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One of the most important times of the year for any business is the holiday season. Research published by Statista forecasted that holiday retail sales in the United States would amount to about $729.3 billion in 2019 alone. The end of the year is a prime period for retail and trade, and most companies take advantage of that.
Businesses need to make sure that they’re making the most of the season, and marketing is a huge part of that. If there’s one thing that defines successful marketing, it’s the idea of “right place, right time.” While there are tons of different ways you can make a marketing campaign successful, if it’s not the right format at the right time it could fall flat.
In a previous post, we discussed Effective Internet Marketing Strategies You Should Know About. These are generally good for most of the year, but if your concern is making the most of your digital marketing during the holidays, you can check out a few additional tips below.
SEO
SEO isn’t static, and there are several different things you can do to make sure your content is primed for the holiday rush. Search Engine Journal suggests a few tips for optimizing your SEO for the end-of-year boom.
These tips include updating and correcting your NAPs and business hours in case customers need to contact you, adding relevant holiday keywords and trends into your on-page content, ensuring that your website looks appealing, and ensuring that Internet searches will lead customers directly to your store locations, if you have any. Prepping all of these ahead of time will enable you to get the traffic you deserve.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is foundational to many campaigns, and can be a great way to reach out to customers about new promotions. However, email isn’t the same all year long, and marketers need to work smart when it comes to the holiday season. Research by marketing firm Yes Marketing found that average conversion rates on holiday-themed emails dropped to 3.1% in December 2018, down half from the 6.1% average of November that same year.
Businesses will need to send out their email promotions as early as possible to capture interest and ensure that they aren’t lost in the deluge. Make sure that your subject lines are short and engaging, and the details of your promotions or products should be immediately evident at a glance. Also, as much as possible, try to put a spin on your campaign that will help you stand out from the crowd. Sometimes, generic holiday themes just aren’t going to cut it.
Look Back Programs
The holiday season pulls in some of the highest sales of the year, and businesses will be scrambling to bring in numbers. While reaching out to new customers is always a good idea, it may be time to bring a little focus to customers who haven’t been back in a while. Consumers are more likely to make purchase decisions during this season, so if there was ever a time to reengage old customers, it’s this one.
Triadex Services endorses Look Back programs that will help you reconnect with customers who have previously entered your stores. Basically, with a Look Back program mobile device data within a certain range— say, the area around your physical store or a competitor’s store— is recorded, and when the customer returns to that area they receive digital advertisements promoting your business. This ensures that customers are receiving your messaging right, as they’re about to make a purchase decision, tilting the odds in your favor.
The holidays can be the best time of the year for businesses and marketers, so it’s essential that you adapt your strategies to best fit the season. Although it does take a little effort, the right approach will give you great sales and keep customers happy— the perfect way to cap off the year.
