The end of the year is so busy that planning and preparing your events now is essential.
Preparing for the holiday season in advance will help you avoid any last-minute problems and will allow you to manage your schedule and succeed in your sales.
Prepare yourself for promotions.
Each holiday has its own lexicon, customs and color palettes. Be inspired by them and spread the word by offering products designed for the holiday in question, as this will give your products an exclusive look with real marketing power.
After all, a customer will be more likely to take the plunge if the limited nature of the offer gives them a sense of urgency. If you don’t have a seasonal design idea, you can remix your greatest hits to fit the holiday you’re promoting: don’t be ashamed to recycle, why waste a winning strategy!
Also consider offering customizable products: as we mentioned in several previous articles, these are extremely trendy and are very popular gifts.
Another essential point related to the preparation of your promotional campaigns is to determine a relevant selection of products that will be adapted to the sales of the season.
A catalog that is too extensive can be confusing for the consumer, so be sure to handpick your products to offer them only the cream of the crop.
- The T-shirt, for example, will always be a hit since it can be worn year-round, by itself or under warmer garments.
- Mugs, whether enamel or ceramic, are a natural favorite for the hot beverage season.
- Home decor items such as posters and cushions, during a time when people are enjoying their cocoon more than ever, are also real bestsellers.
If you wonder about the popularity of a certain product, don’t hesitate to test the field with Google Trends by putting keywords of your choice to the test. Take a look at our example of using Google Trends for Photo Personalized Calendars to see what you can uncover by doing this exercise.
Tailor your marketing to your customer base.
The holiday season is the perfect time to bring out the big marketing tools. These include cross-selling, for example, where you can offer products that are related to those that buyers are already interested in or have ordered in the past. Other marketing hacks include so-called gift sets and guidebooks, which increase your chances of getting more orders while making it easier for your customers to find the perfect gift.
Consider retargeting your biggest shoppers and most loyal customers. Send them a recap of their best buys from the past year to remind them that they found their perfect gift from you last season. Such targeted email campaigns generate significant traffic from returning customers.
Set up some of your promotional campaigns in line with the most frequent purchases of the past year by making them more trendy and up to date.
To do this, keep an eye on the trends. Learn about your competitors, the economic impact on your consumers, and even the anticipated trends for the new year. This will help you use your promotional campaigns to position your brand as a market leader and hopefully beat the competition.
Open a blog, or update your existing one regularly to improve your SEO/online presence.
Show up in searches where consumers often look to get gift ideas. Prepare your blog posts by digging up the latest gift idea trends for 2023, and sprinkle the internet with your content regularly. This is what your consumers are seeking: gift ideas, tips, recipes, and decoration ideas.
Time is of the essence.
By mastering the changing nature of online shopping, you’ll not only be prepared, but you’ll also be able to pivot your well-prepared plans to meet whatever the market has to offer. After all, if the last two holiday seasons have taught us anything, it’s that you need to have plans and know how to change them in a heartbeat.
So go ahead, make your promotional plans, identify your targets, identify new trends and be ready to lead during the holidays.
