Each of us spends lots of money on holiday gifts for close people, holiday clothes, food, drinks and travelling. There is no better time for retailers. Success depends upon the outcome of the sales for the period from November to January. Since this particular time of the year is that much important many questions arise, like

“How to ring the changes when it comes to a holiday season?”,
“How to make a mail out and discount plan for sales maximization?”,
“Which avenues of promotion will give the best fit?”, …

But first things first.

When to begin a holiday marketing campaign?

As soon as possible.

If to be precise, you need to plan the beginning of a campaign at the end of October - in early November.

As tradition demands, a shopping season does not begin until the mid-December in full measure. Nevertheless, a growing number of customers try to buy gifts in advance, in order to avoid a holiday mess, possible price increase and to take advantage of a bargain.

25% of customers begin shopping before December 15.

Halloween gains more popularity, which is why you can start your campaign in October. A machine of your sales is going to move with full steam on by Black Friday the main selling day of a year.

Let us make a marketing plan considering this information.

How to prepare a business for holidays?

Before beginning to actively conquer a share of the market check to be sure that your company is ready to bear a holiday intention degree.

You should have ready by November:


1. Promotion calendar

It is very useful to have a detailed list of what and when you are going to be doing. What you are going to need are:

• Target holidays list. Think it over when you sell goods more than ever and make a holidays list you are interested in. If cheap goods are your specialty, «impulse purchases», your sales are going to grow for the first half of the season or just before big holidays. If your goods are expensive and a client thinks before making a choice, the growth of sales will likely to begin before December (or before essential discounts to appear).
  
  
• A promo-materials list. Collect everything, letters, graphics, banners, advertising and divide into holidays. Put everything related to Christmas in one folder, while the rest is Black Friday folder. Look if there are any images or advertising, which could be used for different holidays.

It is worth remembering that customers do not go shopping for one day but for a few.

Black Friday, a day before Christmas and Halloween have to become the centre of your events. However, do not forget about other holidays.


2. Website

CMS-system or server failure is the last thing you need in the height of the season. Before your campaign starts working, be sure your website is ready for heavy shopping hours.

• Renew with a faster hosting. Find out how your service copes with an increase in visitor numbers in red-letter days. Make sure that host is to bear a traffic surge.
  
  
• Have your website done «faster». 57% leave a website, which downloads speed is rather slow. Optimize an image size, use a content delivery network (CDN) and other methods in order to increase download speed.
  
  
• Prepare your website to work on mobile devices. 33% of clients use a smartphone while shopping. Getting your website adapted for them, you reach out this huge market, let alone make the website`s position better in search engines.

3. Accounts in social networks

It is perfectly clear to everyone that social network is one huge opportunity. The Facebook monthly audience is 1,35 billion of users.
Make certain of what you have in order to use advantages of social media all out:

• Accounts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. If you also work with businesspersons, do not forget about LinkedIn.
  
  
• There should be a link on every account designed in a holiday style, following which a customer can find information about discounts/quizzes/special offers.
  
  
• The same goes for a background and an account pictures in social networks. Those can be zombies and pumpkins for Halloween, Santa Clause and snowmen for Christmas (however, it is better to come up with something more original).
  
  
• Offers should be «docked» as an upper line in your social accounts.

4. Marketing tools

Be convinced of the fact that you have all the necessary tools for conducting a marketing campaign at the holiday season.

• For managing the distribution of email. You are going to send promo-letters, newsletters and answer customers queries automatically by means of this tool. For instance, you can use mailchimp (↑) or AWeber (↑).
  
  
• For the purpose of a landing page In order to create an individual promo-page for each holiday and fix data on clients and purchases. Wix (↑) or shopify (↑) are recommended.
  
  
• For analytics You will be able to define sources of traffic and sales, let alone to plan a further campaign swing of a company. Google Analytics is an excellent free tool.
  
  
• For work with social networks Social media is essential avenue for retailers. In 2014 said that they found out about goods from social networks. Use such special services as Amplifr, HootSuite, Buffer and NovaPress in order to prepare content and post scheduled publications right on time.
  
  
• For blog 75% of users searches for information on the Internet about goods before purchasing. A blog will help your website to appear in search results on queries on goods. Besides that, it will develop leads to customers and increase their loyalty to a brand, which is an important quality in a constantly changing market. A website on WordPress is recommended. It is going to be enough for most companies.

