode with cheers.

The ad was roasted for trivializing serious issues, and exploiting the BLM movement to sell Pepsi. Even Martin Luther King’s daughter got in on the action.

There’s no coming back from that, so Pepsi had to pull the ad and apologize.

EA’s Giveaway

The Mafia-themed video game Godfather was a huge hit for EA, so when it came time to release the sequel Godfather 2 they wanted to pull out all the stops. On top of the usual release, there would also be a special limited edition version of the game which could only be pre-ordered. This limited edition would come with…wait for it…a pair of real brass knuckles.

Look, it’s a Mafia game. We get it. We respect your commitment to the theme. Unfortunately, owning brass knuckles is illegal in many countries (and so is shipping them). Thankfully EA realised this after shipping some early copies to video game journalists, and requested them back in a fit of panic. Who knows what would have happened if they’d had a wider release?

#Waitrosereasons

In 2012, Waitrose decided to take advantage of the interactive element of social media. They invited customers to reply to their tweet ‘I shop at Waitrose because…’ using the hashtag #waitrosereasons. Maybe this one wasn’t a complete fail, because they did get some cutting insight into how they’re seen by the general public.

Highlights include ‘I shop at Waitrose because Clarrisa’s pony just WILL NOT eat ASDA Value straw,’ and ‘I shop at Waitrose because you say 10 items or fewer not 10 items or less, which is important’. Another tweeter was more direct ‘I shop at Waitrose because I hate poor people’.

Ouch.

Game Over for Sony

In 2006, Sony faced controversy when they ran this ad promoting their new, white line of PSP gaming consoles. Sony pulled the ad, issued a non-apology and thought they were done with it. Then, like Jason Voorhees returning from the dead, the ad resurfaced on Twitter in 2017 and Sony’s PR took a second beating.

Tesla’s Cybertruck is a Smash Hit

In 2019, Tesla unveiled their new product, the Tesla Cybertruck. One of the truck’s key selling points was its durability. Tesla boasted

‘Cybertruck is built with an exterior shell made for ultimate durability and passenger protection. Starting with a nearly impenetrable exoskeleton, every component is designed for superior strength and endurance, from Ultra-Hard 30X Cold-Rolled stainless-steel structural skin to Tesla armor glass’

Now that’s impressive. With all that going for it, it only makes sense to do a live demonstration. So at the product unveiling, Tesla designer Franz von Holzhausen did exactly that. Holzhausen took a steel ball and pelted it at the vehicle’s windows. The crowd sat in stunned silence as the windows of this indestructible vehicle caved in and cracked.

Trying to salvage the situation, Holzhausen picked the steel ball up again and launched it at the vehicle’s back window, praying that this time things would go as planned. They did not. Tesla boss Elon Musk was then forced to continue his presentation in front of the shattered vehicle.

Awkward.

Dove’s Idea Goes Pear-Shaped

Dove has spent years earning its rep as a pro-women, body positive brand. So it was surprising to see them fumble so hard with their ‘Real Beauty Bottles’ campaign. The concept was simple, Dove would sell their shower gels in six different bottles, each shaped to cover the range of female body types. The idea is that women can walk into a shop and pick out the bottle that is the same shape as them.

The idea was shot down by the public before they ever had the chance to reach the shelves. Dove’s bottles made women feel self-conscious, and would force them to face down insecurities that they were not always ready to face. As the kids say, rare Dove L.

Mark Zuckerberg Visits Puerto Rico

In 2017, Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria, which killed nearly 3000 people and caused almost $100 billion in damage. Facebook was donating money and resources to help alleviate the disaster and if their marketing had stopped at pointing this out, everything would have been fine. Instead, Facebook took the opportunity to promote their new VR tool ‘Spaces’.

In a regrettable live-stream, Zuckerberg and his head of social VR Rachel Franklin appear as avatars virtually touring the flooded state. Zuckerberg quips ‘One of the things that’s really magical about VR is you can get the feeling you’re really in a place’ as his smiling avatar floats over scenes of total destruction. In another uncomfortable moment, the pair take a moment to high-five over the joys of VR, while still touring a flooded neighbourhood.

