The time of year that all ecommerce store owners look forward to (or dread?) is coming! Just hear those sales cha-chingling! The holiday season might seem like a ways away, but the truth is, it’s coming up fast. Believe it or not, if you want to boost holiday sales, now is the time to start promoting your products.
And, we want your holiday season to be an absolute ecommerce success! We want you to relish in present-opening with your family, knowing you’ve banked some SERIOUS cash for next year! So, we’ve prepared for you this ultimate guide to boost holiday sales. It’s complete with 7 essential steps to ensure your store is ready to capitalize on the holiday shopping frenzy.
(And, psst… there’s even a free download at the end!)
Why Getting Prepared Early is Smart Business
I’m still sporting my summer tan… do I really have to start thinking about the holidays?
We’ll be honest: if you’re smart (which, we’re sure you are), then YES, you do.
Preparing your holiday marketing strategies and beginning your promotions now will increase your holiday campaign’s success. Here’s how…
1. Competitive Edge
Starting your holiday preparations early will give you a leg up on your competition. In other words, they might still be basking in a summer glow or waiting until after Halloween as a matter of principle, so now’s your opportunity to get ahead. Think about it, if other ecommerce store owners wait until late fall to ramp up their marketing efforts, how much better will it be for you if you capture customer attention before the market becomes saturated? See the answer in your December bank statement.
2. Reduced Stress
The holidays are chaotic enough. Don’t add to your stress by waiting until the week before Black Friday to throw together social media campaigns, Google Ads, and email funnels, and oh-by-the-way optimize your website with discount codes and bestseller promos… Umm, no thank you. Save yourself the headache, and start now. Your smart thinking and excellent planning will yield a well planned strategy that captures customers’ attention.
3. Increased Opportunities
Think of that friend of yours who is super organized and always plans ahead. She’s the kind of person who has her Christmas shopping done by October, who tells you how relaxed she is, while you nibble on a handmade pastry she brought to your neighborhood Christmas party and second guess all your life choices… and grab another pastry. Guess what: there are thousands of other people just like your friend! People who want to get things done early, shop ahead of the crowds, and land great deals. And these people give you a big opportunity to boost your holiday sales. Promote your products early. Start marketing “Christmas in September” sales so you can capture cool shoppers just like your friend. You’ll widen your customer audience, capture sales your competition was too blind to see, and boost revenue.
7 Steps to Boost Holiday Sales
And now, let’s get to the good stuff. Follow this 7-step guide to create a holiday marketing campaign for your ecommerce store. And don’t forget, at the end you can download your complete guide to keep you on track all season long.
1. Plan Your Strategy
First, dedicate time and focus to planning your strategy. It should include a theme, designated holidays, and specific promotions.
Choose Holiday Events that Align with Your Business
Identify key holidays and events that resonate with your target audience and align with your products. Consider major holidays like Black Friday, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s, as well as niche events like Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Tailor your promotions to these events to maximize their impact.
Decide on Sales and Special Promotions
Determine the types of sales and promotions you’ll offer. Consider discounts, bundled products, limited-time offers, and free shipping. Ensure your promotions are compelling enough to entice customers to make a purchase but also sustainable for your business.
2. Create a Calendar
Stay on track! Don’t fall victim to false assurance that you’ll keep everything in your brain to reference later (that’s another reason we recommend downloading our free guide below). Creating a calendar, where it’s analog or digital, will help you stay on top of progress and anticipate upcoming projects and events.
Keep It Front and Center
Develop a detailed marketing calendar. If you have a team, make sure that all team members can access and interact with the calendar. Include important dates such as holiday deadlines, campaign launch dates, and content publication schedules. A well developed calendar will give you a roadmap to follow, ensuring that everyone is on the same page and that no key dates are missed.
Include All Relevant Dates
Mark key holidays, deadlines for ad submissions, and social media posting schedules. Having all these dates in one place allows you to plan your workload effectively and ensures that your campaigns are timely and relevant. Pro tip: mark your calendar for the last day you can ship products before the holidays, and schedule alerts to remind customers.
3. Design Social Media Assets
Here’s the part everyone stresses over — another reason to start early! Get your social media graphics established. It would be helpful to design a series of dedicated templates so that you only have to adapt the content later.
Create Holiday-Themed Banners and Icons
Design eye-catching holiday-themed banners, icons for highlights, and templates for social media posts. These assets should reflect the festive season and attract the attention of your audience. Consistency across all your social media channels helps in building a cohesive and recognizable brand presence.
