The holiday season is everyone’s favorite time of the year: family get-togethers, meet-ups with friends, great food and wine, and of course, the endless parties. One can so easily get caught up in the whirlwind of events and activities that even a business owner like yourself can’t help but relax and enjoy the celebrations.
While you are out there doing that, however, remember, you can also use the holiday season to boost your marketing and hopefully, your sales. If you can generate revenue while you are out there having fun, then why wouldn’t you, right? You need to have it all planned out ahead of time so when the celebrations happen, you don’t miss out on them. On this episode of The Digital Slice Podcast, we'll discuss how you can generate revenue with a well-defined holiday marketing plan.
Getting Your Act Together
Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday, and your December holidays - you name it, the list goes on and on. It's at this time when people are busy with both their online and offline activities. Yes, they are also going to be bombarded with all sorts of email and social media posts so if you intend to get past those distractions to reach your customer, you need to get your act together if you want to get ahead of the curve. Whatever it is you are planning, whether it’s a holiday giveaway, promotion, or new campaign, you have to do it early so you can get ahead of the rest.
Statistics show sales tend to increase during the holiday season as well as at the first quarter of the year. Specifically, the National Retail Federation observed in 2017, holiday sales went up to a total of 687.87 billion dollars. A whopping 5.3% increase from 2016. So yes, they go up every year, and current trends do not show any downturn any time soon. As such, starting now presents you with a fantastic opportunity whether you are a retailer or service provider. You have to take advantage of the buying and shopping mood people are currently in. And remember, it can also extend to the first quarter of 2019 as clients and customers begin their planning for next year. But, during the holiday season, online spending is expected to go up by 18% to 21%.
Email’s Not Dead
It is easy to think email is dead with the rise of social media, but this is not true. Email is still one of the fastest and most direct ways to reach your audience during the holiday season. It is very effective as a marketing tool. You are going to get a more significant piece of the pie for the holidays if you use email marketing to your advantage. The main thing about email marketing is its high conversion rates. Statistics show 20% of holiday emails opened on customers’ mobile devices are guaranteed to convert to a purchase. Email marketing is considered to be a leading channel that converts 174% more compared to social media and most especially so in B2B businesses. So go ahead and launch your holiday email marketing campaign.
3 Ways To Power Up Your Holiday Marketing Plan
If you want to be successful with your holiday marketing plan, follow a systematic process.
- First, you have to set your goals.
- Second, you need to create a convincing offer.
- Finally, you have to create your marketing plan based on best practices.
Like any other business goal, the goals you set should follow the S.M.A.R.T. acronym. They should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.
Think about what success looks like for you and set your goals. Define your goals in precise terms as these goals are going to serve as your guide in creating your marketing plan. For instance, if your goal is to attract new customers, then you have to set the number you actually want. Make sure your goals are achievable, but are stretch goals. Then, set a date your goals will be achieved. Goals to consider setting include, strengthening customer loyalty, motivating sponsors, or growing the number of members in your social media group.
When you are done with your goals, then you can proceed to create an offer encouraging engagement from your potential customers. Creating an offer can range from preparing coupons, handing out discounts, providing free shipping, awarding gift cards, giving gifts with a purchase, providing exclusive content like a white paper or an eBook, early bird invites to an event or a free download. The goal is to give something away of value to get a customer’s interest in the products or services you provide.
Just make sure the offer you create fits into what a particular segment of your audience is looking to receive. When it comes to promotions, there is no one size fits all policy. They have to suit every type of buyer persona you have. You have to make sure what you are giving away is something they want to receive. Whether it’s a free consultation, coaching sessions, tips, or best practices, as long as they are valuable to your buyer persona, then they are great offers.
Finally, with your goals in mind, you can start drafting an awesome holiday marketing campaign. The main activity at this point is to push out content so you can run your campaign effectively, be it via email or social media. Just make sure you make it in such a way that it results in measurable responses because you will collect the data later on for even deeper, more insightful marketing. For example, clicks are great as a measurable response.
To implement your marketing campaign successfully, you need to follow some best practices. For one, you have to make your messages short but clear. Also, use designs wisely be it on social media, with your digital ads, or your emails. Videos are popular as well, and they are great for marketing campaigns. Importantly, remember, 91% of customers read trusted reviews before they make a purchase, so it’s best practice to have such reviews ready, including customer testimonials. And of course, make it shareable, because word of mouth is still the best form of marketing out there.
Be sure to listen to this episode of The Digital Slice Podcast to get the scoop on holiday marketing! And, if you like it, leave a rating and a review!
Please note: The Friedman Group is an inbound marketing agency based in Denver, Colorado, and we work with professionals and business owners across the U.S. Our digital marketing services include: inbound marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, and digital marketing strategy and implementation.
