It’s holiday marketing time again, and every year, National Positions sees a flood of new clients as the holiday season kicks into gear. Everyone wants to “crush their year-end goals.”
While we sincerely want to help each client and provide them with all the strategic and profitable advantages possible, rolling back the clock is beyond our control.
To succeed during this (or any) holiday season, you need to plan, prepare and have every aspect of your campaigns ready before the season begins.
Can we still drive success once the shopping season has started? Absolutely.
But, without fail, every client we cater to that allows us to start the planning early has reaped far more profitable rewards. The saying goes, “By failing to plan, you are planning to fail. “
And we don’t plan on letting any of our clients fail!
Our talented team has implemented, leveraged, and succeeded with every one of these strategies, and you can as well. If you are ready to get real, put in the work, and make this the most profitable holiday season ever, we are ready to show you how.
Now let’s jumpstart your holiday season success with part one of “Holiday Marketing Tips & Tricks for 2022!”
1. Planning Your Holiday Calendar
You need to plan out your entire holiday marketing calendar and work backward—starting now. The competition during the holidays becomes fierce, so you should be ready with differentiated strategies, messaging, and creative branding for everything from websites and landing pages to emails and ad copy. Remember, a goal without a plan is nothing more than a daydream. So, start planning!
2. Testing for Success With AdBeacon
National Positions has partnered with a game-changing new ad optimization SaaS called AdBeacon.
This technology allows advertisers to accurately pinpoint their best-performing ad creatives, messaging, and campaigns. If you run Facebook and Instagram ads, plug your campaigns into AdBeacon ASAP, so you know which ads are best to run for the holiday season. (You can get a 14-day free trial at AdBeacon.com)
3. Holiday Branding & Featured Products
Speaking of streamlining the purchase process, get your holiday branding and featured products on point. When holiday shoppers land on your site, make sure they can access your holiday deals right away (or at least get a taste!). Brand product images for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas so customers know your deal has an expiration date.
If you have more than can fit on your home page, that’s okay! You can always create a gift guide to house your best deals in their entirety. More on this in future blog updates!
4. Convert More Customers for the Holidays
Chances are – you can simplify your checkout process.
Your goal should be to put as few steps as possible between the customer finding what they need and completing their purchase (so you don’t see dozens of 
abandoned carts due to unforeseen taxes or exorbitant shipping costs!). Ask for the minimal amount of information you need, and break the checkout process into no more than three steps:
– 1. Add to cart
– 2. Payment info and shipping address
– 3. Confirm and purchase
During this rapid-fire purchase season, keep it simple—you can upsell and cross-sell after the first purchase is made.
5. Pre-Promoting “Coming Soon” Content
So now that you have identified your deals for the holiday season, you just need to wait for the shopping season to begin, right? Wrong. Instead, give your customers a preview of what’s to come! From your website and email follow-ups to social media and newsletters, you can fuel anticipation (and possibly pre-orders) by giving everyone a sneak peek.
6. Bundling Promo Offers
If you have products that can be sold together and/or additional stock from earlier in the year you want to unload, bundling might be your best move. If you don’t want to go the “upsell at checkout” route, you can bundle products together and offer “holiday bundles” as an alternative.
Even something as simple as offering a “Free Stocking Stuffer With Purchase of $50” bundle may be all you need. All in all, these bundles can raise average order value, while giving value simultaneously!
7. Including Customer Loyalty Exclusives
If you are a brand that encourages customers to have an account, give these account holders some exclusive deals.
This can be great if you have products that are in limited supply. Why not let your already loyal customers have the first crack at scooping them up? This can help you build your email list and give your customers a jumpstart on the season simultaneously!
(What if someone who hasn’t purchased before signs up for early access? Segment these individuals into a different list and offer them a new customer promo code.)
8. Segmenting Your Email Promotions
When done right, email can be your greatest asset.
For example, if you sell men’s and women’s clothing, you should have segmented content “dripping out” to these different audiences. You don’t want to send promotions for women’s dresses to someone who just purchased a men’s suit waistcoat, right? Make sure you are segmenting your email content wherever you can to improve performance and bring your customers back!
9. Personalizing Your Email Messaging
We alluded to this in the Segmentation section, but personalization takes it further. Personalizing the promotions you send to your customers—based on previous order history—is a winning formula. Did a customer purchase a suit? Follow up with an email featuring a belt and shoes that match. A women’s winter scarf? These winter gloves and hats will pair nicely. After you have segmented, make it personal.
10. Using Shoppertainment to Capture Attention
Shoppertainment takes the old-school QVC infomercial model and mixes it with the new-school social shopping landscape.
Ecommerce brands can host their own “live broadcasting,” giving a hands-on look at their holiday promotions. Presenters on the live broadcast can answer questions in real-time from viewers, giving the format a grounded and personal feel. From Facebook to Amazon, shoppertainment is a great way to stand out from your competition.
More Tips – Coming Soon!
If you liked these tips, tricks, and ideas – we have more on the way.
We also have an entire ebook on this subject that will be ready just in time for the Q4 holiday season. All in all, whatever you are considering – now is the time to begin.
It is rare for campaigns to flow perfectly – especially during the holidays. We guarantee that you will be in a far better position to succeed this holiday season if you begin your planning, testing, and promotions now.
Suppose you want to shake things up for the holidays and launch something fresh this year….
In that case, National Positons is now scheduling Holiday Strategy Sessions with specific teams like Social Media, Google Ads, and Amazon. We will limit these sessions to 20 weekly this year to ensure we can strategize at the highest levels.
Check out our contest us page to book your strategy session – our team is ready to take care of you.