If Walmart’s holiday decoration aisles are any indication, the holiday season starts around Labor Day and wraps up somewhere in mid-March. Pumpkins and candy corn spring up before summer has ended, and the last relics of tree skirts and faux snow linger well into the spring.
For those of us not living in the wide world of rollbacks, timelines are a little more realistic, but there’s no avoiding the harsh reality of the changing seasons: the holidays are upon us. As a digital marketer, the time to prepare is now. With ecommerce sales expected to rise 13% year over year, there’s plenty of money to gain if your digital marketing game is on point.
Create a Calendar
When the rush of busy season grabs hold of you, it’s hard to stay on track. Unless you want to throw caution to the wind and charge forward without a method to the madness, taking time now to create content, sales, and distribution calendars can save you a lot of headaches later. Map out some of the basics based on prior year trends, sales, and inventory patterns, and establish a baseline for what you would like to accomplish. Include everything you have planned for the upcoming months, including ad campaigns, content creation, blog post submission dates, and advertising schedules.
Check Facebook
Facebook and its social media peers make for great digital marketing, and this is especially true for the holiday season. Instead of advertising anonymously, social media allows companies to connect on personal levels, appealing to the human side of business. Holiday-themed social media marketing should be celebration-centered, inviting fans and followers to exclusive sales, posting deadline reminders, advertising top sellers for the season, and tips and tricks for making the most of gift-giving. Use this opportunity to strengthen your online community, making valuable connections that can drive future sales.
Put Pen to Paper
Your content strategy is important all year round, but the holiday season deserves special focus and attention to detail. Content marketing during the holidays serves multiple purposes, reminding subscribers of what you have to offer, advertising sales, and boosting your presence in search engine rankings. Throughout the season, keep posts short and to the point – people don’t have as much time to read long, drawn-out articles – without sacrificing value. Stay focused on keyword usage, especially when it pertains to promotions, products, and services you’d like to highlight, and plan your posts early. Once the end of the year draws near, you’ll be glad you left yourself a roadmap.
Send a Message
When shopping is on everyone’s mind, a clever email with sales data is the perfect way to lure consumers to your virtual checkout line. Instead of taking a passive approach to sales and marketing this season, put your fight face on. Without a way to advertise your discounts, top sellers, and new releases, your customers are never going to know why they should shop with you. So, let email marketing do the talking for you. Don’t send mass email blasts; instead, focus on targeted approaches to get your message across, dividing lists by demographic, sales history, consumer trends, and more.
Whether you love the spirit of the holidays or you’d rather hibernate until the rush is over, how you handle digital marketing during the busy season is a strong indicator of how viable your business is year round. By stepping up your strategies, paying attention to new developments, and staying up to date with how your competitors are making a mark, you can do your part to make this season the best one yet.
