Unwrapping the Festive Season: Tips & Tricks for Merry Marketing

by  Angelina Harper , Guest Contributor

If you’re a marketer, November and December can turn into an absolute nightmare. To avoid that, you have to have your seasonal marketing strategy in place well ahead.

Black Friday 2017 saw Americans break the record and spend a whopping $5 billion in just 24 hours, which was an increase of almost 17% compared with the same traditional shopping spree event in 2016. ​

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Supercharge your marketing and capitalize on this holiday shopping frenzy.

This trend is expected to continue, as according to Deloitte’s annual holiday economic forecast for 2018, total retail sales will grow by 5.6%, while the average individual spend will increase from $1,226 to $1,536.

To capitalize on this holiday shopping frenzy, you need to supercharge your marketing efforts.

Establish a Time Frame
Generally speaking, in the U.S. and other western countries, October 31st marks the start of the holiday season and Halloween sets a festive mood which will last until the first week of January.

However, you can also get the ball rolling earlier and warm up your audience by including the first day of fall, the winter solstice, or any other minor and unusual holiday or event. But don’t get carried away like American Apparel which faced a huge backlash after their infamous Hurricane Sandy Sale.

Mark the following key dates in your marketing calendar:  

• Black Friday
• Cyber Monday
• Thanksgiving Day
• Winter solstice
• Christmas Eve
• Christmas Day
• New Year’s Eve
• New Year’s Day

To keep track of all campaigns and have messaging, offers, and everything else ready in time, it’s a good idea to create a Gantt chart and monitor the progress.   

Deck your Online Halls
Nothing says Christmas like snow effects, Santa’s hats, and decorations on your website. The same applies to any other holiday and event, so make sure that your visuals are aligned with the promotion you’re running.

That’s corny, I hear you say.

Maybe, but here’s a reality check: a study says that first impressions about websites are 94% design-related, which means that when your potential customers visit your website during a holiday, they expect to see Halloween pumpkins and spiders, Thanksgiving cranberries and turkeys, or any other symbols reminiscent of a particular holiday.

A quality design will add a touch of holiday spice without any tackiness, and it doesn’t have to eat up your entire budget. If you don’t have an in-house team of designers and developers, you can outsource. To find a reasonably priced option which won’t be at the expense of a visual appeal, browse through the list of web development companies and filter your search by using different criteria, including their pricing and location.
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An Abundance of Landing Pages
The-more-the-merrier approach is the best when it comes to the number of landing pages for holiday offers. To be more precise, every campaign should have its own dedicated landing page. Companies with more than 40 landing pages score 12 times more leads than those with less than 5.

Don’t send your potential leads to the home page of your website when they click on your ad or link. A designated landing page will capture and push them down your sales funnel.

Compose a catchy headline which will tell your visitors what they will get by purchasing your product or service. The copy is another element which has to be compelling. It also has to clearly communicate the value of your offer. Finally, keywords will help you optimize your landing pages for search engines and help them rank better.

Tick, Tock, the Christmas Clock
Creating a sense of urgency can do wonders for your seasonal sales. People succumb to the shopping fever before Christmas, and by tapping into the power of urgency and scarcity, you can additionally accelerate their decision-making process and prompt them to say yes to your amazing, discounted offers.

The best way to remind them that your deal won’t last forever is by using countdown timers which will visually show how time flies.
Apart from limited-time offers, customers are particularly susceptible to stock notifications telling them that there are only a couple of items left, meaning that if they don’t act immediately, that super cool sweater they’ve been eyeing for a couple of days will be sold out very soon. You can bet that such a tactic will influence their purchasing decision and speed.

When it comes to wording, don’t be shy to use dramatic words and phrases such as:

• Only,
• Limited,
• Offer expires,
• Last chance,
• Don’t miss out.

Be generous
Christmas is the season of giving and sharing, so don’t you go all Scrooge on your customers. A generous discount will increase your sales, and the ROI will largely surpass any investment in this strategy. This idea will work only if you promote it heavily across all your social media channels.

You can also encourage your followers to share your promo posts by incentivizing them, and thus expand your reach. Besides boosting your revenue, this tactic will also raise brand awareness and recognition.

Apart from discounts and coupons, one of the most effective ways to drive sales is offering free shipping. Namely, people are willing to splurge on presents during the holiday season, and since surveys say that 9 out of 10 potential customers named free shipping as their favorite incentive, it’s an excellent way to give your holiday sales an extra push.

Although simple and pretty straightforward, these tips can help you make the most of your seasonal offers.  
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