The holiday season is an exciting time for consumers and retailers alike, but it can also be challenging.
To increase your chances of success during this period, you’ll need to carefully plan and execute your marketing strategy. Here are some tips that will help you sell more during the holidays.
Why the Holiday Season is Important to Sales
The holiday season is a critical time for retailers. It’s the most important time of year for them because it’s when their sales are highest. Many brick-and-mortar stores experience 30-50% of their annual sales around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s.
The online ecommerce space is no different. Shoppers enjoy picking out the best gifts while commuting on their phones or pretending to fall asleep in bed late at night.
Additionally, the holidays are when shoppers are at their most generous—they’re more likely to buy gifts during this time of year than at any other point in the year. So if you want to boost your sales during the holiday season, you must prepare your company for an influx in sales.
That means checking your inventory to handle the demand, ensuring your landing page is updated with any promotions, and unifying your online brand, so whatever marketing strategy you decide is run through the proper channels.
Top Holiday Marketing Strategies
The key is knowing your target audience and where they are most likely to buy from you, then marketing appropriately so that those people come across your products/services as often as possible during this crucial period. If done correctly, this strategy will help boost sales for years, even after the holiday season ends. Keep these tips in mind:
1 – Offer Free Shipping
It’s no secret that free shipping is a great way to attract new customers and get existing ones to buy more. Free shipping can be offered for a limited time or a limited number of items, depending on your budget.
Remember, you are competing with Amazon, Walmart, Target, and other massive retailers that love free shipping.
2 – Get Started Early
Start promoting in August. The holiday season is a critical time for retailers but also a busy time for consumers. If you want to grab shoppers’ attention and make them aware of your brand and its offerings, you need to start early on your marketing campaign.
You don’t have to be the first with ads; just be sure you’re not waiting until mid-October before starting anything.
3 – Holiday Themed Promotions
Curate your promotional campaigns around a holiday’s look, feel, and identity. For example:
- Halloween-themed gift cards for your snack business.
- Free Christmas cards with any $50 purchase of your primary items.
- Free gift wrapping during a specific time around a holiday.
4 – Make Gift Suggestions
If you were a customer, what would interest you? What kind of gift would make you happy or excited? If you’re unsure what might appeal to someone else, it’s time for some research.
Talk with your customers or ask them about their interests and hobbies. You can find out what kind of things they’d like as gifts. Write down any suggestions people offer so you’ll have them when it comes time for holiday planning.
Remind people that your shop is perfect for gift-giving. Choose the best target consumer you think will purchase your items, and then market to their friends, family members, and co-workers.
5 – Tap into Nostalgia
Nostalgia is a powerful marketing tool. It can be used to sell almost any product, even when it’s not related to the product being marketed.
Most of us have some form of memory concerning the holiday season. Maybe it is hot chocolate around a fire or exchanging gifts on Christmas morning. You may be surprised how well your personal experience can be leveraged into your marketing materials.
6 – Make Every Campaign Mobile Ready
One of the most critical steps to take is to make sure that your campaign is mobile-friendly. The majority of consumers use a smartphone or tablet while shopping online. That’s why your website, email template, and landing page must be optimized for mobile devices.
7 – Creatively Use Social Media
Social media is one of the best ways to reach your customers. You can create fun posts on social media and promote them to get people interested in what you’re selling.
It makes it far easier to post content related to the holiday season on social media first. Anything that gets wide acceptance can be translated later into email sequences, landing page pop-ups, or even physical flyers for your local area.
8 – Don’t Forget Emails
If you’ve been thinking about sending out a holiday email to your subscribers, now is the time to do it. Email marketing is still a fantastic way to engage your audience, and the holidays are no exception.
Email marketing can be automated and personalized for each customer based on their interests, which means you’ll be able to send out messages that only interest them and not their friends who aren’t interested in buying from you yet (or ever).
9 – Promote, Discount, Repeat!
Discounts are an effective way to increase sales, but they have to be used correctly. If you give discounts too often, it will hurt your brand, and customers will get used to them. Ensure that the discounts you offer are relevant and appropriate for your offer and target audience.
Discounts work well when tied into marketing campaigns – ensure that when you’re running a promotion or discounting something, there’s some incentive for people who purchase from you.
A Few Tweaks Can Accelerate Holiday Sales
The holiday season is a busy time for marketers. You can use the following strategies to get ahead of the competition.
- Advertise in multiple places
- Keep your messaging consistent
- Make sure your visual identity matches up with your website
- Promote, promote, promote!
At OPMC, we offer a wide range of custom plugins that help streamline your ecommerce website for sales. Everything from improving your security to lowering fraudster attempts to integrating live chat support is available at our plugin store.
Take the time now to prepare your online presence for the uptick in holiday sales, and you will capitalize on incredible growth opportunities!
Visit our store today!
Get a powerful boost to your security, customer support, inventory management, and more…
