Most online retailers are highly active in the lead up to the holidays, and getting your brand to stand out amongst the many others is difficult. How can you increase revenue during this year’s holiday events?
Below are some ground rules to get people spending on your website.
1. Create a Sense of Urgency
Create limited-time offers so people will feel under pressure to buy your products as they don’t want to miss out on a good deal (FOMO).
- Have countdowns such as, get 15% off only this weekend,
- Or Spend $50 and get [product] free. This would also encourage customers to spend that bit extra.
- Use language that encourages a call to action.
- Use countdown clocks in newsletters and on your website
2. Analyse previous event sales
Check into Google Analytics and see how things went the previous time you had a sale.
- What sold best?
- Why did it sell well? Can I make it better?
- What time of the year did it sell best?
- Can I replicate this again for this holiday?
Make sure to retarget customers, using Remarketing Google or Facebook ads, who purchased from you during the same or similar sale events you’ve done in the past, or have viewed your page during events but didn’t purchase anything.
3. Ramp up Advertising
Create seasonal and special offer ads that focus on your unique selling point.
- Appeal to customer emotions.
- Make sure your ads stand out compared to your competitors
- Don’t focus only on price, and remember to also reinforce from your Brand strengths.
- Bid on relevant advertising keywords that match the current event.
- Make sure the event keywords aren’t too broad like ‘Christmas Sale’ and don’t be too specific and limit how often your ad shows up.
- Prices of PPC Bids for keywords can increase up to 140% during holiday events
4. Optimise your website
Make everything on your website relevant for the upcoming sale so that it reinforces your advertising message.
- Use the banners to highlight key sales messages
- Use a count-down clock
- Offer last minute options such as Gift Cards
- Offer options for Express shipping
5. Don’t wait until the last minute
You want people to know that you’re having a sale and get them excited for it and that you stay relevant for the sale.
- Give yourself time to establish your goals, to prepare your inventory and identify what’s going on sale.
- Start teaser digital advertisements and emails that are relevant to the event, especially to previous customers.
- Maintain a constant flow of communication across website, emails, digital adverts and social media
While these are useful for the holiday period, the same steps are applicable for all sale and promotional events. Be prepared and reduce your stress levels!
