At Xcite it got us thinking . . . how different would the Christmas story be if it happened today, would there be a Facebook page for people to “Like” the new Messiah?

Are there lessons to be learned from the Christmas story that could be applied to effective digital marketing campaigns today? Because, no matter what your personal beliefs, that one event so long ago is still fresh in the minds of many people today so they must have got something right!

YOU DON’T NEED CELEBRITIES!

Mary and Joseph wouldn’t be your natural first choice for the central figures in the campaign. An unmarried mother was a big deal in those days and Joseph doesn’t come across as the most dynamic of characters. But nevertheless they carried it off! In your digital media campaign, choose people that will authentically represent your brand, not themselves!

TEASER CAMPAIGNS ATTRACT ATTENTION!

The star shone over the stable and alerted everyone to the fact that something was going on. Word spread quickly. This was no ordinary star, and attracted a great deal of interest as to why it was there and what it was doing. It is a great idea to pre-launch your creative marketing campaign with some kind of teaser that gets people interested.

GUERRILLA MARKETING WORKS!

You’d be hard pushed to plan anything as brilliant as the hosts of heavenly angels appearing in the sky to the shepherds! Flash mobs eat your heart out! If anyone hadn’t already heard the news there was no way they would now be able to avoid it! Always introduce an aspect with the element of surprise; it wins people over every time.

DON’T UNDERVALUE YOUR BRAND

The three magi who followed the star did so because they realised the significance of the child that had been born. They came bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Any effective digital media campaign needs to communicate the worth of your brand and to raise customers’ expectations so that they are willing to make a commitment to the brand because of the benefits they will then get from it.

KEEP COMMUNICATION CURRENT!

Even though all the above happened, that could easily have been the end of the Christmas story. Yesterday’s news. But word continued to spread far and wide, and is still spreading today. How? Through the power of communication and community. The events were written into the gospels that are still read today. People kept them alive by talking about them, and meeting together to do so. In today’s terms we have the social media marketing opportunities to create this same impact! We can constantly write about our brand, and create any number of different virtual communities to enable interaction and communication to take place.

It’s amazing what has been achieved in keeping the Christmas story live despite it being over 2000 years old – especially with no technology involved! Let’s take the learning points from that and bring them into the 21st century to enable us to create effective digital marketing strategies that will be life changing!