The holiday season is upon us!
As the calendar struck “fall o’clock”…
– The leaves began changing color and drifting to the ground
– Pumpkin spice started overtaking every coffee shop’s menu
– And even retail store shelves started to take on a different tone
From fall-themed home decor to strings of Christmas lights (yep, it’s happening already), brick-and-mortar locations are getting a headstart on what is to come over the next few months.
After a turbulent 2020—for both consumers and retailers—it makes sense that businesses (and shoppers) are aiming to get a jump on the season ASAP.
And if you sell online, you should be aiming even higher. When it comes to ecommerce, it is time to start strategizing and launching those fourth-quarter campaigns—if you haven’t already done so.
As has been the case for years, brands that rely on (or supplement) revenues within the digital ecosystem have advantages that sole brick-and-mortar locations just can’t match when it comes to the speed and agility of their holiday promotions.
Let’s unpack three website strategies that you can put into play to make the most of everything the 2021 holiday season has to offer.
First Thing First – Preparing For the Season
When it comes to ecommerce businesses (and shoppers), there is now an abundance of digital shopping days to plan for beyond the seasonal staples of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah.
Here are additional “prime” promotional opportunities:
– Black Friday
– Small Business Saturday
– Cyber Monday/Green Monday
– Giving Tuesday
– Super Saturday
– Amazon Prime Day
These are just a handful of digital (and sometimes physical) shopping days that have blossomed over the past decade, and the trend is not slowing down. In fact, chances are that as this article is being written, there are several emerging ecommerce shopping days that have been left off this list.
So, what can you do about it?
In addition to making sure that your paid digital campaigns are on point and ready to capture an influx of search traffic, your website should also be ready to capitalize.
Step #1 – Plan Your Promotional Days & Deals
Start creating a promotional calendar of the deals, products, and visual features that should be featured on your website for each of these cyber buying opportunities.
This doesn’t mean that you need to be full force with every single ecommerce holiday, but you should choose a couple that you feel will resonate with your customer base. Once you have these locked down, it is time to start planning your promotional deals.
For each celebratory day you choose, create promotions for the homepage of your website that you are ready to feature when these days kick off. You could focus on specific products, product bundles, a sitewide percentage off at checkout, or even free shipping and a special gift with each purchase.
Whatever promotions you choose, make sure they are clearly represented and strategically tied to the holiday. This way, customers who are seeking out those limited-time deals will know (without a doubt) that they need to act on your promotion now—or miss out altogether.
Step #2 -Promote Scarcity and Exclusivity
The concept of scarcity can help add fuel to the purchasing decision fire. This doesn’t always mean scarcity of product availability—instead, during these shopping days, it can be a shortage of time:
“Get 20% OFF and free shipping on any order within the next 24 hours!”
“Buy one, get one free on any pound of coffee until midnight tonight!”
“New Deals Unlocked Every Hour. Cyber Monday Only!”
You get the idea.
Be very clear that these promotions are indeed special, and the “time to act is limited” tactic can foster that extra incentive for consumers to make a purchase. This messaging can be added to your strategy by way of a simple banner on your site or in your promotional messaging as the date approaches.
Now, there is another tried-and-true way to ramp up the anticipation: exclusivity! This tactic can work especially well as your promotion days approach. Here are a couple of ways to do this:
The first is to use your existing customer list to send a promotional email announcing, “As a valued customer, you will have early access to our Cyber Monday promotions! Here is your access code,” or something to that effect.
If you are still building that valuable email list, try idea number two: offer early access to these deals in the days or weeks leading up the event with a simple drop-down or pop-up on your website. All a customer needs to provide is their email address and voila—you can now add them to your holiday email promotion list.
Step #2 – Brand Your Site for the Occasion
This one is the icing on the cake. Just as you might be inclined to use more harvest-type imagery for the fall or snowy graphics for the winter, adding some custom Black Friday or Cyber Monday imagery may be in order.
This doesn’t mean that you need to rebrand your site from top to bottom, but even changing out your header (or hero) image can go a long way.
Think of it this way: on these extra shopping days you want customers to know that something new and exciting is transpiring as soon as they land on your site. Spelling this out clearly with imagery, graphics, and site copy will let even those searching on their mobile devices know they need to pay attention.
Without this easy change, those searching for their next deal may just see your standard site and assume there is no deal to be had. Some brands go so far as to add countdown clocks under promotional items to really drive the point home.
Have your assets ready and be prepared to swap everything out quickly so you can feature your best promotions for each day as soon as customers arrive.
Get Ready!
What should be your number one takeaway from this article? Start planning now. Customers have become accustomed to these holiday shopping events, so why not give the people what they want? If you like these ideas, who’s to say you couldn’t take it a step further and create your own brand-specific promotional shopping day? Certainly not us!
Planning now will set you up for every possible ounce of holiday season success, and if you need a little help along the way (or with the whole shebang) don’t hesitate to contact us here or call us at (818) 918-5188. Our team is more than happy to provide you with a complete analysis to help you unwrap your most lucrative opportunities this season!