The Importance Of Holiday Sales
The holidays are almost here. It’s the time of year when everyone is at their happiest, free from work and spending time with family. With pre-Halloween, Halloween, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the run-up to Christmas, and of course, Christmas shopping, the end of the year is by far the busiest.
You should start preparing marketing campaigns for your target audience to properly position yourself and prepare for the holiday rush.
29 percent of holiday shoppers plan to spend more than last year. So it’s going to be a cheerful and delightful holiday shopping season.
In this article, we’ve compiled proven ideas for your holiday marketing, with which you can fascinate your customers and increase sales.
You can start now or save them for later! But later might be too late.
Holiday Marketing Ideas To Grow Sales
The holidays are usually a battle between the juiciest offers and the most creative brands. Therefore, only those with unique offers and reliable products will benefit from massive sales and an increase in revenue.
Use these promotional ideas to attract new customers, increase engagement, and boost holiday sales.
1. Offer Gift Boxes To Customers
Everyone loves to receive gifts. It’s a way to strengthen the bond between your brand and your customers and make them happy.
Plus, gifts are an important part of the holidays. Whether it’s Halloween, Easter or Christmas, the icing on the cake is when you get a gift.
So how can you make your customers happy?
By giving gift boxes that contain limited edition or branded products like pens, notebooks, water bottles, mugs, a card, etc., or even gift baskets. Gifts not only make your customers feel special but also give them something to look forward to, especially with limited edition products. And “special” is exactly what your customers need to keep coming back.
You can give out gift boxes for free, organize holiday contests, or sell them at a discounted price. It’s entirely up to you.
Krispy Kreme, a renowned doughnut company, produces limited edition holiday-themed doughnuts each year. Intriguing names are introduced each year to celebrate seasonal gifting, and customers look forward to the holiday edition because, for some, it’s one of the best flavors.
Did You Know?
85 percent of consumers will include online shopping in their holiday plans?
2. Offer Holiday Discounts
The majority of purchases made during the holiday season are for family and friends. The best thing you can do as a business is to offer discounts to your customers. Especially to those who need to purchase multiple items or services from your business.
Retail sales during the 2021 holiday season grew 14.1% year-over-year (online sales grew 11.3%), with the most growth seen for clothing (33.1%) and sporting goods (20.9%). Even more significant growth is expected in the 2022 holiday and Christmas shopping season.
Take advantage of this increase by offering your customers more options so they can buy more items. Offer a buy-one-get-one-free option, a discount for a bundle (i.e., a group of products that would normally cost more individually), or free product/shipping/delivery for goods over a certain value.
Here’s a holiday discount offer from Goggles4U, an online retailer of prescription glasses, sunglasses, and contact lenses.
Did You Know?
47 percent of consumers say free shipping would influence where they buy gifts?
3. Work With Celebrities And Influencers
Most people rely on influencer recommendations to make a purchase. In fact, 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations, while 40% purchase something after seeing it on Twitter, Youtube, or Instagram.
When consumers connect with an influencer and feel comfortable with his/her recommendation, they’re more likely to make a purchase. This makes influencer marketing an important part of your holiday marketing strategy.
Not only are you guaranteed sales because people buy from those they trust, but you also reach a larger audience with your holiday offers, increase sales, and boost your holiday marketing ROI.
The best part is that there’s always an influencer that fits your budget.
Nala baby, a baby skin and haircare brand, teams up with Digital Creator Swodei Jones to announce brand products and upcoming holiday sales and discounts. In addition to tagging @bootsuk, Swodei shows how she uses the products on her baby’s skin and directs her audience to where they can get it.
Did You Know?
30% of holiday shoppers are more likely to trust a brand that partners with a trustworthy creator?
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4. Increase Personalized Messages
It’s the holiday season, get in the mood for the holidays. Run holiday-themed campaigns to get people longing for holidays. Send your customers personalized messages that make them feel that you wish them the best holidays
In addition to emails and social media, you can also include personalized messages in the live chat section of your website to grab the attention of site visitors and lead them to the holidays offers page
Not only your messages, but also the design of your website should be aligned with the holidays
Revise the structure of your website for each vacation to increase engagement and generate social media responses. Also, add specific elements that describe the vacation to engage your customers.
