How to Increase Sales? 5 Marketing Tips for the Holidays

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Super Saturday—these are the classic holiday seasons. Add to that the traditional increase in consumer spending leading up to the holidays, and you have the recipe for a record-breaking sales quarter.

However, the holiday season doesn’t happen by chance. To increase sales, a comprehensive and well-thought-out digital marketing strategy is necessary.❗️

That’s why we’ve decided to provide you with the best tips from the world of digital marketing for the upcoming holidays.

Why are holidays the best time for digital marketing?

Online shopping will be just as important for consumers this holiday season as it was last year. In Bishkek, users are actively making purchases on Instagram, ordering products from marketplaces, and utilizing mobile app-based delivery services. The demand for these services only increases during the holiday season.

Due to this, this period is the best time to launch a new marketing strategy. However, it’s also important to note that competition between brands increases during this time❗️

Okay, that’s enough background information. Let’s move on to the advice

1. Start early and create a plan

The best digital marketing strategies start several months before the holiday season. In other words, if you haven’t started planning your strategy yet, start now before it’s too late.

It takes months to develop and implement a good strategy. Therefore, get to work in advance, as consumers begin to make purchases for the new year in early December, and the peak occurs in the middle of the month.

A simple example is if you try to launch an advertising campaign during the peak vacation season, you will lose to competitors who have their campaigns set up and planned months in advance.

When it comes to a marketing plan, it all depends on the complexity of the product. Start by defining the goals you want to achieve. Then, list all the assets and marketing funnels that need to be built. Identify the purchasing days and the customer journey. Finally, create a timeline working backward from the day you plan to launch the advertising campaign or promotion.

Such a plan will help determine how much work needs to be done and how to make the best use of the remaining time. It’s sufficient to develop one or two effective strategies that you can focus your efforts on. However, if you don’t have the resources or a marketer available, you can entrust the development of the marketing strategy to us.

2. Organize a contest

Holidays are an excellent time to run giveaways and promotions. Contests are a great way to increase:

• Customer loyalty.
• Brand recognition.
• Social media account reach.
• Number of subscribers.
• Build an email marketing list (if you have such a sales channel).

Running contests is indeed one of the most cost-effective marketing tools. They are easy and quick to organize. You don't need to come up with something complex or extravagant to grab people's attention. A free product is all you need to get started.

3. Use paid advertising

Targeted and contextual advertising should have a prominent place in any marketing campaign. Launching advertising campaigns on major paid channels is crucial. We recommend at least Google, Facebook, and Instagram. If your audience is active on other platforms, then advertise there as well.

Be mindful of your budget and allocate it wisely throughout the entire holiday season. While it’s possible to frontload your budget and attract customers early on, consumers may not be ready for holiday purchases, such as gift shopping, in early November. Consider the timing and pace your budget spending accordingly to align with consumer behavior and purchasing patterns.

Important! As the holiday season (e.g., New Year) approaches, take into account the increased costs. The reason is that competition during this period intensifies, and many sellers launch advertising campaigns because consumers are more likely to make purchases towards the end of the season. Due to the high competition, click prices become more expensive.

Also, eliminate ineffective campaigns before the end of the holiday season. This way, you will save budget for conversion campaigns.

If you’re planning to launch an advertising campaign, take a look at our services:

• Targeted advertising.
• Contextual advertising.

4. Offer bonuses and gifts

During the holiday season, there is intense competition, and every brand offers various discounts.

Instead of trying to compete on price when customers are looking for the best deal, why not create value in other ways❓

For example, offering free shipping, gifts, personalized greeting cards, and other incentives. This is a great way to maintain the value of your brand, go beyond competition, and stand out. You're essentially providing the same discounts that holiday shoppers are seeking, but in a more delightful and unique manner.

Another way to make your promotion more meaningful is to offer it exclusively to your loyal customers. This strategy won’t devalue your brand in the eyes of new customers, but it will reward your current customers for their loyalty. Moreover, retaining a customer is much cheaper than acquiring a new one, and a generous promotional offer can be sufficient to deter them from purchasing from your competitors.

5. Make gift sets

If you’re looking to increase conversions and boost average order value (AOV), consider bundling products into gift sets and offering them at a discounted price. Holiday gift sets are particularly popular during the festive season when shoppers are actively seeking the perfect gift.

This approach is commonly used by stores that sell health and beauty products. However, holiday gift sets can also be effective in other industries. For example, an online store could offer a gift set consisting of a yoga mat, block, carrying bag, and a pair of leggings. A pet store could create a gift set that includes dog food, treats, and a collar.

Take a look at which products you can combine into a single set. Which products complement each other perfectly? If your products don’t naturally go together, study your analytics. Which products are frequently purchased? Create a set based on popularity. Alternatively, identify which products are commonly bought together. Combine them into one set.

Certainly, it’s not necessary to include only the best-selling products. Bundling is a great way to sell less popular items that are purchased less frequently on their own.

Conclusion and long-term strategy

The last holiday marketing tip is not technically about the holidays. It’s about how to get the most out of the money you put into your advertising campaign.

If your brand ads are successful and your site gets a lot of people to visit. Then you can set up targeting on them after the holiday season is over.

One of the best ways to do this without urging visitors to subscribe to a newsletter is to utilize retargeting.

❗️By using remarketing in Google and Facebook, you display ads only to people who have previously visited your website. This cost-effective advertising strategy is one of the best ways to maintain brand visibility and capture the attention of your audience.

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The holiday season presents great opportunities for companies. You can leverage various strategies during this time. Start by implementing one or two of the strategies we listed above that resonate with your business. Put in your best efforts to ensure that your chosen method yields results. Wishing you a joyful holiday season???

If you want to learn how to sustain high sales after the holiday peak, read our next article: “Off-Peak Season? 5 Ways to Revive and Maintain Sales After the Holiday Peak.”