Your Holiday E-Commerce Marketing Strategy (4 minute read)

Your Holiday E-Commerce Marketing Strategy.jpg

Your Holiday E-Commerce Marketing Strategy

Holiday season shopping starts earlier every year. 2020 isn't an exception. With the COVID-19 pandemic sending millions of shoppers online, e-commerce marketers have their work cut out for them.

Companies that start planning their marketing strategy early enjoy a successful holiday season while setting the stage for the entire year.

By implementing holiday marketing tactics timely, you have an opportunity to drive more sales and stay ahead of the fierce competition.

Why Starting Early Is the Key to Success

Early-bird shoppers spend more money on gifts. In 2019, Black Friday overtook Boxing Day with the sales reaching up to NZ$253 million.

The key reason to start planning your holiday marketing campaign early are:

  • During the holidays, the market becomes oversaturated. One of the few ways to stay ahead of the competition is to implement a successful marketing campaign timely.

  • Perfection in marketing is a rarity. That's why a/b testing is an integral part of any successful campaign. Early planning allows you to do it in advance and reap the benefits by the time holidays roll around.

  • If you want to work with influencers to promote your brand before the holiday season arrives, you need to book them as soon as possible.

  • Holidays have a psychological effect on shoppers. They are often ready to buy things on Christmas that they wouldn't purchase otherwise. Reminding them of the upcoming season early can help drive sales on the spot.

  • Shoppers tend to spend 13 days researching an item they want to buy. By promoting your products now, you help them make a decision before the competitors start their campaigns.

  • Starting early allows you to implement robust retartgeting and abandoned cart recovery campaigns, ensuring maximum sales during the holiday season.

Considering the COVID-19 situation, shoppers are changing their habits. New Zealanders are planning to increase spend when shopping for their immediate family and decrease spend on themselves. That's why early holiday marketing is an excellent chance to fill the gaps left by the decrease in shopping volume this year.

The Importance of a Holiday Marketing Plan

The holiday season is a driving force behind the change in shopping habits. As consumers are planning their holiday budgets, marketers are intensifying measures via different channels to catch their attention.

Consumers have gotten used to the rise in competition during the holiday season. They expect you to change marketing tactics and make it easier for them to buy. Holiday shoppers want an exceptionally personalised approach while increasing the demand for the campaign's quality.

Catching shoppers' attention during the holiday season is much tougher than during the rest of the year. That's why holiday marketing demands a highly creative and robust plan to help the company stay ahead of the competition.

5 Key Elements of an E-commerce Holiday Marketing Plan

While your holiday marketing plan may be different from the rest of your promotional effort, it doesn't mean you can't implement the tactics you've been using throughout the year. They simply need a creative boost.

1. Content Planning

Your content marketing campaign should change the focus from your general products, services, and pain points to the holiday theme. Even though Christmas is more than two months away, many consumers are getting ready for it.

This year is somewhat different due to the pandemic, so relying on 2019 trends is problematic. You can ask your audience to share which content they'd like to read during the holiday season and do creative brainstorming.

Don't forget about holiday-related images. Remember to make them relevant to the current situation in the world (i.e. old images of happy mall crowds are out of the question).

2. Information Gathering

Since your holiday marketing campaign should be highly personalised, start gathering data early. Find out all the necessary information about your target audience before the season starts. You can send out surveys, adjust subscription forms, explore your social media following, and the like.

This information will be priceless for each step of your holiday marketing campaign, including retargeting efforts.

3. Campaign Automation Planning

Social media posts can be designed and scheduled in advance. Take advantage of this opportunity to free up some time for other marketing tactics during the holiday season.

The same approach works with email marketing campaigns. You can automate message sending during the preparations for the December craze.  

Consider exploring paid search ad automation as well. Google Ads offers a variety of automation options.

4. Website Review

You need to plan to review your entire e-commerce website to make it ready for the holiday season. Depending on your budget, you can tweak your e-store design and adjust the content on product and landing pages.

Your holiday-related pages must carry a sense of urgency, capitalising on the consumers' FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), which is especially strong during the holiday period.

5. Influencer Planning

Influencer marketing is highly efficient during the holiday season and beyond. Consider the following:

  • How many influencers you want to work with (how many can you afford)?

  • Do you want influencers to promote the entire brand or certain products?

  • Do you have a separate landing page or affiliate program for such influencers?

  • How do you plan to measure influencer marketing success?

Even if you've never tried influencer marketing before, the holiday season may be the time to start. More than 90% of marketers are already using it.

Create Your E-Commerce Holiday Marketing Plan Today

It's never too early to start planning for holiday sales. While holiday marketing planning may seem complicated, such an early start can generate a high marketing ROI.

If you need help creating an efficient e-commerce holiday marketing plan for your company, don't hesitate to contact us at any convenient time.

Would you like to learn more about holiday marketing? In our next blog, we'll focus on building a Christmas-ready audience. Stay tuned!

Steve Crowe