Everlytic's 2018 holiday marketing tips

Step 1: Upgrade your tech

The best marketing these days is driven by technology. This should be your starting point, because, with the right tools, you can save heaps of time, a lot of resources, and engage more of your audience. For instance, marketing communications platforms like Everlytic enable you to:

• Optimise your emails for mobile
  
• Segment your audience
  
• Use dynamic content
  
• Personalise your messages
  
• Automate your messages
  
• Take clients on customised journeys
  
• Track and analyse your results

These features don’t just sound impressive – they all contribute to higher engagement, better conversion, and a bigger bottom line. A foundation worth investing in.

Step 2: Plot your strategy

Once you’ve got the resources at hand for your marketing strategy, use them to implement some of these top holiday marketing trends:

• Keep it short and social

Keep your emails short and eye-catching. Then back it all up on social media, because if there’s one thing people do more of over the holidays, it’s spend idle time on social media.

• Call readers to action

CTAs are critical in your holiday campaigns. Make sure yours is big, bold, and right at the top of your mailer, so readers don’t miss it. Check out Wordstream’s tips for killer CTAs.

• Mobilise the journey

Ensure that your entire customer journey, from email, to your website, landing pages, and checkout is as simplified and optimised for mobile as possible.

• Top customer service

Commit yourself to providing exceptional customer service that guides your buyers through the process, answers their questions, and makes doing business with you as seamless as possible. Customers are more likely to return that way.

And for the retailers...

Since retail is one of the top-performing industries over December, here are some ideas specific to commerce:

• Send coupon codes

According to Success Agency, 85% of consumers are encouraged to make a purchase after receiving emails that contain coupon codes and 73% of consumers say that sales and discounts play a role in their holiday shopping decisions. This one’s a no-brainer.

• Email gift guides

Send gift guides for women, men, moms, kids, etc. If you know about your reader’s buying history, location, and interests, you can even personalise this guide using dynamic content.

• Cater to last-minuters

Online purchases rise until the last week before Christmas. Maximise on this by offering coupons and discounts until the 18^th. Then boost sales in the last week by offering speedy delivery options and pushing gift cards (after all, there are 72% more searches for gift cards the week before Christmas compared to the first week of December).

• Optimise your shipping

Be clear on when delivery will be made, so buyers can order in time for Christmas and other special days. Then reduce your shipping costs. Because, according to Success Agency, “people are more likely to purchase a more expensive product with free shipping than a slightly cheaper product that has a cost for shipping.”

If you’re not in a position to cut your shipping costs completely, Big Commerce says other ways of reducing shipping costs include:

• Offering free shipping after buyers have spent a certain amount
  
• Absorbing the price of shipping in the cost of the product
  
• Offering free shipping to certain areas
  
• Charging extra for overnight shipping to cover some the deficit you have from offering free shipping on standard deliveries

Step 3: Get yourself prepared

We say this often, but we can’t say it enough. Because, like Bob Carter, a palaeontologist, stratigrapher, and marine geologist once said: “Poor planning on your part does not necessitate an emergency on mine.” Or your consumer’s.

So, plan early, create calendars for your messaging, and automate as much as you can so you can free yourself to do other important work. And as Jeff Bullas suggests, be prepared to adapt your plans in response to the market and the results you get.

*This article originally appeared on Everlytic’s blog on 23 November 2018.