AHEAD OF THE FESTIVE RUSH
PREPPING YOUR MARKETING FOR HOLIDAY SHOPPING.
As the holiday season is here, the rush to capture shoppers’ attention intensifies. Now is the time to prepare and get ahead of the competition.
The path to making an impact during this period lies in crafting a marketing approach that not only captures attention but also sparks meaningful connections with your customers, boosts engagement to drive conversions and positions your brand at the forefront of their holiday shopping experience.
We’ve put together the tools to navigate this season with confidence and creativity— empowering your brand to not just survive but thrive during the festive rush.
KEY INSIGHTS ON THIS YEAR’S HOLIDAY SHOPPING
To help guide your approach as a brand during the holiday shopping season, we’ve curated key insights and takeaways from this year’s trends. Whether you already have a strategy to fine-tune or haven’t thought about it yet, this will help you optimise your plan, maximise engagement, and drive meaningful results during the holiday rush.
People aren’t waiting to buy anymore—the time is now:
24% of shoppers plan to start shopping in October this year, compared to 37% in November, and 15% in December.
This highlights the fact that your marketing efforts have to be on the same timeline. And it’s not too late yet!
Shoppers are heading online—digital mode is on:
43% of holiday shoppers will do most of their Christmas shopping online.
This emphasises the need for your marketing efforts to focus on digital strategy to meet consumers where they are and drive engagement during the holiday season (social media, e-commerce, paid ads, SEO, email marketing).
People are ready to spend more—higher average order values are on the way:
40% of Gen Z (ages 18-27) and 31% of millennial holiday shoppers (ages 28-43) expect to spend more this year.
This brings attention to the potential of temporarily re-targeting your audience to increase conversions while seizing the opportunity to elevate purchase amounts (paid ads, email marketing).
STRATEGIC MOVES TO ELEVATE YOUR HOLIDAY MARKETING
A well-designed, holiday-specific campaign consists of thoughtfully curated tactics and strategies that enhance your marketing efforts during this period. Here, we’re sharing the essential strategic moves for your brand to elevate its holiday marketing:
〰 Personalised Campaigns:
Leverage data (customer habits and preferences, purchase history, browsing behaviour, etc.) to create:
- personalised email campaigns (e.g.: automation emails: abandoned cart, product reminder, browse abandonment, post-purchase emails)
- tailored user website experiences (e.g.: dynamic content personalisation, product recommendations, product bundling, cross-selling offers, etc.).
〰 Seasonal Content Creation:
Develop content that highlights your products in a festive context—this season presents a valuable opportunity for communication and engagement.
- social media content that ignites a festive connection between your brand and your community (e.g.: gift guides, online advent calendar, holiday Q&A sessions, unboxing videos, behind-the-scenes holiday preparations, etc.)
- paid ad campaigns that leverage the festive context to attract potential new customers with limited-time offers (e.g.: free shipping, complimentary gift, exclusive offer for new members, holiday-exclusive collection, etc.)
〰 Omnichannel Experiences:
Ensure a seamless consumer journey across all touchpoints for your audience—creating a cohesive shopping experience that drives conversions.
- align your marketing strategy across social media, website, email and paid ad campaigns, using consistent messaging to foster recognition, while adapting your efforts to each platform’s unique features and user behaviour.
- focus on ease and convenience for your customers, from awareness to conversion (e.g.: streamlining the purchasing process, reducing friction at key touchpoints and ensuring a user-friendly experience at every stage).
Finally, as a general approach to your holiday marketing strategy, you should try to get into the shopper mindset. The more you consider their point of view, the easier it is to curate marketing materials that appeal to them and are more likely to engage them.
GIFT GUIDES TO LEVERAGE YOUR BRAND’S POTENTIAL
There’s no time of year more meaningful than the holiday season for building connections with your audience and making an impact. As customers look for the perfect gifts to give, the opportunity for brands to step in and provide valuable solutions is unrivalled. This is the moment when your brand’s presence can make all the difference—by offering thoughtful, curated gift guides that help customers navigate their holiday shopping.
Gift guides are a way to effortlessly show up for your customers—exactly where they are, at the right time with timely offers. It is also another opportunity to place your products in front of them. By thoughtfully curating gift ideas, you help your customers discover the perfect presents, solve their gift-giving dilemmas, and position your brand as a trusted resource during one of the most important periods of the year.
The idea around gift suggestions is to show to your audience how your products make the ideal gift to alleviate stress and streamline the purchasing process—by curating themed gift guides that target different customer segments. For this, different segmentation options can tailor your approach:
Segmentation by age and gender: gifts for kids, for men, women or specific age groups (e.g.: teenagers, young adults)
Segmentation by relationship: gifts for family, colleagues, friends.
Segmentation by theme: sustainable gifts (eco-friendly or ethical products).
Segmentation by interests: gifts for the sporty ones or wellness enthusiasts.
Segmentation by price range (e.g.: “gifts under $100”) or simple “last-minute gifts” work well too.
In a crowded marketplace, a well-crafted gift guide serves as a source of direction, offering inspiration and valuable solutions amidst the overwhelming options. It is essential to leverage storytelling in your approach, to inspire the emotional aspects of gift-giving. It’s about much more than selling products; it’s about creating a connection that goes beyond the transaction—building trust and loyalty for years to come.
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