Are you prepared for the advent of the 2020 holiday shopping season, the likes of which have never been seen before?
Winter is coming. And no, we aren’t talking about the White Walkers from Game of Thrones.
While stores across the world have closed and opened up throughout this year, in accordance with shelter in place and lockdown guidelines, customers are no longer doing their shopping through brick and mortar locations.
Instead, in an effort to abide by WHO restrictions and live by the motto of social distancing, shoppers aren’t going to the store. But they’re wallets aren’t staying in their pockets.
After a year of bad news after bad news, shoppers are looking to spread joy and cheer to themselves, friends and family – and are looking to special holiday deals to do just that.
Economic outlooks show that holiday sales are expected to soar, and though the pandemic saw a huge loss in jobs and a level of unemployment never seen before, this holiday season is likely to show eCommerce sales numbers that we’ve never seen before.
There’s no better time than now to start thinking about your holiday marketing campaigns and getting ready for big success. The holiday season shopping days center around Black Friday, Cyber Monday – and basically, the whole winter season leading up to Christmas.
If you’re an eCommerce store, whether you’re hosted on Shopify, Woocommerce, BigCommerce, or another platform, this marketing guide is for you!
Here are some key marketing tips that will be pivotal in having a successful holiday revenue.
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Seasonal Promotional Opportunities
One of the most important aspects of marketing and sales that all eCommerce companies should take advantage of are discounts and seasonal promotions. During the holiday season, every company known to man will be sending out emails contained with special deals, and funneling their marketing budget into social media ads on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, and more.
In fact, because customers expect to see deals and promotions during this period, not having any is a sure way to turn away customers before they even start looking at your products.
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Don’t Send Out Too Many Emails
Promotions and discounts are great, sure, but if you send out too many, and especially within a short period of time – your customers won’t have time to understand what deals are available to them. It also opens up the mindset of each customer to believe that there’s nothing really special about your deals – you have them all the time, they aren’t going away anytime soon.
The sense of urgency with Black Friday and Cyber Monday and the knowledge that those deals won’t be around for a long time are one of the main catalysts for why customers are so ready to open up their pocket without a second thought. They do not want to miss out on the deal – and they want to save money. If someone needs Christmas wood signs for their building or home, they’ll need them quickly to have them arrive towards the end of November or the beginning of the month, and a discount is sure to seal the deal. If a mom wants to buy some cute Mommy and Me shirts for her and little Charlotte, and she can save a pretty penny from a deal you provide, why would she wait?
Be sure to use email retargeting when you are more sure that the email will not be an annoyance, but instead the final grab and foot in the door needed to sweeten the deal.
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Examine Your Previous Holiday Campaigns
While the new year and hew holiday season brings an opportunity for change and new, wild marketing campaigns, it’s important to take a look at your previous successes in other years during this holiday season.
Look back at what you did in 2019, and even 2018 (if you have the data). Look at your metrics and statistics, to understand where you did well, and maybe where you lost money and shouldn’t put your eggs in the basket.
Analyzing your strategy allows you to understand what your customers are looking at, where they dropped off, what they valued, and whether or not this has changed from previous years. Understand your ideal customer, the one that is ready to pour out every dollar in their pocket, to buy your product, is the customer you want to go after.
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Marketing Towards Your Audience
As we mentioned in the section before, understanding your customer is key, key, key. Everyone has different shopping habits, especially when it comes to the internet. While some users shop from desktop, other users shop on mobile devices. And even now, some shoppers are using devices like Alexa to do their shopping.
No holiday marketing efforts are created equal. Your analytics data tells you exactly who your customers are, where they live, how they work, what they watch, and who they listen to, and what they like. You have access to a gold mine of demographic data, and it’s imperative that you use this during the holiday season.
The key to a successful holiday marketing strategy depends on how you speak to your customers – where you speak to them, and what you say. With younger customers, those who fall into the category of Millennials or Gen Z, are more likely to check on special offers that are pushed through social media. They are also likely to listen to their favorite influencers, boasting about the current deal at their favorite online fashion retailer. On the other hand, Baby Boomers and those who are older are more likely to watch cable, TV, and the news, and are likely to be attracted to ads in commercials.
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Focus on Short Term Marketing Strategies
During the holiday season, you want to look into investing your budget into short term marketing strategies. Using tactics like Shopify SEO for your marketing is a big no-no – SEO is a long term commitment and engagement. You won’t be able to optimize for your target keywords within a month, and if your products are seasonal, this is also something to stay away from.
You need results quickly, and you need to get your products in front of the eyes of your customer. The best strategies will involve PPC, Social Media Marketing, Youtube Video Ads, Influencers, and other short term marketing ideas that will get out the word fast.
Conclusion
The holiday season is not the best time to experiment with a brand new strategy you won’t know will work. Because customers aren’t going to stores, eCommerce stores are no longer just competing with the traditional eCommerce store, but all the retail giants and shops that are offering their competitive deals online.
The constant stream of competition makes it even more difficult for brands to succeed during the holiday season, but if you follow the tips mentioned above, you will be able to position your brand above others and even earn some highly coveted loyal customers.
Plan now and don’t wait. Every decision you make is important during this holiday season.
