Preparing your marketing campaigns for the holiday season is only half the battle. During this period it is also important that marketers are prepared to track performance and optimize campaigns on the fly.
If you haven’t noticed, the end of the year is coming up, quicker than you might expect. For marketers, this is a very busy period but also the one that often brings the biggest reward for a lot of companies. In order to get the most out of the Golden Quarter, it is important that marketers leverage their data effectively so they can optimize their campaigns to the fullest.
In our recent blog post, we discussed what marketers need to do before the busy season to lay the foundation for successful campaigns. Today we take you through what marketers should do during the holidays to maximize the impact of their campaigns. From adapting approaches to campaign measurement to scarcity messaging, here are our top 5 tips:
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1. Measure, measure, measure!
Metrics such as CLV and traffic-to-customer ratio will make the difference for successful 2021 holiday campaigns. However, marketing today operates across numerous platforms meaning that data can get siloed, often taking a significant amount of time and effort to pull together and analyze. An essential goal for this holiday season is to ensure all the data the marketing team needs is pulled together in a single marketing analytics platform, so that it’s easy to analyze and act on immediately.
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2. Monitor in real-time and be flexible
The most powerful marketing teams are watching the performance of all their campaigns in real-time. With technology, budgeting can be optimized on the fly, maximizing revenue and significantly improving ROI as marketers claim shoppers’ share of wallet. What you think may work may actually not work - so be flexible and willing to adjust your tactics accordingly.
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3. Keep a close eye on inventory
Have you ever seen an ad for a product and clicked on it only to find out it is no longer available? It's extremely annoying, especially when the holiday gift buying stakes can be so high. Customers never want to discover that items on the other side of their click are out of stock and this is where quality data comes in again. By combining advertising and stock data in one place, businesses can keep track of what to promote and where, preventing angry customers and keeping marketers from spending money on impressions that can't convert.
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4. Use scarcity messaging to create buzz
Shoppers act fast when time is short. Scarcity messaging that offers friendly tips about what’s flying off the shelves will drive holiday customers from websites, emails and ads to the point of sale — and they’ll buy.
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5. Be empathetic and sensitive with your messaging
Many consumers are still recovering economically and emotionally from the effects of the pandemic. When promoting sales promotions and discounts, be cautious. Consumers may base their decisions on how brands reacted to the (pretty much still current) crisis. In fact, research indicates that 80% of consumers wouldn’t buy from a brand that seemed to be taking advantage of the crisis.
Now that we’ve taken you through what marketers can do during the holiday season, you may think that we are done - nope! There’s plenty that marketers can do after the holiday season too. Stay tuned for part three, where we discuss what marketers need to do next to leverage the most from this period.
Click here to download a handy infographic that outlines some key holiday planning tips for marketers!
