Eight Tips for Holiday Marketing Success
Holiday seasons mean you'll start seeing more search traffic for seasonal keywords. Promotions and discounts can be a good way to interest people in your products, but slicing your margins too thinly can leave you with little cushion to bank on.
Smart strategizing can help you make the most of the holiday shopping season without breaking the bank. Here are our top eight tips for having a successful season.
1. Plan ahead: Start thinking about your holiday strategy while the sun’s still shining. The more thought you put into your plan the more successful you’ll be. Map out important dates on your calendar and align them with your email campaigns and newsletters. Optimize your site for holiday related keywords. Revamp your home page to promote your gift items. Hire temporary staff or stock your inventory.
2. Make your site messaging timely: Set aside time to make daily updates on your website and social media pages about product specials. Utilize your Announcements section or Featured Products section of your home page to promote your seasonal items and give the impression that you, as the site owner, are engaged with the site and ready to ship orders quickly during this holiday season.
3. Use social media for flash sales: Promote 48 hour sales, or discount select items through your social media pages. Research has shown that consumers who are connected through social media spend more.
4. Offer Facebook and Twitter deals: People who like you on Facebook or follow you on Twitter have shown that they are loyal to you. Reward them with special promotions only for that audience. Sneak previews, free shipping, or secret sales are all great ways to make your faithful customers feel special.
5. Promote your post on Facebook: If your Facebook page has at least 100 likes, Facebook offers a service called “Promoted Posts.” Promoted posts appear higher in news feed, so there's a better chance your audience will see them. Pay a little extra for a promoted ad on Facebook over the next month. How much? That depends on several factors, including your geographic location and how many people you're reaching. Create a post on your business page and click Promote (to the left of the blue “Post” button) to see how much your post will cost to promote.
6. Mailing inserts: Insert a “happy holidays” postcard or flyer into each package you send out between now and the holidays. After that, switch to a post-holiday discount.
7. Gift cards: Offer festive gift card designs and make sure people know that you have gift cards available. If you can provide electronic delivery of gift cards - even better!
8. Host an open house: If you have a brick-and-mortar store, stay open late during December. Decorate, play festive music, and offer a glass of warm cider to get people into the spirit of the holidays. Allow customers to browse your seasonal merchandise and offer a signup form for an email discount, or a discount on gift cards that can be redeemed anytime up until December 24.
