Gearing up for the 2021 Holiday Season? To stand out from the crowd, make your products more well known than your competitors, and reach the right shoppers, it’s essential to properly utilize proven online advertising tactics. To build this brand awareness for all of your products, you’ll not only need to target users whose interests and demographics align with your buyer personas, but also create ads that correspond with them.
Below, you’ll find tips on how you can stand out this holiday season using different marketing strategies!
1. Google Display Ads
One of the most cost-effective paid media channels, and with over 2 million websites, videos & apps across the Google Display Network, you will have access to reach a large audience with your brand & products.
- With these display ads, introduce your products to highly targeted audiences while also targeting users who bought products from you previously and consumers who already visited your website without purchasing a product.
- Most of the time during the holiday season, consumers are always visiting multiple websites for products and comparing one another. In that case, you’ll want the consumers to remember your products as they navigate other sites. Stand out from the competition and make those consumers remember your brand and product by utilizing these display ads.
2. Paid Social Media Ads
Depending on your product or brand, first strategically plan on which channel would benefit your plan the most. Top-rated retail marketing strategists find that the most utilized and most common trends are Facebook & Instagram for the holiday season.
- For these social media ads, make sure to use seasonal ad creative that includes holiday-themed copy, images, videos, etc. to help connect with consumers and motivate them to make a purchase.
- Optimize the end-user experience to prevent losing frustrated mobile shoppers. In this case, with mobile shoppers dominating the market, you need to optimize all social campaigns accordingly by creating friendly mobile experiences that align with the way users view your brand and product.
- Encourage your audience and followers to interact with your brand through contests, giveaways, and holiday-themed content. This is a great way to not only help boost your brand awareness but also help to gain a new audience and promote your products.
3. Email campaign
This is your chance to think outside the box during this holiday season and get creative with email marketing! However, still, make sure your emails capture attention and generate clicks by keeping creative messaging simple and to the point!
- Make a schedule for yourself and know your holiday goal targets so that you are prepared. Instead of sending your regular old confirmation emails, send something customized to stand out!
- Use a festive theme, appealing offers, & colorful designs to capture the leads you want. For example, send something customized that could suggest other gift ideas, or offer them a discount code for future products that your brand offers! This is a great way to retain customers and encourage them to shop for your product in the future.
4. Utilize Google Shopping Ads
This is a great way to get your brand and products in front of consumers fast and efficiently. These ads feature an image of your product, name, price, brand, description, etc.
- You can showcase your products in more places across Google by utilizing these shopping ads. With hundreds of millions of people exploring products on Google, sync your products to show up on Google for free, and reach even more shoppers with Smart Shopping campaigns to maximize your return on investment.
- Offer Promotions: When you offer promotions and discounts for holiday marketing campaigns, you’re reaching into the next stages of the sales funnel. You’re attracting consumers now who have already expressed an interest in the products and services you provide. By giving them an incentive to stay excited about your brand, you’re more likely to retain their attention. For example, make your ads and products stand out with “Big Savings,” or “Free, Fast Shipping,” things that will get the consumer’s attention and lead to a sale.
- Opt into Seller Ratings in the Google Merchant Center so that you are gathering as many customer reviews as possible on your site. This will allow you to show potential customers just how popular your product is, encouraging them to buy.
5. Website Optimization
Holiday marketing campaigns may be the key to your store’s growth and revenue, so make sure your website is updated accordingly with these tips below.
- Make site speed a priority. Even though a well-designed home page is important, as well as interior pages, make sure to focus on web solutions that give you the necessary bandwidth and speed to support higher traffic during the holiday season. The last thing you want is customers getting ready to check out and the check out page does not load.
- Also, make it a priority to optimize your checkout process for the holidays to be quicker, simpler, and more accommodating to shoppers. It is important that the process is smooth, and straightforward as this will help with customer experience, and even lead to repeat customers in the future.
- Plan for out-of-stock products. With a long-term problem and issues around the supply chain, have a plan in place for these issues to pop up. Make sure to communicate with your suppliers & manufacturers, so you can update your website accordingly with products that are available, and products that are not.
While all these marketing strategies and holiday advertising tips are important, no matter which ones you utilize, the most important one is to start early! With expected delays this holiday season, consumers are already prepping their shopping list, and so should you! Contact beMarketing to help you gear up this holiday season so all your marketing needs are met!
Steve Polo, Paid Search Marketing Specialist
beMarketing
