Tis the season of peppermint mochas and endless online shopping for gifts. According to eMarketer’s research, U.S. eCommerce sales are expected to increase a staggering 17.2% this holiday season. To anticipate such a growth for your own business, you must have a holiday marketing campaign in place. And that means doing something other than a huge price cut. Here are 3 dos and don’ts to ensure a successful holiday marketing campaign.
DOs
1. Cater to Emotions
Transactional languages during the holidays can be a turn-off. Sure, it’s nice to get a 40% discount, but it won’t do anything for your company in the long run. A discount isn’t memorable - a good story is. By running a holiday campaign that not only tells your story, but also caters to people’s emotions, you can set the tone for the new year.
2016 has been a pretty rough year for Samsung, but their latest holiday campaign is almost good enough to make us forget it all. Samsung’s campaign to Unwrap the Feels with the Gear VR shows the product eliciting a wide range of emotions from those who received it as a gift. By portraying the emotions of those who received the Gear VR as a gift, Samsung is telling viewers they can get the same reactions from friends and family if they gift the Gear VR. It’s ingenious.
2. Shareability is Key
With great campaign, comes great shareability. For a campaign to be successful, it’s important to get it in front of as many eyes as possible. To reach the eyes of people who are not already familiar with your company, create a campaign that encourages your current followers to share it with their friends and family.
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The best way to reach the audience of your current followers is to incorporate a social media aspect into the campaign. Samsung supports the Gear VR campaign by running a social media sweepstakes that encourages their followers to tag a friend. For every follower that tags a friend, that’s one more set of eyes on the campaign and the company itself.
3. Exist Everywhere
Half of a successful campaign is making sure that it is seen. No matter how great your campaign is, if it’s not on every single platform, you aren’t doing it right. Ensure your holiday marketing plan takes on a holistic approach by covering all channels that your audience frequents.
Samsung has covered all their grounds when it comes to their holiday campaign. From the website to emails to various social media platforms, Samsung made sure their holiday messaging was served on every channel.
DON’Ts
1. Broken Links
Nothing is more annoying than clicking a broken link. Trust me when I say that people have great memory - give someone a broken link and they will never want to click on another link of yours again. Another equivalent to broken links? Out of stock items.
Never link to items that are out of stock. Should you ever link an item that just became out of stock, it’s important to update your campaign and update your links to reflect what a potential customer is able to purchase. Always double check your links and if all else fails, have an awesome 404 page like Bluegg to ease the blow.
2. Slow Shipping
If shipping were the sole factor to making a purchase, Amazon would have won this race already. For many people, shipping plays a large role in the purchasing decision, especially during the holidays. Don’t turn people away from your eCommerce business with shipping delays or ambiguous delivery dates. Instead, offer a shipping chart to put your customers at ease.
Glossier’s most recent email is the perfect example of doing shipping right. Free shipping is offered at a relatively low minimum and the expected delivery dates are included in the messaging. Don’t turn people away from your eCommerce business with shipping delays or ambiguous delivery dates during the holidays. Everyone making a purchase now is expecting to receive an item in time for Christmas, so don’t be a grinch by stealing that away from them.
3. Unfriendly Mobile Experiences
Last year’s holiday season saw a 59% increase in mobile sales compared to 2014, and this past Cyber Monday, $1 billion was spent on mobile devices alone on a single day. Needless to say, mobile shopping has become increasingly popular. Even if consumers are not directly using their phone browsers to get to your site, many mobile only social platforms like Instagram support in-platform advertising, making it very important to be mobile optimized.
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Companies such as Sephora and H&M have done extremely well catering to the mobile community. Not only is their site mobile optimized, but they also have apps to provide an on-demand shopping experience. When it comes to optimizing for mobile, things like quick filtering, standout add-to-cart buttons, auto image resizing, and an overall easy checkout process will go a long way.
Competition gets higher every year between businesses. To stand out in the eyes of a consumer, you need to do more than just lower the price of goods. Capture the attention of consumers with a relatable campaign, enlist your audience to spread the message, and really stick the landing by providing a great shopping experience.
