The holidays are fast approaching, and that means it's time to prep holiday marketing campaigns. Annual holiday ecommerce sale numbers are consistently sky-high, so this time of year is tantamount to the Super Bowl for ecommerce shop owners. But if it is to be the most wonderful time of the year for one's business, intelligent ecommerce strategy is a must. In order to stand out from the masses and capitalize on the jaw-dropping amount of spending that goes on this time of year, online shops need to get creative with their marketing efforts. With that in mind, here are 5 tips to bring your holiday ecommerce marketing strategy to life.
Why Do Marketing Strategies For Ecommerce Matter More Around the Holidays?
From Black Friday to Cyber Monday and all the way up to Christmas, it's go time in the ecommerce space. Each year consumers spend at incredible levels (and increasingly so post-COVID) in the months of November and December (National Retail Federation), and since giants like Amazon are already soaking up so much of that holiday ecommerce spend, it's crucial that smaller online businesses test, iterate, and get creative when planning out their holiday marketing campaigns.
What's Wrong With My Holiday Ecommerce Strategy From Last Year?
Maybe nothing... how should we know? But when such a high percentage of your annual conversions will likely ride on this, trotting out the same old holiday marketing campaigns could be a wasted opportunity. Why not shake things up a bit? The most succesful holiday ecommerce sales and advertisements are relevant, eye-catching, and tone-appropriate.
If your site's conversion rates aren't where you'd like them to be this season, it may be time to breathe some new life into your store with a fresh seasonal sale, promotion, and/or targeted marketing strategy.
5 Tips for a Better Holiday Ecommerce Strategy##
Offer a Low-Cost, Seasonal Add-On/Freebie
Think outside the box with me for a second: what's one creative way you could over-deliver on customer expectations at little cost to your bottom line? Teasing a limited-time-only, brand-relevant product offering for customers above a certain dollar amount is one powerful way to accomplish this.
Vary Your Discount Approach
If you've had discount codes on overall cart purchases throughout the year, shaking things up can be a good move. What about offering a seasonal 2 for 1 deal? Make sure your loyal customers feel taken care of this season, because Lord knows there are enough websites not snoozing through the season with business as usual or running the same old promos and sales. On a certain level, this is about brand personality too. If your brand isn't moving with the moment; if the holidays elicit no tangible excitement on your digital storefront, well... that's not very holly jolly of you, now is it?
Try the "Choose Your Own Adventure" Tactic
Basic discounts are all well and good, but with a little imagination, you may be able to engage more customers here. Consider offering shoppers their choice of purchase incentive. For example, a large online music store I used to buy from, used their website banner to promote the choice between a percentage discount on a visitor's current cart OR a digital code for future store credit. I bought a lot of equipment from that shop.
This tactic can be attractive to buyers on a couple of levels. First of all, you're empowering them to make a simple decision based on their personal preferences. Who doesn't like that? Secondly, while savvy customers might be looking out for discount opportunities on an existing order, this approach encourages them to consider what else they could purchase with a larger store credit. Once that mental calculus begins, their patronage is yours to lose.
Consider an Email Subscriber Promo
This time of year certainly presents opportunities for growing your email list as well. Even advertising a simple 20% off holiday promotion for new email and newsletter subscribers can work wonders for an ecommerce shop's digital reach going into the new year.
A/B Test Your Strategies
This should go without saying, but whatever you do... test, test, and test some more. Ecommerce holiday marketing campaigns need to be very competitive, and staying competitive in the digital retail space is a game of iteration and stick-with-it-ness. Try something new, analyze the data, and remain open to adjustments where bottlenecks occur in your sales funnel.
Holiday ecommerce sales can be a fickle beast. A strategy or trend that works well one week may fall off during the next. It may takes some creativity and pattern analyzation to build successful promotional and marketing strategies for ecommerce, but that may also be the only thing standing between you and a whole heck of a lot more cart conversions this season.
Looking for an experienced technology team to take your website through the craziness of the holidays and beyond? We're here to help. Shoot us an email to get started with a free consultation. -> Chek Creative
