Marketing With an Advent Mindset: 3 Tips and 4 Bible Stories That Can Help
“A voice proclaims: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!” (Isaiah 40:3).
If you’re anything like me, waiting until November to finish Christmas shopping feels akin to the panic that ensues when you’re seconds away from missing your flight. (This year, I bought gifts for everyone on my list except our priests by November 7, and I felt disastrously behind.)
Apparently, most people are not like me. Statistics vary, in one survey, 79% of people said they do their Christmas shopping in the last two weeks before Christmas.
If you’re a shop owner, that means that your busiest weeks of the year most likely also fall during one of the holiest times of the year: Advent. How do you reconcile a hectic season with contemplation and preparation when we don’t seem to live in a “world in solemn stillness?”
As a Catholic marketer who focuses on using Biblical evangelization to grow Catholic organizations, I have both practical and spiritual tips to help you embrace the holiness of the season while also running your business:
3 Practical Tips
1. Put Your Business on Autopilot
You can run a business and set aside intentional time for reflection during Advent if you work ahead. You can schedule pretty much all of your marketing ahead of time, including social media posts, emails, and even product listings.
2. Encourage Early Shopping With Sales
Many Catholic business owners I know go on vacation mode after Black Friday and Cyber Monday in order to fulfill orders and take some time to rest. If you don’t want to close up shop entirely, consider offering any sales you might typically run closer to Christmas now, prior to Advent, to encourage earlier shopping and leave you with some downtime during Advent.
3. Lean Into the Season
I often encounter business owners who are afraid of using the “Catholic label” as a way to make sales, but I find that touting your faith authentically adds to customers’ trust. I’m much more likely to buy religious products from people who actually live the faith than from a company that only acknowledges Jesus in December in order to profit. As a consumer, I want to purchase from fellow Catholics, and I’ll only know they’re Catholic if they share their faith in their marketing.
4 Spiritual Reminders
1. Following Isaiah Can Lead You to Profit
Of all the people we hear from during Advent, Isaiah and his prophecies echo again and again throughout those four weeks. He extols the coming Messiah repeatedly.
Why do we focus so much on Isaiah during Advent? Because it’s important to know why Jesus’ birth was so important. As Simon Sinek says over and over again, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” Some baby was born in the cold in Bethlehem? No big deal. That baby was born because God is saving the world through Him? Now, you have my attention.
In the same way, Advent is a great time to tell your own “why.” Why do you do what you do? What problem or pain point does it solve in someone’s life? Marketing to the feelings behind what you do rather than just its practical applications will engage people’s hearts in a way that no flash sale ever will.
2. Community Overrules Competition in Mary’s Visitation
Mary had some big news; she was carrying the Savior of the world. Likewise, Elizabeth’s ability to have a child after suffering from years of infertility was also a big deal. But instead of gloating in her own blessing, each woman extended herself to celebrate the other over her own pregnancy—Mary in traveling to help Elizabeth and Elizabeth in her exclamation of praise at the mother of her Lord (Luke 1:41-45).
We can approach our own marketing this season with the same community mindset. Instead of only promoting your own work, promote others’ businesses, too! Put together a gift guide of some of your favorite fellow Catholic women in business, or share the shops you’re supporting this season to bless others.
3. John the Baptist’s Preparing the Way: Service Before Sales
Although it’s only a few lines in the Gospels (Matthew 3:1-12, Mark 1:2-8, Luke 3:16-17, John 1:6-28), John the Baptist prepared for Jesus’ coming for a long time. He didn’t appear when Jesus showed up to be baptized and say, “Oh, by the way, He’s the Messiah!” Instead, he served for years in the wilderness, preparing people for Jesus’ coming by exhorting them to repent and be baptized. When Jesus finally arrived, it was the natural next step to the service he’d been rendering all along.
When it comes to marketing during Advent, think about how John the Baptist would prepare the way! It might look like creating a free printable download or lockscreen for people to use and share before launching your big sale. If you’re a service provider, it might look like sharing some tips on social media or in your email newsletter before pitching your services. That way, when you show up with your call to action, it seems like the natural next step of supporting someone who has already supported them.
4. The Trek to Bethlehem Shows Us the First Advent Was Hectic, Too
It can be tempting to think that we need to have everything perfect for Advent, both spiritually and professionally, but even the first Advent wasn’t calm and serene. I can’t imagine it was easy for Mary to feel contemplative when Joseph brought up the fact that they needed to travel miles away (with no hotel reservations!) even though she was nine months pregnant.
As with anything you do, bring it to the Lord! Even our hectic toil during the Advent rush can become a contemplative prayer if we do it for His greater glory. As with our spiritual preparation for Christmas, you don’t have to do all the things to be successful; just do something!
Prayers for a profit- and prophet-driven Advent for you and your business.
Emily Ricci is the president and founder of Gloriam Marketing, a Catholic marketing and creative agency that serves churches and Catholic organizations as a partner in evangelization. She holds a Master’s degree in theology from the Augustine Institute and is also an adjunct professor of religious studies. As a research and literary enthusiast, she is passionate about God, Jane Austen, and the Oxford comma (in that order). Emily lives in New York (the state, not the city) with her husband and their ten-month-old daughter. You can learn more about Gloriam Marketing at www.gloriammarketing.com and follow Emily on Instagram at www.instagram.com/gloriammarketing.