Here are several fast-approaching year-end holidays to prepare for:
Black Friday: November 26, 2021
Small Business Saturday: November 27, 2021
Cyber Monday: November 29, 2021
Giving Tuesday: November 30, 2021
There are also the larger themes of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year’s Day and so on.
5 Tips on preparing your Holiday Marketing
1. Holiday Giveaway – The holidays are all about giving.
Creating and planning a holiday giveaway does not only benefit the winner, but your business. Whether or not you have a history of holiday giveaways, contests can encourage people to share their excitement and return to see what is new. Giving something away, whether it's a prize, coupon, or free sample, is a great approach to get people interested in your company.
Giveaway promotions can also benefit your digital marketing. Trying to grow your SMS/Email list? Require participants to leave their contact details. Looking to grow your social following? Get people to follow all your social pages to enter the giveaway. Are you having a hard time creating content? Ask customers to post a photo to social media using a particular hashtag.
2. Special Promotion/Sale - Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the most profitable holidays for retailers.
During these sale times, most businesses offer a sitewide discount and don’t think over the profit margin of offering these promotions. If you merely offer consumers a hefty discount on your entire store, it may be difficult to interest customers after the first day. Numerous brands fight for attention throughout the flood of emails during the holidays. Preplanning your holiday promotion may help you stand out from the rest.
If you plan the correct deal, instead of jumping to promoting a big discount, you may be more successful during these critical holidays.
Why should you focus on average order value instead of offering a hefty discount? Here’s an example:
Holiday Discount #1: Sitewide Sale 20%
Average Order Value: $67
Product Costs: $23
Discounted Price: $54
Shipping Costs: $8
Profit: $23
Holiday Discount #2: 20% off when you spend $200
Average Order Value: $220
Product Costs: $52
Discounted Price: $176
Shipping Costs: $8
Profit: $124
Still providing a smaller discount on all products can be beneficial to your business. It helps grab customers’ attention and drives them to your website. Hoping that viewers see more products they want to purchase, using the “buy more, save more” marketing strategy, and optimizing the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday offerings.
Created by Endorphin® Digital Marketing
3. Celebrate Holiday Season by Updating Website and Reviews – A quick website refresh may help beat the competition.
Before the website traffic increases over the Holidays, review your current website. Examine button links, navigation menu, and contact pages. According to Business2Community “85% of consumers will leave a website if it’s poorly designed.” It’s crucial to stand out during this competitive holiday season.
Creating a new hero image or new homepage for your website during these sales events can be a great way to get into the holiday spirit.
3 tips for a festive promotional website:
Replace generic product lifestyle shots with holiday-themed images.
Change call to action buttons from "Shop Now" to "Shop Gifts."
On sale banners and pop-ups, include festive design elements.
Updating your website before the holidays is a smart way for customers see exactly what your business provides and generate holiday sales.
4. Use Holidays to Grow Email/SMS Contact Lists – Offer customers a holiday gift.
Encourage customers to join your email/SMS contact lists. Use social media to encourage customers to join your email list and "frequent flyer" program. Let them know they will be the first to know about holiday promotions and get invites to special “members only” events.
Be sure to set up and use automated email responses wherever possible: There is abundant research showing the effectiveness of automated emails. Two quick stats:
Automated welcome emails are incredibly effective: 320% more revenue is attributed to welcome emails than other promotional emails.
Open rates for automated emails are 3x higher than regularly-scheduled emails, with click rates being 20x higher.
Offer customers a free sample or even a $30 Gift Card for joining your contact list. Constant Contact recently rolled out a product to help you capture new contacts and retain existing ones by offering $30 gift cards (at no cost to you). Offer customers a gift card to reward loyalty, purchases and other favorable behavior or actions. There is absolutely no cost for Constant Contact customers to offer these gift cards.
5. Share Holiday Cheer on Social Media – The holiday season is for celebrating (so make sure your promotional imagery shows this).
Taking a fresh, seasonal approach on Instagram, Facebook, and other platforms, can put a new spin – and new energy - into your content. Share the holiday joy and connect with your customers. Happy Holiday Planning!
If you have any questions or would like help with your marketing, please reach out for a free marketing consultation. We are happy to answer any questions and brainstorm with you.