You might be thinking “It’s not even Halloween yet why is she talking about Christmas?” but for many e-commerce brands, Christmas starts in Summer!
Back when I worked for little old household brand Avon, Christmas fatigue was real. Christmas planning started in the spring and by the time it was all finished, it was the start of the Christmas season for real. But there was a good reason for being so prepared, Christmas sales are important to the bottom line!
However, as small business owners with many hats to wear, you’d be forgiven for not being quite as prepared. But if you haven’t started to plan how your marketing will maximize your Christmas sales, here are 10 easy hacks to help you.
1. Create a Christmas offering or promotion
Whether it’s a Christmas product offering, a limited edition bundle of your top-selling products, or a Christmas gift guide, having a Christmas offering will give you something to promote to your customers. Need some inspiration? - Think about the infamous Boots 3 for 2 Christmas Gifts offering - Lush repurpose their existing offerings into a “Christmas Gifts - Carluccio’s successful Christmas Hamper, featuring their top-selling products
2. Use your email database to build excitement
Before you launch your Black Friday Sales or your Christmas Promotions, use your email database to build excitement and generate noise on social media. Sharing teasers and coming soon news with your customers will help to generate interest ahead of your launch.
3. Update your imagery on your website and social media Swapping out your imagery for more seasonal imagery and promotional banners might sound obvious, but it's often something that’s overlooked when launching a new promotion. Keeping your social and web imagery on-trend helps to keep your existing customers engaged and will let them know you are ready for Christmas. Try using imagery that looks similar across both your website and social media to create a feeling of a continued journey and experience.
4. Add a countdown timer to your website Whether it’s a Black Friday Sale Countdown timer, or a countdown to your Christmas delivery cut off date, a countdown timer is a well-used marketing trick that creates a sense of urgency. Tried and tested by all major brands, you can be confident that a countdown within a small window of time will drive an increase in your purchase rate.
5. Add seasonal messaging and keywords to your PPC activity
As well as making sure you’re bidding on relevant seasonal keywords such as “Christmas gifts” or “Stocking fillers”, don’t forget to add Christmas themed messages to your generic and brand campaigns too.
Try using site links to promote a Christmas Gift Guide or adding messaging like “spread some festive joy” to your ads will engage your customer and increase click-through-rate (CTR).
6. Create seasonal display ads
Now you’ve updated your website and tweaked your PPC ads, it’s time to turn to your display and remarketing ads and give them a bit of Christmas joy! Creating seasonal ads which resonate with your customer will increase CTR and brand awareness.
Don’t forget to make sure you have remarketing campaigns set up to target non-purchasing customers who visit your website, and if you want to take it a step further, try targeting those who abandon their shopping cart with different messaging!
7. Write seasonal blogs to share on your social media
Help to spread the Christmas joy by creating some feel-good blog content around the holiday activities. Blogs that provide advice for the holiday season, seasonal recipes, and how-to tutorials are always engaging topics around the holiday season.
8. Upsell your stocking fillers as customers go through the checkout process
Much like supermarkets add low-price point products along the checkout areas, you can replicate that same impulse purchase on your website too. Try selecting your top lower-priced products or sales items to feature. This can be a great way to help reduce overstocked inventory too!
9. Reward loyalty and thank customers for shopping with you
As we approach the festive season, why not use the opportunity to reward loyalty by offering customers who purchase from you with an exclusive discount code to use before Christmas. Not only will this help increase your sales, but it will also help to increase customer loyalty too.
10. Don’t forget about those last-minute shoppers As we approach the last few shopping days, don’t accept that’s it for Christmas, why not offer an e-voucher gift card for those last-minute shoppers who have missed the delivery cut off dates!
If you need help to maximise your sales this festive period CULT Marketing could help. Feel free to contact us for a free initial no-obligation chat.