OMG Digital Magazine OMG Issue 333 29nd November 2018 | Page 22
OMG Digital Magazine | 333 | Thursday 29 November 2018 • PAGE 22
Business
Holiday Marketing|4 Trends That Will Drive Sales
BY SAIGE DRIVER, SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST
The holidays may be the most wonderful time of year, but
for retailers, it is also the busiest. A solid marketing plan
can help businesses navigate the hectic sales days such as
Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.
Find out what marketing experts say about how to market
during the holiday season, and what will ultimately drive
sales.
Website optimization
No matter what industry you’re in, it’s important to
provide a fast and seamless web experience.
“Time is of the essence during the holiday season,” said
Jenn Horner, senior relationship marketing specialist
at DEG. “If your website is difficult to navigate, or search or
simply takes too long to load, customers will leave.”
Small businesses can’t afford to lose this kind of business
during such a busy season, so address any lags or missing
information on your website. [Related: How to Optimize
your E-Commerce Website for Holiday Shoppers.
“Optimizing your website to attract and retain traffic
through conversion with as few steps as possible will lead
to happier customers who are easily able to navigate your
site,” Horner added.
It’s also important to make sure your website is mobile
optimized for holiday shoppers. “Making sure your site
is mobile friendly is the most important piece,” said Katie
Wilson, founder and CEO of TapOnIt. “Over 50 percent of
searches start on mobile so make sure it’s easy to view
your inventory, click-to-call, and to click for directions.”
Segmentation
Everyone is increasing their marketing efforts during the
holidays, so your regular channels will be more crowded
the usual. “This is when segmentation will pay off; by
paying attention to what your customers are showing
interest in and then targeting them with creative and
offers that match their interest, you’ll be able to stay more
relevant to your customer,” said Horner.
Some businesses are also leveraging mobile messaging
to get customers to their stores or on their websites. “As
consumers rely on their smartphone for gift ideas and
finding the best deals, brands can reach their audience
through digital platforms such as text messaging, offering
relevant and customized information in a timely manner,”
Wilson said.
Social media marketing
As social media is becoming more popular, it’s becoming
vital to include social media marketing into your marketing
efforts. If you don’t market on social during the holidays,
you’re missing out on a lot of potential customers.
“Social media is a great tool for businesses to share
information about their brand while engaging with their
community on a more personal level,” said Wilson. “It
allows businesses to increase awareness and sales during
the busiest shopping season by leveraging targeted social
media campaigns on their unique offerings.”
Conor Ryan, CIO of StitcherAds, agrees that social media is
important this season.
“There’s ample opportunity to drive sales with branded
and direct-response campaigns,” he added. “This is
particularly the case on Facebook and Instagram, which
both have massive audience sizes.”
Digital ads
While online shopping and social media marketing is all
the fad right now, getting shoppers into your physical
store encourages impulse purchases.
“If you have brick-and-mortar stores, use digital channels
to encourage shoppers to interact with your brand in-
person,” said Ryan. “Most impulse purchases still take
place in physical stores – meaning that if you can get
shoppers in-store, there’s a good chance they will pick up
additional items they had not anticipated buying.”
Use your social media campaigns entice shoppers to
buys online along with coming to your store. Wilson also
recommends offers specials and ways to interact in store.
“To compete against big brands and e-commerce during
the holiday shopping season, providing special offers for
unique products that can only be obtained in-store can
help increase foot traffic for small businesses,” Wilson said.