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NO TIME LIKE THE [CHRISTMAS] PRESENT
Okay, we might be 5 weeks away from Christmas (umm..where has 2020 gone?!) but right now is the time you need to be planning your tactics to really boost your Christmas marketing efforts.
Let’s put it into perspective.
35% of people in the UK start their Christmas shopping in mid-November.
That’s a huge proportion of people who you could tap into to drive more sales ahead of the busiest part of the festive season. There’s no excuse not to plan campaigns early and beat the rush.
We’re set to experience the BIGGEST online Black Friday EVER as people can’t go shopping in the physical stores, they have no choice but to snap up the bargains online.
There’s never been a better time to supercharge your online and digital marketing.
So, look no further for help than our…
Top 10 Tips To Boost Your Digital Marketing Right In Time For The Christmas Period!
1. Create a plan, man!
Get your plans in place EARLY.
The more time you have to test and learn what works best and what can be improved means the more successful your festive campaigns will be.
Knowing that customers react really well with one type of promotion over another really will make the difference.
The key is finding this out well BEFORE Black Friday so you can maximise your campaign as opposed to after the biggest selling season of the year.
An early plan also mitigates struggles and avoids strain on review times for digital platforms. Last year, Google wanted a 7 day period ahead of Black Friday for businesses to upload all their offers and promotions for it to be live on the day.
With it being a bigger event this year, there could be more delays so get your plans and promotions in place now.
You don’t want to think ‘oh well, better luck next year.’
2. It’s a (delivery!) date
It’s SO important to create a cut-off date in time for Christmas delivery.
There are many unavoidable postage delays at this time of year and you don’t want to be the “Company That Stole Christmas” by not delivering a present on time.
Set out your last-chance delivery dates and make sure these are visible to your customers. Put them on your social media channels, on the website homepage, in your email campaigns.
Make sure that for every digital touch-point your customer has, those delivery dates are accessible.
3. Data is your best pal
Data should be analysed consistently and frequently- daily if you can.
Don’t just look at recent metrics such as conversions and sales, but keep an eye on past performance too.
Data can help you predict trends from previous years: when certain products started to sell, if they sold out (will you need to buy more to prevent this again?), what were your best sellers, and what demographic of people bought your items.
Year on year performance isn’t the only data we can really utilise at this time of year. We’ve already been in one lockdown and there will be trends that your company will have experienced and can learn from during this time of Lockdown 2.0.
4. An image sells a thousand words
This is the best time of year to update your imagery and do a re-haul of your website, social or blog page.
As soon as a customer lands onto your website they should know if you’ve got a promotion on or are doing something special for the festive season.
The main banner on your website is the prime spot to advertise your sale or promotion and your social media headers/logos/ banners should also reflect your campaign.
Don’t be afraid to try something new and creative! A really effective way to grab customers attention is through video marketing, and it isn’t as expensive as you might think….
5. If you can, bid big
PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising is mega competitive during this time of year.
If you have a lot of stock to shift online if your physical store has unfortunately had to close, it’s beneficial to put a bit more budget behind your PPC plans as it’s such a competitive time for all businesses to get seen and convert sales.
By using keywords that are seasonal performers at the right time, you can get in front of your audience before the price for that keyword soars.
A good PPC campaign uses relevant keywords, but a GREAT PPC campaign is based on solid research and testing.
6. E-mails? E-yeah!
99% of people check their emails. Every. Single. Day.
If you aren’t sending out regular email campaigns, you’re missing out on another digital marketing touch point that could be so effective in driving sales.
It’s a chance to make your newsletter subscribers feel special too. Offering special VIP discounts typically results in great conversion rates and it doesn't need a lot of budget like other digital marketing channels.
7. Don’t forget remarketing
Remarketing converts really well. You’ll have seen this in action, and sometimes without even realising.
It’s not a coincidence that the same product you were researching keeps following you everywhere across the internet and social media.
That’s remarketing.
Remarketing also can tie in well with our previous conversation on emails. Send a reminder to those who almost got to the checkout a little nudge to let them know they left their cart filled with some great items.
Or you can send emails showing complementary products to their most recent purchase. Bought a stand mixer in the Black Friday sale, why not buy an apron or a new breadmaker too? These are all forms of email remarketing.
8. Use Black Friday to your advantage
Don’t be scared of offering discounts on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, these purchase-heavy holidays can be a great sales tool ahead of the Christmas rush.
Make sure you leverage these dates to increase your sales, get your business out there, and most importantly, use these occasions to grow your email marketing database for your email and remarketing tactics.
9. Have Gift Cards on-hand
Not everyone has the skill of finding the perfect gift. For these people, gift vouchers are ideal.
There is no reason why a business cannot offer some form of gift cards to their customers. Even if your website doesn’t have e-commerce functionality, promote and spread the message on your social media and email marketing to encourage customers to contact you for a gift card.
It’s the simplest way of making a sale without having to worry about stock levels or delivery times.
Tip: make sure you really drive home the messaging of your gift card offering in those final weeks leading up to Christmas when the time is ticking for gift buying!
10. Oh wait! It doesn’t stop at Christmas…
Surprise! You didn’t think we were just going to leave you hanging after Christmas did you?
There’s the Boxing Day and January Sales to think about next!
Get heavily discounting to clear stock that you want to get rid of before the new stock comes in, put the budget behind your most successful campaigns in the weeks previous and try to replicate these with a new promotion.
And at this stage, the most important thing to do is be glad that you’ve made it through 2020!
Final thoughts
If you need any marketing advice to take your business to the next level, we’re always open to a chat about how we can help. Whether you need a bit of assistance navigating the world of SEO, are stuck on social, or still perusing over PPC, we’ve got you covered at Wriggle.
Drop us a message and we’ll get back to you quicker than you can say a [key]word.
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Lights, Camera, Action! A Beginner’s Guide To Video Marketing
What Trends Have We Seen During COVID 19 And What Is Next?
5 Step Guide To Email Marketing