Your goal is to get them excited enough to follow their feelings and buy from you.
Did You Know?
Emails with personalized subject lines can increase open rates by 26%.
5. Run Targeted Email Campaigns
Imagine waking up to an email notification from Apple offering a 50% discount on one of their products, among other social media notifications. Which one would you open first?
Email marketing is one of the best ways to reach your target audience. In fact, it’s the best form of communication during the holidays because customers can easily share holiday sales with family and friends.
Think of all the exciting things your target audience needs during this time and send them via email campaigns. It could be a recipe, a to-do list, or gift ideas for different family members
Of course, many other brands use email to send promotions as well, so you’ll need to be strategic to avoid getting it in the inbox.
One trick is to describe the vacation season in your subject lines. Use puns, wordplay, emojis, etc., to show creativity in your subject lines and increase your open rate.
Michaels, an Arts supplies and crafts brand, runs ideal targeted email campaigns for the specific holiday promotion. Not only that, they’ve kicked off the holiday season with insane discounts and deals for Christmas products.
Did You Know?
Buyers who purchase products via email tend to spend 138% more than people that do not receive email offers.
6. Partner With Other Brands
Another successful strategy for holiday marketing is to collaborate with other businesses in developing products and offers that are relevant to your customers.
This works best with companies that are a good fit. For example, an ice cream company and a chocolate bar company. Brand partnerships not only help you make more sales, but they also introduce you to a different audience and increase awareness of your brand.
Twix and Krispy Kreme are prime examples of brand partnerships for limited edition products. Krispy Kreme partnered with Twix to create a mix n match doughnut line that’s very popular with their fans. This type of partnership results in people buying not only for themselves but also for their loved ones.
Did You Know?
Millennials are more than likely to complete most of their Christmas shopping online.
7. Increase Video Marketing
We know everyone loves to watch videos of their favorite brands. But what we do not know is that 64% of customers are more likely to buy a product online after seeing a video of it.
This makes video marketing a crucial part of your marketing strategy. As it allows you to not only market your product but showcase your brand as well.
Record a video about your brand, holiday deals, products, or services and add it to your email, social media handles, thank you page, landing page, YouTube channel, and every other media channel through which your customers stay in touch with you.
Whether it’s for the festive season or for a recent product announcement, get creative with your videos and tell stories that evoke emotions to spark engagement with your audience.
The best way to incorporate video marketing in holiday marketing campaigns is to have a holiday theme. This means shooting high-quality videos telling stories that warm the heart using a theme that celebrates the holiday season.
This Apple 2021 Christmas commercial is the perfect example of using video marketing to sell a product and get into the holiday spirit.
The video begins very realistically with a young family traveling to visit their grandparents for the holidays. During the trip, the only thing that seems to keep the girls quiet and calm is the iPad.
And just when you think that’s the message of the commercial, it suddenly takes a heartbreaking turn by showing how the product is used to make a gift for a loved one.
This video is ideal because Apple is known for its high-quality, heavily featured, and highly functional products. This commercial focuses on emotions and uses the iPad to tell the story.
Did You Know?
68% of buyers turn to YouTube on their smartphones to decide what to buy.
8. Execute On Time
When it comes to holiday campaigns, time is very important. Too many companies make the mistake of postponing their marketing campaign under the pretext of “right timing,” which is completely wrong.
Your audience started thinking about the holidays long before the season started. In fact, 43% of US consumers start shopping for Christmas gifts before October. This means that your customers have already decided what to buy for the holidays, when and where to buy it.
To stay on top of things, your marketing team should start planning months in advance of the holidays.
You should start planning for Christmas between August and September. Brands like Starbucks recently launched their famous “red cups” in November to introduce their peppermint mocha and other vacation specialties and announce that the holidays are just around the corner.
