5 Top Tactics and 10 Last-Minute Holiday Marketing Ideas

Even if you’re a bit of a procrastinator with this guide you’ll find 5 ways to ramp up your marketing for a successful holiday shopping season,

 

Think With Google reported in 2019 that, on average, US consumers still had  53% of their shopping to do in the final weeks before Christmas. Especially with the potential uncertainties of in-store shopping due to coronavirus precautions, ensure you’re prepared for last-minute shoppers.

 

What does that mean for your digital strategy? First, it means you shouldn’t stop marketing too early. And, second, if you are getting a late start on holiday marketing,  there are still a lot of easy peasy tactics you can implement to raise sales during the most wonderful time of the yeeeeear🎵

 

1. Focus on your Best Sellers

No need to stress over new holiday designs, you’ve waited a bit too long, and that ship has sailed. Instead, focus on what has already worked, your best-selling products and services and put them at the center of your last-minute holiday strategy. After all, these are best-sellers for a reason.

 

• Start Running Ads

There’s no hard rule that says when you should start running ads. 

Keep your campaigns simple by promoting your best sellers when you’re short on time, and don’t forget to stop advertising when it’s too late for customers to get their hands on your wares.

 

• Create a Retargeting Campaign

Even though a retargeting campaign is not the quickest tactic on the list to implement, it can deliver huge results.

• 98% of the people visiting your site for the first time will leave without making a purchase.

And, about HALF of your visitors will come to your site 2-4 times before they buy anything.

 

• When you retarget visitors with display ads, those visitors are 70% more likely to convert. 
• Plus, 75% of browsers will notice retargeting ads
• 89% of browsers have a positive or neutral opinion of retargeting.

 

• Write Compelling Email Campaigns

Email marketing was responsible for 24% of holiday sales during the 2018 holiday shopping season. So you literally can’t allow yourself not to send out holiday emails.

 

Here are the two simplest options: Send Personalized Holiday Greetings or Create Holiday Sales Promotions

 

2. Take Time To Check Out The Competition

Yes, you should be focused on your own holiday marketing strategies. However, a little competitor research may help you get some ideas for upcoming seasons.

 

• What channels are your competitors gravitating towards? 
• What are they doing?
• Is it working?

 

You won’t know how successful their sales are, but you’ll at least see what you’re up against.

 

3. Use Awesome Visuals

 

People remember up to 80% of what they see and only about 20% of what they read. 

 

And as many of us tend to be in celebratory moods at this time of year, it’s more likely to wander into a shop if the windows are embellished in bright holiday décor.

 

TIP: When you’re building your holiday plan, remember that Christmas isn’t the only gift-giving holiday at this time of year. Hanukkah and Kwanzaa frequently fall near the same time.  

 

4. Optimize For Mobile

Comparison shoppers are doing more mobile searches than ever to find a better deal online. In fact, 82% of shoppers use their mobile devices to help them decide on a product. 

 

So why are desktop sales so much higher? Desktop traffic converts 2X higher than mobile due to big, fat mobile sites, with small buttons, and sloooower page loading times. 

 

Here is what you should know and implement ASAP:

 

Websites that cut down their page load time to 4 seconds see an average conversion increase of 2%. 

 

So, first thing first:

• Remove any non-essential direct links from the home page,
• Keep the essentials on the home page, like CTA (large buttons to reduce miss-taps), holiday promotions. 
• Make sure your product photos are adjusted to fit the desired size for mobile pages. 
• Reduce the number of checkout steps. 30% of carts are abandoned when customers are asked to register before purchasing.
• Include social login functionality, this will reduce the amount of content irrelevant to purchase that shoppers see during checkout.

 

5. Engage With Your Customers

You are nothing without your customers. So please talk to them!

The easiest way to talk to your customers is through social media. 

 

And here are some ways to keep your customers and followers happy:

• Post frequently. 
• Advertise and post social media-specific deals and promotions for your customers. 
• Listen to your followers: Answer comments and private messages.
• Cross-promote your posts across multiple social media platforms to maximize your reach.

 

• Go Live on Facebook and Instagram

Video marketing is super effective. Video marketers enjoy a 54% increase in brand awareness and 66% more qualified leads per year.

 

And if you are short on resources? Do a live stream!

