7 Ways to Ramp Up Your Holiday Marketing Strategy
For most eCommerce businesses, the holidays are the busiest time of the year and account for a large portion of the year’s revenue. If you’re looking to amp up your marketing during the holiday season, you’re not alone. Tons of other brands are jumping on the holiday bandwagon earlier and earlier – which unfortunately means the competition for consumer attention is even tighter during the homestretch of the year.
Here are 7 ways you can amp up your holiday marketing this year.
Stick with tried-and-true tactics.
When competition is tough, it’s tempting to throw caution to the wind and try off-the-wall tactics to capture consumer attention. Testing new strategies is great for other times of the year, but for the busy holiday season, it’s best to stick with tried-and-true tactics that have delivered proven results in the past. That’s not to say you shouldn’t utilize some creativity – you’ll certainly need it to stand out in the inbox arena! But don’t deviate from the brand experience that customers have come to know and expect, and save the experimentation for other times of the year.
Utilize a multi-channel approach.
Running an eCommerce business becomes more than a full-time job during the holidays. From managing inventory to processing and packaging orders, resources are limited during this season – and when faced with limited time, it’s easy to feel like you don’t have time to devote to a multi-channel marketing approach. Putting all your eggs in one basket isn’t likely to reap the results you’re looking for though.
Focusing on a single tactic can reduce your outreach, leaving a lot of exposure on the table. In order to capitalize on this busy season, you’ll want to utilize a cross-channel marketing approach in which email, social media, and PPC all drive traffic to a high-performing website.
Be smart with your email strategy.
Consumers get more promotional emails during the year’s final months than almost any other season. Email is still one of the best ways to reach customers, but when everyone runs sales at the same time, customer inboxes overflow and it can be hard to compete. For some brands, their strategy to overcome this is to send out MORE emails, but this bombardment can overwhelm consumers and make them more likely to unsubscribe, especially from brands they don’t engage with regularly – or those that are particularly offensive with their email volume.
More is not always better. Focus on other ways to stand out, such as paying particular attention to subject lines. You’ll also want to make sure you have a retargeting campaign in place to capture shoppers who visit your website but don’t purchase. Sending cart abandonment emails – maybe even with a promotion or discount – is one way to increase engagement and sales through email.
Lean into the festivity with your messaging and imagery.
The holidays evoke a lot of emotions: warmth, love, connectedness, joy, and nostalgia. Creating ad campaigns whose messaging and imagery play up these festive feelings can capture consumer attention better and lead to big wins. For PPC and social ads, swap out traditional imagery for a winter- or Christmas-themed photoshoot. This could be as simple as surrounding products with evergreen boughs or showing people in a cozy atmosphere using your products and services. Make your sure messaging lines up with the new imagery and plays on holiday themes as well. Equally important – don’t forget to switch your ads back over after the holidays!
Don’t rely on the urgency to stand out.
The abundance of marketing during this time of year has the potential to be polarizing. When consumers have their attention pulled in so many different directions, playing on anxieties with messaging that creates a false sense of urgency might push customers too far and rather than snagging a quick sale results in a loss of loyalty to your brand. Customers know when they are being played!
Urgency messaging can devalue your brand. Instead, focus on nuanced messaging that builds a relationship with your customers so that they will come back time and time again.
Tailor messaging and promotions to your target audience.
Don’t just rely on what your competitors are doing! Make sure that whatever strategies you employ to make sense for your brand and take advantage of your strong suits. If you have a brick-and-mortar location, maybe it’s running “buy online pick up in-store promotions” in the week leading up to Christmas to push in-store inventory out the door or hosting in-store events to get people in and shopping.
Start early.
Consumers start shopping for the holidays earlier and earlier every year, which means you’ll want to set your holiday marketing game plan early in Q3. Last-minute planning may have you scrambling to compete with the big players in your market.
N2Q Can Be Your Go-To for Your Marketing Strategy
Need help devising a holiday marketing plan that plays on your brand’s strengths and is perfectly tailored to your target audience? No to the Quo is here to help! Contact us today for a free strategy session.
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