Christmas Promotion Time – be ready for the rush.
Have you decided what you want to achieve this Christmas and the actions you need to take? Have you thought about what marketing is necessary and how soon you can begin? Planning out your activities and getting started early will help you achieve your goals for 2022. ePresence Digital Marketing Agency in Cork can help you get your Christmas Campaigns ready in time for the end-of-year rush.
Admittedly, we are big Christmas fans here, and we’re very excited about the Christmas campaigns that we’re currently working on.
With buyers starting their Christmas shopping earlier and earlier, September and October are prime times to get their attention.
There are many ways you can get ahead this Christmas including selling online, social advertising and email marketing but maybe you should consider the following before you begin.
Have You Considered?
Website Changes
A new quarter and new season are opportunities to review and improve business assets. When was the last time you considered if your website was performing as it should? Small changes can make a massive difference in how your customers view and engage with your businesses. Start now, before you get busy with Christmas and ask yourself:
- Does your website reflect the message you want to get across to your customers this Christmas season?
- Are your KPIs, delivery information and opening hours displayed correctly?
- Is your online shop up to date and working properly?
- Could your images do with a refresh?
Website updates show your new and existing customers what your business can offer them this Christmas. It will also improve your visibility on search engines such as Google that prioritise relevant and active websites.
Shopify
Do you need to start selling online quickly? Shopify could be the answer. Shopify is a great choice for an e-commerce website. It provides a single cohesive platform with all the point-of-sale features needed to start, run or grow your business.
Have you considered selling Christmas Vouchers online? Vouchers are a simple way for any kind of business to capitalise on the popularity of online shopping and is ideal for the Christmas period.
So whether you are selling products, vouchers or services, we recommend Shopify to all of our clients. Using this tool, we help clients attract customers, set up online selling and amplify their digital marketing.
Google Ads
Google advertising allows you to get ahead of the competition in online search results. The versatility of Google advertising also allows you to have adverts on third-party sites, YouTube and in apps.
Make sure you show up when people search for what you offer this Christmas. One of our favourite things about Google advertising is the flexibility it offers. In the run-up to Christmas, we like to get creative with client campaigns. Christmas is the perfect time of year to have fun with ad copy and tug at customers’ heartstrings.
ePresence is a Google Certified Partner thanks to the work of our digital marketing team and their successful client campaigns.
Email Marketing
A personalised service always goes down well with customers and digital marketing is no different. This is because customers love to feel special and shop with businesses that make them feel good. Personalisation is one of the many reasons that email marketing is very effective. In fact, businesses have reported a 20% increase in sales from personalised campaigns.
Email marketing is an excellent Christmas promotion tool. When your customers are planning for the festive season, your products can be in their inboxes ready to buy. The visual presentation of email marketing helps build brand awareness, while trackable insights help target your existing engaged audience.
Let’s not forget too that 75% of Gmail users access their accounts via their phones. Ideal for mobile-optimised email marketing campaigns that lead them to your site – and checkout – with ease.
Social Media Advertising
There are nearly four million social media users in Ireland. Users of all ages and locations, all engaging online with – not only their networks but also brands and businesses. Social media is more popular than ever, with online users spending an average of three hours a day on social sites. Needless to say, this is a melting pot of e-commerce opportunities.
We always recommend social media advertising as part of any business’s Christmas digital marketing campaign. Given the size and engagement of the audience, it is an opportunity to get your brand in front of the right people. Targeted social media advertising campaigns can reach your customers when and however you choose. This allows us to work with our clients to tune into their customer habits. Targeting them when we know they are most likely to make a purchase online.
Selling Online – E-commerce
Whether you sell physical products or vouchers for services, selling online has never been as simple. If you are not already selling through your website, then there’s still time to get up and running fast with Shopify. It’s never been easier to pivot and add an e-commerce site to your business arsenal.
Let Loyal Customers Know First
Loyalty should be rewarded. Every business has a cohort of loyal customers who stick with them through thick and thin (and pandemics!). Giving those customers the inside scoop on your Christmas gifts and offers is a great way to drive businesses. Loyal customers are brand ambassadors too. When they receive news about brilliant products and services, they always pass them on.
Getting your news to your loyal customers can easily be done with email marketing or social media advertising. Both of these methods can be targeted to specific audiences and tailored to their preferences.
Attract More Business
With your loyal customer’s taken care of, it’s time to look at building new businesses. Customers are always on the lookout for new ideas, good deals and quality products. But, in a crowded market, how do you get in front of new customers? Digital marketing has two specific methods for building new businesses that you might consider. Google advertising and social media advertising are two ways that you use targeted digital marketing that will complement your business goals.
Both are cost-effective digital marketing methods for business building. Google and social media advertising give you control over who sees your ads. Allowing you to target by age group, interests and even by homeowner status.
Whichever of these digital marketing methods sounds like a fit for you, time is of the essence. To reap the rewards of the Christmas build-up, campaigns are best planned early. With a plan in place, your campaigns can be actioned effectively from September/October time, taking the pressure off, allowing for amendments and ultimately giving you the best chance of success.
Contact Us for your Ecommerce Development requirements.
Have You Used Analytics To Help Guide Your Marketing Decisions This Year?
Imagine if you could read your customers’ minds. How helpful would it be to know what they wanted, when they wanted it and what kind of budget they had? Look no further than data analytics and insights.
Data analytics and insights may sound very techy and complicated but are actually useful and intuitive business tools. They can be especially useful in planning Christmas promotions.
Data is something all businesses have, but not all businesses utilise. By looking at the data from previous years, we can start to understand your customers’ habits. Such as how they search your site, when they buy and how much they spend. Armed with these insights, Christmas promotion planning becomes so much easier.
Data analysis can also highlight any areas where sales drop off. For example, if customers seem to all leave at the same point, it might suggest a website glitch. Spotting this in advance gives you the opportunity to fix the glitch for a smoother sales experience.
Our analytics experts at ePresence can analyse your data to use to inform future decisions. Armed with the right insights we can help make relevant changes to your strategies, saving you both money and time. As a Google Partner, we can access important trends around the shopping season that are very helpful in planning strategies.
Case Study
We worked with the local business Personalise Me which was looking for support with Christmas digital marketing in Cork. Personalise Me, located in Wilton Shopping Centre, Cork, offers personalised gifts for all occasions. Despite having a great site and social channel, Christmas sales weren’t where they wanted them.
After meeting the client to discuss their needs, our Cork digital marketing team set about putting together a Christmas strategy. This strategy included website changes, email marketing and social media advertising.
The campaign was a hit and saw web traffic for Personalise Me increase by 136% from the last Christmas period. Revenue also increased, with gross online sales seeing a 77% rise. Not only that, the business gained a four-fold rise in email contacts, setting them up nicely for the seasons ahead.
Personalise Me Results Snapshot:
- Revenue Up 77%
- Average Order Value Up 8%
- Transactions Up 65%
Read more about our work with Personalise Me here.
Next Steps | Contact ePresence
If you want to finish the year on a high, then take the first step and get in touch with ePresence Digital Marketing, Cork.
Call 021 236 2901 or email info@epresence.ie, we can help set you up for a strong end-of-year.
