Were you there?! Did you attend the Holiday Marketing Summit? If so, firstly, thank you! But no less importantly, there were heaps of holiday marketing ideas that were shared to help independent retailers achieve their best Q4 and holiday results yet!
For a sleighful of practical takeaways for the season, keep reading for the Top 10 Holiday Marketing Ideas from the Holiday Marketing Summit that will impact your business in Q4.
🗓 Plan and prepare NOW.
Consumers’ shopping behavior has changed with the pandemic so they’re planning further ahead of time to visit you both in-store and online. Get in front of those early shoppers so you don’t miss out on Q4 sales opportunities.
👩💻 Use the platforms that perform.
For Holiday 2021, that means using short form video content like TikToks and IG Reels. If you want ORGANIC REACH, this is where it’s at. For one minute or less, aim to entertain, educate, or inspire your viewers.
Pro Tip: Unboxing, going Live, and showing the human side of your store are a few of the best ways to increase short form video engagement and reach. Become a Crystal Media Insider and gain instant access to countless holiday marketing ideas that perform for short form video.
🛍 Your online experience must meet your in-store experience.
As Josh Orr of Streamline Retail shared, online shopping has become a permanent part of consumers’ shopping habits. No one feels something just from a posted picture of your store. Maximize your site’s online sales conversion by addressing the 3 types of traffic: those searching for products, solutions, or browsing.
Pro Tip: Always lead with emotion in your product descriptions. Include one sentence on benefits, then 2 sentences on features.*
⬆️ Leverage Ads.
Invest and start NOW. 92% of holiday shoppers surveyed say they made a spontaneous discovery whilst shopping online.** Expect to increase your marketing budget through the holidays. For your Complete 4th Quarter Ads Strategy, become an Insider or learn more about our Ads Agency and have us do it all for you!
📲 Get in on text message marketing now.
Text message marketing will only get bigger over the next few years. Consider getting in now! Text messaging drives 10x more revenue per message than email marketing. Limited-time offers, new arrivals, and abandoned carts are a few messaging ideas that work well via text.
🎁 Do a 12 Days campaign.
No matter what you call it (12 Days of Christmas, Deals, etc.), this is one of our favorite and most recommended holiday events (from fellow retailers, too!) for driving traffic to your store. Get even more traction by marketing this event with video posts and targeted ads.
Pro tip: Become an Insider and get our Event Marketing Checklist to ensure your most successful 12 Days event.
👀 Eye level is buy level.
50% of your sales floor is never seen by your shoppers. Per merchandising experts Kizer & Bender, consider vertical (vs. horizontal) merchandising in your store to optimize what customers see.
💰 Reconsider your discount strategy.
When discounting, there’s a significant difference in consumer perception between 10% and 30-50% levels. Choose your discounts wisely to ensure you’re optimizing sale pricing.
🙋🏻♀️ Claim your business before the holidays.
Claiming your business gives you access to the Google My Business page, allowing you to add posts, images, updates and edit hours to keep your audience in the know during Q4.
👫🏽 Delegate: It’s the Who not How.
We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again. It may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it can also be the most stressful for retailers. Use your time wisely. Determine Who is going to do what, not How you’re going to get it all done yourself. Delegate tasks and projects to team members to efficiently accomplish everything on your marketing to-do list this year.
Feeling a little FOMO right about now?
Become an Insider member and instantly access all of the Holiday Marketing Summit presentations and replays that include a ton of helpful holiday training, resources, and marketing inspiration for small businesses (like 50+ Holiday Campaigns & Content Ideas and Pro Tips! Social Media Hacks and Time-Saving Strategies)… all ready to watch at any time. Never feel like you’re missing out again!
*Ezra Firestone
**2021 Facebook Holiday Marketing Guide
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