That time of year is fast approaching again and it is so important that you have a Christmas digital marketing strategy in place for your business.
Do you feel ready for the festive period or have you been putting off planning because you just don’t know where to start? Don’t fret if it is the latter of the two, below are our 12 top tips for you to implement this year.
Implement a Holiday Strategy
We all want time off over Christmas and i think we deserve it! So take the time to sit and plan what you want to do whether that be planning content for a Christmas deal or pre planning posts over the holidays. Keep reading for our top tips…
Have A Creative Holiday Marketing Strategy
It’s that time of year where customers will be anticipating fun promotions from businesses.
Be creative with your holiday promotions and do something different to attract customers who love to spend during this time of year. Examples of some creative promotions to run are ‘12 days of X’, a holiday giveaway, or a virtual advent calendar.
1.Feature Products That Would Make Great Gifts
Once you have attracted your customers through your creative marketing strategy, your goal is to convince them to make a purchase. If you have a business selling products, make sure you post those that would make great gifts. Whether you are a shop selling jewellery, a nail salon selling gift vouchers, or a bakery selling Christmas cakes – post these! If you have limited edition seasonal products or offers, inform your customers about these too, as this will encourage them to purchase.
2.Holiday Promotions
As well as advertising your products, why not think up some special Christmas promotions for your customers? We all love it when we get a little something extra, so get creative with your promotion ideas. Running creative festive promotions will keep your customers excited and attract new customers who are looking to spend.
3.Update your Information
Don’t leave your customers guessing! People will be buying presents and will need to know your opening times and when cut off is. Could you imagine if you brought a present for a loved one and it never arrived in time?
Don’t worry though below are a few tips to help you know what you need to do…
4.Holiday Hours
If you have them (shall I say you should), don’t forget to change your holiday hours on Google my business to let people know. What are your holiday operating hours this year?
Will you be open longer than usual, or do you plan to close your business for a few days. Remember to always keep your staff and customers informed about your holiday operating hours so they can plan their shopping schedules ahead of time!
5.Update Your General Terms And Conditions
Another thing to look at when updating your online information is making any needed changes to your terms and conditions. Perhaps you will be offering extended returns over the Christmas period or updating your delivery information like your delivery charges, delivery times, and places you deliver to. Make sure that your terms and conditions are updated with policies regarding shipping, returns, and special pricing, and that they are easily accessible for your customers.
Digital and Social
Now you may not have a shop but fear not you can still get into the festive spirit with these tips!
6.Plan In Advance
The best way to ensure that you are putting out great festive content is to plan in advance because the quality of your content will be much better if it is planned and thought out carefully. Well known high street brands start planning their Christmas
content months in advance, and you can tell. Shoppers are becoming more and more organised every year. Did you know, in the UK, a third of people have started their Christmas shopping by mid-November, with 1 in 10 having already finished by then! Planning your content for the festive period in advance will also give you plenty of time to amend and update it as needed before you post. This will be a lot less stressful than frantically uploading at the last minute!
7.Spread Some Christmas Cheer
Keep customers engaged with a festive environment in your business – you would be surprised how far some decorations can go! And you may be thinking, “I don’t have a shop”, but even your online channels like social media can become festive with some Christmas themed posts. Instagram contributes to 42% of Christmas shopping sales in the UK. Your social media is your shop window and it is more important now than ever to create engaging content for potential customers.
8.Christmas Themed Posts
If you do want to spread some Christmas cheer on your social media channels but you’re unsure where to start when creating Christmas themed posts, use Canva for templates to help get you started. You don’t need to stray from your usual colour schemes, and your posts should still flow with the rest of your content and brand, but adding some decorations will make your page more welcoming!
9.Make Your Stories Festive
Another way of making your social media pages more festive is by using festive gifs, stickers, and music in your stories to stop and interest potential customers. You could also promote your brand and products on stories with quizzes, polls, and Christmas countdowns – be creative! You can also use your stories to keep customers updated on the order process, for example, if there are any delays with the delivery carrier.
10.Christmas Hashtags
Using Christmas hashtags can also boost your visibility on Instagram and allow non-customers to find you. Better yet, why not create your own Christmas hashtag? Encourage your customers to get involved by taking inspiration from brands like Starbucks, who create festive hashtags each year relating to their Christmas products.
11.Update Your E-Commerce Website
With the rise in online shopping this year, it’s more important now than ever to make sure your website is ready for the busy holiday season.
Make sure your website is up-to-date with the latest products and promotions.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Can customers easily find your most popular products?
- Is the design user-friendly and easy to use?
- Is your business information up-to-date (e.g. contact information, address, FAQs)?
- Does your e-commerce checkout process work smoothly?
12.Test Your E-Commerce Website
Since you can expect more customers to be shopping online, it’s important that your website is running smoothly and is able to handle high-volume traffic. You don’t want to lose out on any potential revenue because your website was down or because of an issue with payment processing. Make sure to run tests before the big shopping day and lay out a plan for what to do if you experience downtime or crashes.
The countdown to Christmas is well and truly on…but by following these tips, you will be more than ready!
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