Of course, there would be last-minute shoppers. But there are also the early shoppers who want to get their holiday shopping over with quickly. Cater to this audience by spreading your holiday offers in a timely manner. This way, you can motivate more people to buy your product, especially if you set a deadline for it.
Did You Know?
46 percent of shoppers started their holiday shopping earlier than usual in 2021.
9. Share Holiday-Themed Content
Once again, it’s the time to get into the holiday spirit. Continue to engage your audience by sharing organic posts on social media with the holiday theme. For example, on Halloween, change your social media posts to something Halloween-themed. Let your page exude the Halloween energy so your audience can identify with you.
Use what you know about your audience’s online behavior to create content about them that relates to the holiday. When you share this content, let them know about your offers and encourage them to participate.
KitKat, a famous chocolate bar brand, shared a holiday baking recipe with its audience, inspiring them to use the recipe and show creative ways they decorate their cake with KitKat. This approach provides valuable content that can be shared on the platform.
Repeat this strategy by creating a holiday recipe/guide/product and asking your customers to share images of them using the product.
This is a great way to engage your community, generate enough UGC for your social networks, and spread the word about your holiday offerings.
Did You Know?
70 percent of shoppers faced with out-of-stock products have switched retailers or brands instead.
10. Offer The Best Customer Experience
The buzz, the rush, the stress. This is a typical holiday season.
Make it a little easier on your audience by being resourceful and sharing the joy of the holidays.
Create and share recipes for different holiday dishes and showcase the best products you can use for them. Customers who want to recreate your dish or snack will tend to use your products as described in your guide.
When customers call to ask about your holiday specials, you should respond cheerfully by telling them all of your offerings and convincing them to choose one of them. Customers just want to make sure they’re getting the best deal.
Also, encourage them to consider your product(s) if you know it meets their needs. There’s no reason to push it on them.
Did You Know?
Product quality will be the most important factor in choosing between brands this year.
11. Run Targeted Ad Campaigns
Organic traffic is great, but if you want to sell out during the holidays, you should run targeted ad campaigns. Get your offers to your target audience and leave such a strong impression that you’ll be at the top of their list when they’re finally ready to make a decision.
Regardless of your industry, you can run ad campaigns on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Don’t forget Google Ads because search engines can deliver a lot of traffic.
Abigail Lorentzen, Team Lead, Paid Search, says.
“…Consumers are taking more time researching products, comparing prices, and looking at different shipping offerings, which is resulting in lower conversion rates for many businesses.”
So when you create paid ads, make sure your text and image highlight the offer and align with the holiday.
For example, if you sell makeup products, you can write copy that sells the perfect look for the holidays. Then, create sales or landing pages that will convince your target audience to accept your offer.
Did You Know?
58 Percent of Consumers say social media will influence their holiday buying decisions.
12. Share Brand Story Specific To Holidays
The holiday season is another great time to tell your brand story. It’s the perfect time to recount the series of events that led to your brand’s involvement in the holidays, why you decided to give gifts, and what it means to you as a company.
Most brands find it difficult to tell their brand story. This is usually because they think about it too much and believe it has to be an extraordinary story. A simple “why” you’re in business is your brand story in a nutshell.
It’s the stories you tell that inspire people and motivate them to believe in and trust your brand. The goal is to make them feel something that inspires them to act.
Ultimately, this can strengthen your relationship with your customers and increase brand awareness and conversion.
Ultimately it can strengthen relationships with your customers and drive brand awareness and conversion.
Every year, Pandora offers a free Christmas ornament to celebrate the holidays. They shared the story behind offering free ornaments and why they are inspired to continue to do so.
Storytelling in marketing helps humanize your brand and give your customers a reason to care about your offerings.
Did You Know?
Cyber monday is the holiday shopping day with the highest conversion rate.
Conclusion
The holiday season is almost here. Use this article as a guide to help you come up with ideas for promotional holiday marketing.
We’ve compiled twelve actionable tips you can use to connect with your loyal customers and improve your bottom line this vacation season. Get your marketing in line with your holiday spirit and wow your customers.