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At this time of the year, we start to think about the holiday season and how we can appeal to existing and prospective customers in the right way. With the global pandemic, businesses closing, and so much uncertainty for the future, it’s difficult to know how to approach the holiday season from a marketing perspective.
We’ve compiled some tips and recommendations that you can use this year whether you’re reading this as a marketer or a business owner.
Did you know that on average 20% of customers contribute 80% of revenue to a business? This phenomenon is known as the Pareto principle. The Pareto principle was named after an Italian economist who worked at a university in Switzerland. Vilfredo Pareto first talked about the 80/20 connection towards the end of the 19th century as he noticed that 20% of the Italian population held 80% of the land in the country.
With a relatively small amount of your customers contributing to a majority of your revenue, we highly recommend rewarding your loyal customers as much as possible. Especially during the pandemic, nurture the most valuable clients and customers to ensure they think of your name when buying during the holiday season.
For most, it normally starts with a loyalty program like a points or rewards system. If you don’t have a loyalty program, you can still reward loyal customers. Perhaps you can open holiday sales up to loyal customers earlier than everyone else.
Help prospective customers by updating your Google My Business profile.
Businesses have slowly been reopening, but every physical location and online store seem to have different systems. As a result, consumers are resorting to Google to learn whether or not a business is open, offers curbside collection, provides delivery, etc. If customers can’t find the information they need, it won’t take long before they’re clicking towards a competitor.
If possible, update the profile to include opening hours, phone numbers, location, and whether or not you’re offering no-contact delivery.
The pandemic has changed many things, but the importance of personalization, retargeting, and prediction have remained the same. One of the most valuable pieces of information you could have is the email address of a customer. This allows you to share your holiday offers and encourage them to engage with your brand. That said, the more personalization, the better. Consider creating custom email sequences and retargeting campaigns for your subscribers.
We also advise working with a prediction tool. During the holiday season, leads are at an all-time high and we need to assess the value of these leads to mitigate the risk of wasting resources on those least likely to convert. By predicting conversion and lifetime value, we suddenly target the most valuable leads and maximize revenue during this period.
Some consumers have the confidence to visit physical stores, while others are staying at home and ordering via click-and-collect or delivery. As a marketer and a business, you have a responsibility to reach out to both types of customers. If you don’t offer this service, you could miss out on potential customers this year.
Introduce curbside collection and then tell the world about it. You can inform customers of this new service through social media, your website, email marketing, and any other touch points you have with consumers.
If you aren’t sure of the services that customers seek, there’s nothing wrong with asking them directly. With a simple Facebook post, for example, you could ask the following:
How will you order products this holiday season?
a. Online - Delivery
b. In-store
c. Online - Curbside collection
d. Relying on friends and family
Your presence spreads beyond your website these days. In order for any promotion or content to work, it needs to remain consistent across all platforms. If you run an email campaign with a special offer, you should also include the same information about this offer on social media, the website, and in-store.
People click on an ad for a special offer because they want to learn more about the offer and how it works. There’s nothing more frustrating than clicking on an ad only to see the experience completely change on the landing page. During this holiday season, make sure you’re consistent across all platforms and ensure customers get the same relevant information regardless of where they find you.
At the moment, a significant portion of the population is working from home while another portion of the workforce has reduced work hours or was furloughed completely. Some services have lost out and others continue to thrive. These winners are Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms.
As always, social media is a great place to get exposure and generate interest. Rather than putting energy into every platform, research the market and figure out where your audience is most prominent. It’s better to experience strong performance on one platform rather than average performance across four.
We know that those with little experience on social media will be saying, ‘well, what do we post?’. Here are a few options:
Did you know that around 75% of email revenue comes from triggered messages? Both personalization and automation are powerful tools for a business, but they’re even more useful when combined. Since these messages are based on behavior, they’re naturally tailored to the individual.
With the right tool, it’s possible to start conversations based on activity, location, and who customers are. Triggered messages allow a business to not just capture leads but also qualify them. At times, customers will abandon their cart and you should have a reaction ready to follow-up in the right way in order to potentially get their business..
If your website hasn’t changed this year, you’re not doing enough to inform consumers and instill confidence in them. After finishing here, head over to your website and try to look at it from the perspective of a customer. Imagine you’re clicking onto the website for the first time; do you provide information that new customers need?
Ask a friend or family member to look at your website. Note their comments and ask what you could do to make the experience better for new visitors. Your website should explain what you’re doing to keep staff and customers safe during the pandemic. It should have contact information readily available alongside details about delivery and online ordering.
We've been through highs and lows regarding email marketing At the moment, we’re in the middle of a high as consumers look for reliable and trustworthy brands. As many as three-quarters of consumers look to their email inbox for special deals and promotions. With the introduction of The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other regulations, customers now pick and choose which companies send them emails. If a customer provides their email address, they’re normally happy to receive promotional content.
When running special promotions and deals, make sure this enters your email marketing strategy. Returning to a previous tip, your information needs to remain consistent on all platforms. In other words, advertise on social media and have the promotion available on your website.
For many businesses, they have no idea where to start with their holiday marketing this year. With these nine tips, you can stand out in the crowd and enjoy a strong holiday after a difficult year!
