Holidays Are Coming – Is Your Marketing Ready?

As back-to-school items fly off the shelves, they’ll be replaced by Halloween décor, Thanksgiving essentials, and finally, a Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year’s explosion. The holidays are coming, whether you are ready or not. And even if you’re not ready, your marketing plans need to be. Here are a few tips to get you started now:

Plan early.

This is the golden rule of holiday marketing. Dedicate your summer to your Q4 marketing plan and solidify your strategy now. Advertising becomes more expensive and more competitive during the holiday season, so preparing ahead of time is key.  

And, according to Google Trends for last year, consumers began searching for Christmas gift ideas in the middle of August! So get those holiday products, ads and deals out to your customer base now!

Offer exclusive deals.

During the holiday season, everyone is out looking for a good deal. Your goal is to make your customers feel that they would be crazy not to take advantage of your promotions. However, this does not have to mean a steep discount. Try adding other services or products to create a bundle, including a free gift with purchase, offering an exclusive product only available during the holiday season, or some other incentive that gets them to spend more money later on, like $10 store cash to be used in January for every $50 spent in December.

Urgency is key during this season. Everyone is busy and has a short window of time to get all of their holiday shopping done. Encourage them to check an item off their list right now by creating a sense of urgency. Adding a countdown timer on your website is a great way to quickly close a sale.

Sell your brand.

Focus on brand awareness, especially early in the season, and then retarget later on. This means pushing out valuable information to your target audience and showing them how your product or service fits into their lifestyle.

A responsive, helpful and accommodating customer service team goes a long way when selling your brand. Good service will make your audience feel valued and help convert them into buyers, and then repeat customers.

Personalize your strategy.

Identify your target market and cater ads and deals specifically to them. It’s important to establish who your customers are, what their wants and needs are, and where you can find them so that your marketing efforts are effective.

Know your metrics.

Before you spend even a penny on holiday ads, make sure you know where you will get the most bang for your buck…a.k.a. return on ad spend (ROAS). The goal isn’t just to sell as much as possible, it’s to make a profit. And if you’re spending more on ads than you’re bringing in with sales, you’ve got a problem.

Build your email list.

Email marketing led to 174 percent more conversions than social media in 2016, and it is still the fastest way to increase traffic conversion and leads during the holiday season. We’ll show you how to grow your list in our six-part series.

Follow our tips and enjoy a successful holiday season. If you plan ahead, you may even have a moment during the holiday rush to sit in front of the fire and enjoy that pumpkin spice latte!