Our Marketing Guide to the Holiday Season 2020

Obviously this year the holiday marketing season will be very different from last year. With the majority of purchasing happening online due to COVID 19 restrictions, it is critical that merchants are prepared for the surge of online traffic and the tools to successfully manage the up-coming sale period. 30Acres is here to aid in implementing these simple marketing strategies to get the most out of this upcoming season.  

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The Full-funnel approach

Think of the holiday season as an opportunity to engage with your audience in all stages of the marketing funnel: how do you use the opportunity to attract new visitors, how to encourage conversions, and how to retain your new customers after the sale period.

Acquisition: how can you use the period before the sale to prospect actively, get more subscribers to your database with for example an acquisition campaign such as 'giveaways' or by promoting ‘early sale access’ to subscribers.

Engagement: with sales in full swing, customers can get tired of just seeing sale ads - make sure you still share a mix of content, including more engaging types of content, like video, and influencer or customer content.

Conversion: make sure you remove or address all potential points of friction for a customer to purchase during the sale period and increase your customer service resources and availability to be able to respond to customers in real-time.

Retention: use a loyalty program to actively grow your database of customers and develop automated flows for first-time purchasers during the sales period.

Win-back: use this opportunity to reconnect with customers who have not interacted with you for a period of time and give them a good reason to purchase again with you.

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Transparency breeds trust

Transparency is key for building trust and loyalty with customers. False promises or vague information will cause frustration, hesitation or lead to customers to go elsewhere to make their purchase.

• Featuring a homepage banner with information regarding shipping/ how shipping will be affected during the busier times and what people can expect before they order.

• Providing an estimated delivery window once an order is placed provides peace of mind that the order has been processed and on the way, this will also prevent extra queries from the customer/extra tickets.

• Generating a back in stock automation is great for popular products or the option for customers to sign up for an email notification when a certain product comes back in stock, so they don’t miss out and they can plan on a realistic time frame of when they can expect it (e.g before Christmas or after).

• With regards to stock and expectations consider creating a pre-order option and make sure to give clear instructions and realistic timeframes.

• Creating a collection with specific items that will have express shipping if people are concerned about arrival times.

• Having a clear returns/refund/store credit policy online, often these rules change with sales so make sure customers understand the terms & conditions fully before purchasing. Have an easy to use returns form is key, and consider having a ‘gift’ option returns form that customers can keep with the item (gift), therefore the receiver has a choice to return themselves in a discreet manner. Or, avoid all this and push gift cards as a risk free alternative.

Competitive Customer Incentives

The competition will be higher during this period, giving your customers that extra incentive to stay loyal to you and not purchase elsewhere will make all the difference.

Incentivise customer referrals

Usinwith personal discount codes to increase brand loyalty and leverage the power of referral marketing.

Use a rewards/loyalty program

to encourage account creation rather than ‘guest shoppers’ during the sales period.

Creating special holiday package bundle deals, cross-sell and up-sell offers will encourage customers to make larger purchases whilst making savings.

Having an incentive to leave a review post-purchase to encourage repeat purchasing, and use the large sales volumes during the sales period as an opportunity to grow the reviews published on-site.

• Use customer sales data and interaction with past holiday campaigns to create campaigns around holiday-related content targeted to the relevant audiences. Target blog content such as 'Best Presents under $100'  and 'Stocking fillers' to audience segments with a smaller average spend, or 'The Ultimate Dream Christmas Gifts' to share with higher value customers.

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Adjusting your strategies accordingly from start to finish is crucial in having an effective and efficient sale period this year. Having a clear plan from start to finish will enable clear communication and avoid roadblocks along the way. Segmenting your customers according to their specific needs and buying patterns will make it a personal experience, which is more likely to resonate and result in conversions.

We wish you a happy holiday season!

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