Holidays are a big gift to small businesses who know how to tap into seasonal spending spikes. According to a recent Advertising.com forecast, the 2007 holiday buying season will be strong. The holiday season no longer starts in the fourth quarter of the year. Consumers are beginning their shopping earlier and earlier.
“To fully capitalise on this lengthy shopping season, you should look to leverage marketing tactics for each stage of the consumer purchase cycle,” says Desiree Gullan, Creative Director of Guerrilla Marketing. According to Guerrilla Marketing, there are two marketing tactics to focus on when gearing up for holiday spending.
1. Get online. Now.
According to Advertising.com's report, 84% of consumers will use the Internet to make purchase decisions this festive season, and most will begin shopping in October. However, October shopping will be browsing, for the most part, as users search for the best online deals. “Most of those looking for deals will utilise search engines, making paid search campaigns a good investment for the festive season,” says Gullan.
2. Turning window shopping into sales
Consumers use the web to browse gifting ideas and educate themselves to make informed purchase decisions. But it's a “cold” medium in the sense that it can't offer the ever-important dialogue between brand and target audience. To initiate the conversation, experiential marketing should form part of your year-end marketing tactics.
Experiential marketing is more than one specific marketing tool. It's an idea, a mindset. “The focus is on creating fresh connections between brands and consumers in the world where things happen. These connections are in the form of experiences that are personally significant, memorable, interactive and emotional. Ultimately, these connections lead to increased sales and brand loyalty,” says Gullan.