Adapt to Each Channel
Each social media platform has its own specifications and best practices. Make sure that your holiday-themed assets are tailored to fit the requirements of each channel, whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, or some new channel that’s launched on December 24 (kidding… we hope). And don’t forget – do you have a branded holiday hashtag?
4. Optimize Your Website
Even if you have the most amazing, super fast website, it will still need work before the holidays. Make sure it’s equipped to handle increased traffic, all bugs are corrected, the user experience is top notch and holiday codes are built in.
Pay Attention to Technical Details
Ensure your website can handle the increased traffic that comes with the holiday season. Conduct a thorough audit to fix any bugs, fine-tune navigation, and optimize for mobile users. A smooth and efficient user experience is crucial for keeping customers on your site and encouraging them to make a purchase, so asking customers for feedback ahead of time can give you space to improve things as necessary. Add new products, input holiday codes, and optimize automated communications.
Add Landing Pages and Promotional Graphics
Create dedicated landing pages for your holiday promotions. These pages should be visually appealing, jam-packed with strong keywords, optimized for SEO, and super compelling! Take it to the next level and create a holiday gift guide page, which reduces friction and confusion for shoppers. Also, remember to update your website’s content and refresh product photos to reflect the holiday theme. Add some spice with holiday promotional graphics and banners, which will draw attention and infuse energy to your overall strategy.
5. Prepare Email Marketing
Knowing that email marketing yields the highest ROI of any marketing activity, you don’t want to forget this… develop a strong approach to regular, targeted emails so you can stay top of mind with your audience of shoppers.
Create Holiday-Themed Email Campaigns
Make sure your customers can SEE what your emails are all about, right from the get-go. Design festive email templates that grab your subscribers’ attention. Use holiday-themed banners and engaging visuals that will make your emails pop inside crowded inboxes. Craft each email so that you guide segmented users towards clicking the “Buy” button, with clear calls to action and enticing offers.
Design a Funnel to Guide Users
The holidays are a personal experience, so show your audience how well you understand and care about THEIR personal desires. Email can help you do this. Segment your email list based on customer behavior and preferences. Then, create personalized email sequences that nurture users through the sales funnel, from awareness to purchase. Show them how specific products will solve individual needs and make their experience just a little bit better.
6. Invest in Ads
Tens of thousands – if not more – people will learn about your products if you run great ads. Marketing through Google and Social Media ads extends your reach to people who wouldn’t have otherwise known about you, and it captures sales you’d never have processed otherwise.
Strategize a Strong Ad Campaign
Your robust advertising strategy should leverage the combined power of Google and social media. Use high quality visuals for each one, and strengthen them with popular keywords. Diversify your ad content by promoting individual products, packages, flash sales, coupons, or special experiences. Tailor your target audience for each ad, and craft compelling ad copy that highlights your holiday promotions.
Allocate a Healthy Budget
Spending a couple hundred dollars on advertising won’t move the needle much, so get serious with yourself, and decide on a budget that you can sustain but that allows you to stretch. A healthy advertising budget can yield significant returns. Plus, investing a little more during the holiday season can prove quite profitable, as your audience is already in the buying mood. Finally, make sure to monitor your ad performance and adjust your spending to maximize ROI.
7. Monitor & Follow Up
Remember, this holiday season isn’t just about this year alone; it’s a stepping stone to next year, too. So, as you proceed through your holiday marketing activities, monitor progress, adapt to evolving dynamics, and take lessons learned to next year.
Stay Active and Responsive
Avoid the mistake of “set it and forget it.” You can boost holiday sales even more if you patiently and continually monitor your campaigns and make needed adjustments. Maybe one ad doesn’t work at all, and it’s worth it to pause running it so you can redirect money into a more successful ad. Maybe users LOVE your “product tutorial” videos and you have time to record a few more. Respond to these needs and stay engaged, and customers will reward you!
Request Feedback and Reviews
Find how what works, and what missed the mark. In January, follow up with your customers to request feedback and reviews. Create a brief survey that asks for feedback on how your customers found you, why they come to you, and what the shopping process was like. Ask for product reviews so you can build your inventory of testimonials. This information is invaluable for fine-tuning your campaigns for the next holiday season – making next year even better!
Download Your Free Guide to Boost Holiday Sales
We want to see your holiday sales soar this year! To help you out, we created a free, complete guide to holiday marketing. Plus, enjoy a few bonus gems and get in early on a deal that could save YOU money!
Download your free guide to boost holiday sales here!
