The fourth quarter of the year is when many eCommerce businesses rake in their highest profits. But unfortunately, some brands think that this peak in sales growth during the holiday season is possible without putting in effort.
However, LTK reports 70 percent of shoppers are in pursuit of more holiday sales this year. Hence, bracing your business with eCommerce marketing in time for the bustling season is needed to achieve your sales targets.
Google also reveals 26 percent of shoppers globally have already begun. While the figure spells out a missed opportunity, you still have time to join the holiday shopping party — it’s better late than never.
In this blog, we break down eCommerce marketing basics: sales promotion examples, ways to make your website holiday-ready and top marketing trends 2022 to inform your strategy.
#1 Heed the Holiday Marketing Trends 2022
The holiday marketing trends 2022 are hinged upon consumers’ spontaneity and yearning for convenience, as shown by these figures from Google:
• 64 percent of holiday shoppers in the U.S. use Google to search for “discovery and inspiration.”
• 67 percent of YouTube viewers surveyed revealed that sponsored content led them to make a purchase.
• 90 percent YOY increase in searches containing “near me in stock.”
• 400 percent YOY increase in searches containing “store open.”
“Experts are predicting slower and lower sales this holiday season,” said Danielle Russel, eCommerce manager at Thrive.
“Consumer concerns around inflation and whether a recession is on the horizon are driving shoppers to be more conservative with their spending. This will likely materialize in consumers purchasing fewer gifts or less expensive ones.”
Investing in your product listings, video ads or influencers are only some of the ways you can approach these trends. So now, further considering these trends, let’s dive into marketing techniques and crucial eCommerce business facets to undertake this holiday.
#2 Juice Up Your eCommerce Marketing Strategy With Upcoming Holiday Sales and Special Offers
If you want to bank on the early holiday shopping that is progressively unfolding, pay close attention to the trends within your business and the industry you’re in. Here are aspects to consider when you begin crunching the figures for your holiday campaigns:
Products
Based on your eCommerce site’s sales record, find out the products that are proven best sellers, whether current or seasonal. Then, for more fruitful holiday marketing, consider the trending products shifting like clockwork in your market.
Pricing
Brands are battling to attract customers with the best deals during the holiday shopping rush. To maintain an edge over your rivals, analyze the lowest price you can offer your products and adjust your profit margin accordingly.
Schedule
Another crucial figure is the best time to activate your holiday deals and campaigns. So check your website’s unique performance from the previous year and see which days traffic and conversions are heightened or peaking.
Channels
While checking site traffic, dig deeper and find where the traffic is coming from. Once you’ve determined the referral sites that bring you the most conversions (not just traffic), you now have the channels to publicize your deals.
If price slashing isn’t an option, there are other holiday deals and sales promotion examples you may want to consider, like free shipping or gift-wrapping. But eCommerce holiday marketing can be about more than just discounts. You can simply tweak your packaging and add a festive touch to it similar to Starbucks’ well-received Christmas marketing gimmick, red holiday cups.
#3 Prepare Your Content for Successful Holiday Marketing Campaigns
Although the actual eCommerce marketing only transpires on certain peak days, there’s much groundwork to be done. On top of your holiday sales landing page, there are blog pieces, videos and graphics for your pay-per-click (PPC) and social media paid advertising and other promotional content to tackle.
“To capture sales, brands should have well-optimized, conversion-focused content, so their products appear higher in organic searches,” Russell said.
With eCommerce holiday marketing, it’s essential you reflect the balance between seeking to profit, securing the competition and meeting customer demands in your content — you shouldn’t fixate on just one. As such, when preparing your content, observe the following:
• Do not attract customers to your site by promising discounts or freebies you can’t deliver.
• Counter-check your inventory before hyping up select products in your promos.
• If you’re working with a PPC services specialist, confirm if they cover content creation.
• Take a consumer-centric approach and prepare content for omnichannel marketing.
Omnichannel marketing is the unified integration of branding, messaging as well as online and physical touchpoints. As curious consumers progress down your sales funnel, omnichannel marketing allows you to meet them wherever they are, resulting in a more fruitful customer experience.
#4 Optimize Your Website and Make It Holiday-Ready
To execute truly successful holiday marketing campaigns, you must go beyond dressing up the front end of your website with ribbons, snow and sparkles. Here are some of the things you want to keep in check:
Load Speed
Site speed is crucial and directly impacts your conversion rates and search engine rankings.
eCommerce Optimization
Enrich your copy, navigation and design, assisting users down the sales funnel.
Responsiveness
Keep countless mobile shoppers at the top of your mind, and make your website mobile-friendly.
Bugs
If you have a “bug list,” it’s high time to fix all of them, prioritizing those that affect user experience.
Live Chat Support
Facilitate a purchase by building rapport with active consumers browsing your website.
The eCommerce competition during the season is cutthroat, so gear up your online shop on Amazon or Shopify and be there for your customers.
#5 Run Early Holiday Campaigns To Attract Customers
Do not wait until the fourth quarter to run your campaigns. Per Google, 47 percent search for gift inspirations and ideas, and 18 percent have already secured a purchase early on.
“To guarantee their products get in front of shoppers, brands need to invest in retail media paid search,” Russell said. “Whether their products are on Amazon, Walmart, Instacart, or any other retail media channel, brands can’t afford to not do paid search.”
So let your team brainstorm special offerings that can capture consumers’ interest ahead of time. Here are simple sales promotion examples for enticing consumers:
• Buy one, get one free
• Buy one and get a second item at half the price
• Discount codes and coupons for future purchases
• Free shipping for a certain number of purchases
On top of delighting early shoppers, early holiday deals marketing establishes brand familiarity and fosters potential consumers to recall your brand during the season’s peaks. Additionally, such campaigns allow you to collect insights that you can use to refine your successive PPC campaigns.
#6 Retarget Customers Through Social Media Paid Advertising and PPC Services
Early Christmas marketing can drive consumers to your website. But, while some of them may secure a purchase, others would only browse, add items to their carts and then abandon them. Retargeting on search and social media enables you to re-engage consumers when they’re more likely ready to buy.
You can also retarget even those who purchased by offering incentives. Finally, don’t be afraid to let your successful holiday marketing campaigns run over through the new year — holiday shopping continues until then.
Not many businesses are aware of just how profitable PPC services can be. While you have to shell out funds initially, the return on investment (ROI) surmounts that with proper implementation.
Take one of Thrive’s clients, for instance: A high-end juicer brand reached out to Thrive to prepare for its biggest holiday of the year. Along with search engine optimization (SEO), we analyzed its existing PPC efforts and took over. Our team halted its negative and duplicate keywords, optimized ad copy and implemented better conversion tracking.
As a result, the juicer brand doubled its year-over-year PPC sales and reduced its spending by 400 percent.
Capitalize on the Holiday Shopping Rush With Thrive
Last year, eCommerce sales bordered on $5.2 trillion worldwide. And it is expected to go on an upward trajectory at 56 percent in the following years, reaching $8.1 trillion by 2026. The figures are staggering, and it’s in due season for you to ride the trend this holiday with Thrive.
“Thrive takes a holistic approach to eCommerce marketplace or retail channel marketing. We start with building a strong foundation of content that has been optimized for search,” Russell said.
“Our experts know that people shop with their eyes, so we ensure the brand’s images are informative and persuasive, giving shoppers all the product details they need to see how it meets their needs. Further, campaigns are monitored and optimized daily to ensure the ad spend is optimal.”
We are ready to put your eCommerce business at the forefront of curious consumers with robust holiday campaigns. Let’s start with a free holiday marketing proposal, or call 866-908-4748.
