For most retail brands, the wheels are already spinning on this year’s holiday marketing campaigns.
Under normal circumstances, getting a jump on the 4th quarter with seasonal consumer promotions is critical. This year, it’s even more the case as online shopping transactions continue to soar.
There is a projected expectation that sales this holiday are going to go through the roof. EMarketer predicts that 2021 holiday retail sales will grow by 2.7% in the U.S. That translates to a $1.093 billion growth in sales value with online playing the biggest role.
To lay claim to that market share, you’ll need to employ a creative retail strategy to attract consumers to your products. There’s much to consider as different campaigns are required to attract new consumers and retain existing ones.
To help you get ahead of the curve with your seasonal marketing strategy, we’re sharing some tips for putting some holiday cheer in your consumer promotions.
Finding the Best Consumer Promotions Strategy for the Holidays
The most important part of a retail brand’s holiday consumer promotions strategy should be to keep it simple. You can quickly find yourself overwhelmed, but if you stick to some basic rules for your strategy, you will be in a better place.
Consider What Worked in the Past
Even though COVID-19 has transformed shopping behavior and you have a whole host of new challenges with this upcoming holiday season, it doesn’t mean you can’t learn from the past.
Review your numbers and campaigns from last year to determine what worked and what you should improve. In addition, you should consider if there have been any changes to your target customer base.
Make Sure Your Strategy Works for Your Customer
Paying attention to consumer promotions trends is important, but they will only work if they resonate with your target market. You can’t borrow something from your competitor and expect it to have the same impact on you.
For example, if you have a younger target market, you need to have a heavy presence on social media. That is where they live (and buy), so you will need to as well.
Common Retail Mistakes to Avoid This Holiday Season
Sometimes, it’s just as important to focus on what NOT to do. As you map out your holiday consumer promotions, here are some retail marketing mistakes to avoid.
1. Misunderstanding Your Customer
Knowing your customer is critical to your success. We create buyer personas in retail to identify the perfect avatar of our consumers. The more you understand your customer, the more equipped you are to market to them and share value.
Essentially, when you know your audience, you can create irresistible offers for them.
2. Using Only One Strategy
Always be testing. Marketing is about testing different hypotheses and seeing what gets results. So, when you limit your marketing campaigns to one strategy, you may be limiting the customers you reach.
We recommend AR-friendly consumer promotions that can be adjusted on the fly as needed. This ensures you’re always getting optimal shopper engagement.
3. Waiting Until the Last Minute
As expected, it would be best to start planning holiday retail promotions earlier than you think.
Your customers are shopping earlier, especially with concerns about shipping times. Come out of the summer with your best ideas ready to be implemented and then initiate your marketing to line up with when your customers are shopping.
4. Laying It On Too Thick
Don’t smother the consumer. Think about how it feels to be inundated with emails, advertisements, and commercials about a product. Even though you might be interested, you probably won’t love their spam. Like many things in life, this must be more about quality than quantity.
Consider this when you are sending emails, texts or other ads: If you’re reaching out to customers in some fashion more than once a day, it may be too much. Be considerate of how often you’re contacting your audience before you fire off your next marketing campaign.
Want Custom Consumer Promotions for Your Brand This Holiday Season?
Cliffedge Marketing is happy to gift wrap the strategies and execution you need to drive big results for your consumers this holiday season. We can get started with a free consultation call to see if we’re the right fit for your retail brand? Contact us today!
