Marketing during the December season can be hectic for any marketing department given the global increase in A&P volumes especially in terms of digital marketing. The good news is that clearly some brands know what they are during amidst the clutter and as a result e-commerce sales during the holidays are tipped to increase to nearly 17% this year based on the emarketer 2014 holiday shopping trends forecast. This means that it's not too late for you to adopt some simple strategies that put you among the brands that see a definite increase in holiday sales this year.
Here are some best practices to integrate into your holiday marketing plans this coming season:
1. Create Sharable Content: If you can create a piece of interactive content that people would want to share, you automatically create something that has the potential to go viral. If everyone is sharing your content, chances are that they will remember you when they start planning their purchases as well
2. Humans Over Content: This is where your customer service needs to kick in. Your online content is not the only resource you have in hand. Every employee ideally needs to be a brand ambassador and as such should be empowered to spread the word and share your content as well.
3. Be Mobile If you haven't already customized your content to work better on mobile platforms it's about time you did. Another emarketer study tells us that 16% of holiday e-commerce sales were made on mobile devices and this is tipped to rise exponentially this year. If people can't access your content when they are on the go (which will probably be the bulk of their time during the season) you may be missing out on a high volume of potential sales.
4. Customize for Christmas If you are working on bulk email sending platforms like Maxmail, you would probably be using one of their many customizable email design templates that ensure your readers are aware of whom they are receiving content from. Think of how you can make these templates more festive for added holiday appeal while still maintaining your brand identity.
5. Simplify the Process Email is still one of the most powerful mediums of communication and if used correctly can enhance your value during the holiday season and allow for immediate sales. The point is that you need to simplify the path to purchase far more than it currently is - reducing the number of clicks that it would take from email to purchase point would be a good way to go about this.
Take these best practice elements into consideration before you deploy your holiday marketing content this season to enhance your brands visibility, appeal and of course sales.