The livestream was torched as tone-deaf and exploitative, and the ‘Zuck was forced to apologise.

It’s easy to make mistakes like this, but our 24 fingers have a light touch. We pride ourselves on making your brand stand out without risking your hard-earned reputation. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch.

You run a business, and you know that in order to take your business to the next level you’re going to need to do some marketing. There’s just one problem…aren’t marketers the bad guys? After all, marketing is intrusive and irritating. You hear the word marketing and you think of billboards, pop-ups, spam, the agonising wait for that ‘Cats Funny Moments Compilation’ on YouTube to finish. Behind the scenes, you imagine slick salespeople, itching to turn your insecurities into their shiny new yacht. We may be biased, but we think that marketing gets a bad rep.

At its base marketing is just letting people know that your product exists and can help them with a problem. Go deeper, and it’s about associating your brand with good vibes.

Ever seen a friend share their cousin’s shop on Instagram? That’s marketing. Ever received a free sample of something delicious at the mall? That’s marketing. Those John Lewis ads that make your eyes well up every Christmas? You guessed it, marketing. 

So without further ado, here are some ways that you can market your business without ruining someone’s day.

Presentation is everything

There’s a lot more to marketing than just ads. Much of what we call marketing is the brand equivalent of wearing nice clothes and practising good hygiene before a first date.

Which is why one of the first things you should do is make sure that your website is clear and accessible. Confusion turns people off, and none of us want that on a first date, eh.

Your website should convey your brand image, what your business offers, and why it is valuable at a glance. If you sell a product, visually pleasing packaging adds a lot. If you have customer-facing employees, they should be decked out in company swag, or smart clothing. All of this constitutes your brand image, and it is important.

Take advantage of social media

Ads are not the devil, as we’ll cover in our next section. But if you’re terrified of bothering people with content they didn’t ask for, social media is a godsend. The great thing about social media is that people only see your (unsponsored) posts if they are choosing to follow you. It’s a great way to keep your audience in the loop around new product lines, remind them of your brand mission, highlight customer case studies and interact directly with potential customers.

Create ads that people love

No that’s not an oxymoron. Remember that John Lewis ad we talked about earlier? When ads are fun, engaging or just plain relevant to their audience, they’re not a nuisance. This is one reason why running targeted ads is better for everyone. The other is that you don’t waste money reaching people who are unlikely to become customers. Win-win-win.

Those three special words…Search Engine Optimisation

Gone are the days of flipping through the Yellow Pages looking for what you really really want. These days, when we’re looking for a plumber, a private dentist, a trendy local bar, or even a new book to read, we run to Google. And since 75% of users never scroll past the first page of Google, appearing on page 1 is critical. Hopefully, you are appearing on the first page when people search the name of your business. 

But are you appearing when people search for plumbers/bars/bookshops in their local area? How about when people ask Google about a problem that your business could easily address? If the answer to these questions is no, you are missing out on a lot of customers. 

This is where SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) comes in. With the right technical skills, you can create a website that Google loves and shoot to the top of the search rankings. Booooom. Bonus, SEO is completely unobtrusive. Whether they knew it or not, the customers you reach thanks to SEO were already looking for you.

Find out more here. 

Offer people value

Have you ever seen anything other than a smiling face grabbing a free sample? People love to receive something. And it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. One way to offer people value is including discount vouchers or promo codes for people who join your mailing list. Another way you can offer people value is by writing informative articles like this one. This has the added bonus of showing off your expertise in your field, making customers more likely to buy from you.

In short, marketing done well is a positive for everyone, including your potential customers. Offering value, making good use of social media and making sure your SEO is on point are just some of the ways you can market your business without being that annoying company.

Want to find out if your marketing is engaging or just plain annoying? Get in touch today and claim your free audit.