Holiday Marketing Tips to Improve Customer Engagement
Online businesses trying to make the most out of the peak buying season are going to want to improve customer engagement — check out these Holiday marketing tips.
The holiday season has arrived, and it’s the perfect opportunity to join the festivities while driving your brand messaging and creating lifetime value. Here are some Holiday marketing tips for getting creative and engaging with as many customers as possible this year.
Mobile Optimization is Key
The holidays are one of the busiest times for businesses and consumers alike. It stands to reason that both mobile searching and sales would surge during this time with customers rushing to get seasonal gifts and supplies.
A survey from Adlucent estimates that over 64% of shoppers place orders using a smartphone.
This simply emphasizes how critical the holidays are for businesses to drive sales and foot traffic.
Ideally, your stellar holiday promotions will have people flocking to your store whether it be online or in person. Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the weekend after Thanksgiving is one of the biggest shopping weekends in the nation, so you will want to be sure your services can keep up with the influx while satisfying your customers. Not only is it important that your website itself is mobile-friendly, but nearly every well-known retailer has created a high functioning app to make using their services and purchases even easier. If you haven’t already, this holiday season might be the perfect time to introduce your customer base to an app to help their holiday shopping go a little more smoothly.
Creative Promotions Run the Season
Black Friday and Cyber Monday aren’t the only things that define the holiday shopping season. The big discounts and potentially overwhelming holiday messaging usually lasts for weeks, so mixing up the content and promotions are important if you want to keep your audience as engaged as possible. Be aware that people’s expectations for unique, and deep discounts for Black Friday/Cyber Monday offers are high. Therefore, offers before that weekend should help lead up to these instead of overshadowing them. If you have a tier system, use this as a chance to treat VIPs to pre Black Friday sales and other exclusives. Simply allowing them access a certain time the night before, or including holiday wrapping or expedited shipping with purchases can make customers feel valued and like they have an edge over other shoppers.
Take Advantage of Influencers
During the holidays is one of the most lucrative and competitive times for B2C businesses. Social media is one of the most promising platforms to see a high return on investment because people are endlessly searching for shopping inspiration. One way to get a leg up ion competition is to seek out potential social media influencers in your industry.
Influencer marketing is by no means limited to the holidays, but it might be one of the best types of campaigns to focus on this season. Influencer marketing campaigns can help increase exposure, especially over social media and can reach niche audiences that you may be missing out on. Consumers more readily trust and act on recommendations from other users and trusted influencers than brands themselves. By using an authentic and trusted source in your community, your brand will resonate through the holidays and beyond.
Invest in Positive Experiences
The early holiday rush can be stressful but the season of joy shouldn’t be overlooked. Put thought into creating an enjoyable experience for your loyal customers as well as new ones. Experiential marketing if executed well can perfectly play into this special time of the year. Helping set the mood in your physical space might be more important than you may realize. A warm and colorful holiday ambiance can spread cheer and remind consumers ‘tis the season to be giving and forgiving. Walmart rolled out personal checkers that could ring you up anywhere in the store to alleviate the need to wait in crazy lines at the front. Try to view your in store experience as an educational and/or entertainment opportunity experience, think of a way to offer an activity to your customers that’s sensory, hands on and involves your product.
The holiday season can make or break revenue goals for almost every B2C retailer. If there is money to be made, the competition will be higher and consumers will be more on edge. Start planning now, because the quicker you start thinking about how to draw in customers with steep promotions and meaningful experiences, the more lifetime customers you will be able to retain.
