Tick tock. The holiday season is fast approaching, and Santa isn’t the only one that needs to make a list and check it twice. Marketers need to spring into holiday action.
“Most retailers get about 20 percent of their annual sales during a typical holiday season,” says Linda Clasen, design and planning specialist at marketing company, Harte Hanks. “This presents an enormous opportunity to execute on holiday marketing campaigns that drive strong return on investment and sales for your brand.”
With Clasen’s help, we created a list of four things marketers should do now to get ready for the holiday season:
1. Plan digital holiday promotions
No matter what business you’re in, no matter what product or service you sell, customers always want a deal.
Plan several holiday promotions to cash in on the holidays. Consider offering a coupon, deals on gift cards or a free gift with purchase.
“Consider free shipping offers for your most loyal customers throughout the season, or introduce time-sensitive flash sales to create a sense of urgency,” Clasen adds.
Make a list of the promotions you plan to offer and set calendar reminders to stay on top of them.
Use email and social media as your main communication tools. You can encourage both online purchases and in-store purchases.
2. Prepare to use social media sites
Sixty-four percent of shoppers use social media to find the perfect gift, so be prepared to up your social media game this season.
Check your sites and make sure all of the profile information is filled in, check to make sure links are working and plan to change your profile pictures to something more festive as the season draws near.
Consider creating a holiday gift guide now too. What products or services are hot sellers? Feature them in a gift guide that you’ll send and share with customers later on. Here’s a downloadable template to create a quick gift guide that you can share with customers.
To keep your sites stocked with posts and updates, start using a scheduling tool like Hootsuite. With this tool you can schedule posts for the entire holiday season, and add time-sensitive posts as needed.
3. Be mobile-ready
Is your website mobile-friendly? Mobile use now outweighs desktop use, so it’s imperative that your website caters to smartphone and tablet users, Clasen says.
“Many consumers do research on mobile devices, so the design needs to take into account the behaviors and mentality of the mobile user,” Clasen says.
Aren’t sure how your website looks on mobile devices? Put your web address into Google’s Mobile Checker to see your website on various devices.
If you aren’t happy with your site, consider upgrading to a responsive design. With responsive website designs your site will adjust to every screen size.
If changes are needed, start now so your site is ready for the holiday season.
4. Purchase holiday marketing materials
Sales should happen online and in-store. You can run sales simultaneously or separately.
Just as you create emails and gift guides for the digital world, you should also create marketing materials for the brick-and-mortar world. Consider ordering window signs to advertise a sale, or postcard-sized coupons to give customers at checkout.
For the budget-minded marketers, order materials that can be reused. Don’t include dates on materials so you can use the leftover materials next season.
Just as you made a list of digital promotions that you plan to run, do the same for in-store promotions. Create a calendar of sales and set reminders so you’re ready to execute when the time comes.
Are you ready for the holiday season? What are you planning? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
