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The Gist
- Strategic planning essential. Holiday marketing strategy key to joyous customer experiences.
- Loyalty rewards leveraged. Capitalize on shopper anticipation for holiday exclusives and deals.
- Data-driven dynamics. Use real-time triggers and data for personalized holiday marketing campaigns.
It’s here again: Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas. Time for planning a holiday marketing strategy. Shoppers are ready to cash in on loyalty rewards and get in some retail therapy after another long year. Plus, online shopping has become commonplace thanks to the pandemic with consumers expecting more and more of brands, like fast and free shipping.
Trends aside, though, let’s not forget the simple joy of giving and the beauty that you, as a marketer, can create these moments of joy for customers with the right holiday marketing strategy.
So, what should those of us gearing up for the holidays keep in mind as we build our strategies, tactics and timelines? Here are a few ideas to get your gears turning.
Holiday Marketing Strategy No. 1: Run an Opt-in Campaign
Whether you decide to place a popup in your app or on your website, consider asking shoppers if they’d like to opt in to your VIP holiday promotions. This is a great way to increase engagement as users will be more receptive to and even expectant of your promotions.
Holiday Marketing Strategy No. 2: Strike a Balance Between Real-Time and Scheduled
While it’s easy to slip into a batch-and-blast mindset during tentpole events like the holidays, you’ll have even more luck baking real-time triggers into your holiday marketing strategy. For example, maybe it makes sense to send an initial email and push kicking off your Black Friday sales. Once you get users to your app or site, though, you’ll want to tap into what your users are actually doing. Are your triggers set up to remind users what they were looking at along with the appropriate offer code and perhaps even a personalized recommendation?
It all starts with good data. Have the conversations around which user actions to pipe into your marketing platform(s) early on. At a bare minimum, you’ll want to capture browse, search, cart, and order events along with all the necessary product details.
Related Article: Customer Experience Automation: Best Practices for CX Enhancement
Holiday Marketing Strategy No. 3: Keep Testing
Subject lines, design, CTAs, body copy, timing, channels. It’s all open to debate as to what combination works best for your particular audience. Just because a leading competitor does X does not mean the same approach will work for your customers. And on that note…
Related Article: 7 Tips To Help Improve Your Email Subject Lines
Holiday Marketing Strategy: No 4: Pay Attention to What Outside Industries Do Well
Many of us are used to following “industry best practices,” but there are so many lessons to glean from industries outside of our own. For example, if you are in food and beverage, what lifecycle marketing automations — onsite or offsite — does your favorite clothing retailer absolutely crush? Maybe you appreciate the timing of their onsite popups, or perhaps you can take a page from their book in terms of proactively asking for shopper feedback and following up with a personalized note from your customer support team.
Holiday Marketing Strategy No. 5: Run a Preference Survey
Speaking of feedback, consider creating a survey modal that captures your users’ preferences in terms of products or services. Then ask them to subscribe to receive the preferences they want. Of course, you’ll have to keep your word by referencing their responses during holidays and ideally throughout the year!
Related Article: How Customer Feedback Surveys Shape UX Design
Holiday Marketing Strategy No. 6: Start Planning Your Year-in-Review Campaign
Capturing shoppers’ interactions with your brand throughout the year can reinforce brand loyalty by reminding them why they shopped with you in the first place. Use this campaign to recap purchases, savings and loyalty rewards. If you have a giving initiative, this might also be a great chance to showcase how much your shopper has contributed.
Related Article: Transforming Customer Interactions With AI-Augmented CX
Final Thoughts
And that’s a wrap! Use this year’s holiday marketing strategy to make your customers smile. After all, when our favorite brands deliver value — whether in terms of savings, quality or taking care of the planet — and get the holiday spirit right, that’s pure joy.
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