What events to plan?

Therefore, preparation is over. It is time to begin planning your holiday advertising blitzkrieg.
Your success depends on two components: right marketing channels and right promotional tools.


1. Marketing channels

There are lots and lots of marketing channels today, among which are Facebook, content marketing, SEO, contextual advertising. Which are to pay attention to and which are better to ignore?

Here are a few factors to take into account choosing a marketing channel:

• A budget. Far from every channel costs the same. For example, such advertising as «pay-per-click» (Google AdWords) will cost you more than inbound marketing. If there is enough money in your pocket, choose paid-for advertisement. If you do not have much money, social networks and content marketing will do, where time is going to be your one and only contribution.
  
  
• Experience. It is better to choose those channels of marketing, which you already know well. It is much more profitable than to spend time on learning totally new marketing techniques. If you (or member of your team) specialize in work with Facebook, work with it. If you create a good content, focus on content marketing.
  
  
• Demographic determinates. Ask yourself: where my target audience is? If you sell hearing kits for senior citizens, it is unlikely for an advertising in social networks or search engines to bring you a power of good. If your business is about gifts for business partners, choose LinkedIn.
  
  
• Product category. Choose a channel, which corresponds to your product category. For example, goods related to lifestyle, food or fashion are better to promote on platforms with a large number of active youth such as Instagram. Technical goods are better to promote on channels, allowing customers to leave comments and reviews, for example in blogs.

2. Advertising offers

Bad campaigns ad offers might kill even perfectly scheduled marketing events. Before you spend at least a dollar on any marketing channel, make sure that you have thought everything over. Here are a few hints:

• Scraddle email. Last year email marketing provided online stores with 25% of online orders during a holiday season, turning out to take the second place in a list of the most effective channels (after an organic search from 46%). Double expenses on marketing on email and you will see the results for yourself.
  
  
• Make delivery free. A free delivery is the biggest reason why clients buy things online. Research shows that 70% of users add goods into their cart they were not going to buy primarily, in order to fall within conditions of free delivery.
  A lesson for stores owners: offer free delivery at holidays, at least for orders over a determined price (for example, 100 dollars). Be convinced that your clients know about this option: make pop-up advertising or a colourful banner, which is going to inform about a free delivery.
  
  
• More discounts! A low price is important for 60% of customers. They compare prices online and look for a better proposal before pressing the «buy» button.
  Customers look for profitable propositions at holidays. If you want to attract their attention, make sure that you have a wide range of discounts and special offers buying different goods.
  
  
• Encourage loyalty. In accordance with this very research, 25% say that discounts and bonuses for loyalty encourage them to buy things. Exclusive access to a store new stimulates clients to buy more.
  Keep it on mind planning your proposals. Find out who is the most dedicated out of your customers and offer them gifts/discounts.
  
  
• Do not forget about gift certificates. It is easy to forget about this marketing «workhorse» in a pre-holiday fuss. A gift certificate is a convenient option for a buyer and a seller. They make the top 10 of the most wanted Christmas presents.
  
  Suggest a few gift certificates of different cost and think over usage mechanics. It can be a digital certificate. Send a unique code to a client`s email. Alternatively, a beautifully structured certificate, which is delivered as a custom product. This is how Ozon works.
  
  
• Organize contests. You will not surprise anyone with a contest now but they still work. It is challenging to stand out among thousands of other events, delivered before holidays.

A key for tendering a successful process:

• Good prizes. Suggest not just another Xbox or iPad but something your customers are interested in. For instance, if your target audience is people who love travelling, offer them a gear as a prize.
  
  
• Information in social networks. Tendering a process in social networks is one of the easiest ways to increase the number of likes and sharing your posts. For example, participants can get extra credits, if they bring friends over or share information about a contest on their account.

***

A holiday season is a difficult time but very profitable at the same time. Your team is to give 100% but the result is worth it.

Just remember that you need to start as soon as possible. Focus on writing good content, use social media and offer the hottest deals, in order to engage customers.


About the author: Melisa Marzett is a guest article writer. She writes to enlighten enthusiastic readers about everything related to e-commerce, marketing, management and many more as long as she is curious by nature, fond of reading, analyzing, comparing and writing and to inspire (Pure essay academic writer (↑) is her current workplace at the time). She likes travelling and runs for long distances.