 

Especially in these times when so many people around the globe have limited their in-person social interactions, most people are already in the habit of turning to Livestream to connect. 

 

You can use it to share up-to-date product information, show off one of your products/services, share the latest holiday shopping deals, give a behind-the-scenes look at your business, show a day in the life of a team member, or let customers see how your business celebrates the season.

 

And, if the thought of going live makes you faint, you can always create a pre-recorded video to add to your Instagram or Facebook stories or add to your YouTube channel.

 

• Support Late Shoppers

 

The Think with Google report indicates that convenience and urgency are key factors the closer the date gets to the gift-giving holiday. 

 

To catch the eye of last-minute shoppers, be sure your Google My Business and Bing for Business pages are updated with:

• holiday hours
• phone number
• website.

 

• Use Social Proof

Use your best sellers and stellar reviews – and share them!

Create social media ads or posts letting your audience know what their fellow shoppers have been loving.

 

10 Marketing Activity Ideas: Choose your favourites

You can find your way of making the customers feel festive, and it doesn’t have to be the 20% Black Friday discount. And don’t overpromise. Set the date of your live stream or content later in the year so that you can find time to get ready for it.

 

Here are 10 great marketing activities ideas that are easy to set up:

 

1. Have a Flash Sale

Flash sales are a super-effective way to get holiday shoppers engaged without a lot of planning.

Try to reach out to existing customers to get them to help you spread the news of your flash sale. 

2. Add A Countdown Timer To Your Site

Now that you have your Flash Sale ready keep last-minute shoppers in the know with a countdown timer on your website or within marketing emails.

3. Create Christmas Themed Landing Pages

Add a Christmassy feel with one of the most effective ways to showcase your best deals: A Christmas-themed deals page. Clearly display your sale and point the customer in the right direction to access the sale.

4. Run an Online Giveaway

Giveaways are one of the easiest ways to get shoppers engaged with your brand. Check our Do’s and Don’ts on your holiday strategy blog to see why Running a Holiday giveaway is as right as rain 

5. User-Generated Content Contest

Encourage shoppers to engage!

When you want to add more content but are short on ideas, turn to your customers! 

For them, it’s exciting to have their post shared with a broader audience and you get to boost some social proof.

 

Ask your followers to share pictures or videos using a hashtag (guide on the festive hashtag at #3), and set up a quick contest. 

6. Create a gift guide

This may take a little more time, but if you have any content for this season, make it a gift guide for your business. This can be a blog post, a landing page, an email, or a social media post. Take the opportunity to show the benefits of your services or products.

7. Discount codes or coupons

Another way to reward your followers and have new customers is to offer discount codes, you can do this via social media, email, or even your website. A lot of people may be interested in buying but are waiting for the right CTA to get them to follow through.

 

Setting up discount coupons may take some time, depending on the type of e-commerce platform or marketplace you are using, so if you want to use this idea don’t leave the setting up for the last minute!

8. Promote free shipping

Shipping costs are a game-changer for customers: 44% of shopping cart abandonment occurs due to shipping charges. So get your customers to complete that sale by offering free shipping!

 

Set a minimum order amount to get free shipping. This will motivate your customers to buy more. 

 

Remember that you’re not actually offering FREE shipping; you’re adding the shipping costs to your retail price. 

9. A big old Twitter Q&A

Another way to engage with your audience is through a Q&A session. Let your audience know when you’ll be online to answer all their questions, and then let them fire away.

 

This is ideal for engaging with your audience and also for learning more about what they think about your brand. Don’t forget to add relevant links to your responses.

 

If you have more time, feel free to mix and match any of these activities but don’t overwhelm yourself. If in this opportunity  you have to go with a last-minute marketing strategy, next year hire a pro and relax during the holiday season

 

Conclusion 

The holiday season can be a headache for business and for marketing teams (believe us); the pressure is on to meet goals. However, it’s essential to leave some room for fun. It’s a beautiful season, feel, live and share the joy.

And If you don’t have time to create gift guides, set up discounts, and design breathtaking landing pages, just plan to be on social media for the holidays, respond to your followers, have fun, post whatever content you do have, send at least one email, and remind your audience that you are there listening to them, and your business has something to offer.

 

Have an amazing end of the year and let us know what worked best for you!