9 Online Marketing Tips for the Holiday Season

As more consumers turn to search engines and social media pages in their search for the best deals, it’s vital that businesses be visible across these channels this holiday shopping season. Especially in the lead up to Black Friday and Christmas, two major occasions which can spark loads of extra sales before the end of the year. Set your business up for holiday sales success with these nine online marketing tips.

1. Plan ahead

Ideally, its best to plan a couple months ahead, but there’s also no time like the present. While you work on finalising the marketing campaign’s finer details, give your customers teasers of what’s to come through countdown social media posts and email newsletters. In addition to creating awareness, this helps build excitement which can increase your chances of success come launch time. Because the holidays are notoriously busy, you can also save some time and sanity by scheduling blog articles, social media posts and advertising campaigns in advance.

2. Write helpful articles around keywords

By writing keyword-optimized articles which address your customers’ biggest holiday needs and concerns, you can help improve your SEO ranking and drive traffic to your website. Additionally, readers are more likely to share and comment on in-depth quality pieces, which can increase your online reach and engagement. Sales can also be encouraged by placing high commercial intent keywords at strategic points throughout the article that link directly to relevant product pages.

3. Create a Christmas gift guide

This is particularly effective for e-commerce stores. Depending on your website functionality, consider creating an entire tab devoted to helping customers find something for everyone on their list. For example, you may categorise your products according to gifts which are best for men, women, children, teens and so on. Because some people are hard to shop for, you can make things even easier for customers by listing gifts according to different personalities, hobbies and interests.

4. Launch a Google Ads campaign

Whether you’re already using Google Ads or have yet to get started, it’s definitely worthwhile to create a separate campaign geared towards securing holiday sales. Here, you can focus on targeting holiday shoppers and promoting seasonal offers through custom headlines and extensions. You can also drive traffic to valuable web pages such as a section of your Christmas gift guide, for example.

5. Increase your email marketing efforts

People are actively looking for products just like yours, so now’s the perfect time to up your email marketing efforts. You may set up a series of standard newsletters which promote different products, services and offers or, if you really want to take things up a notch, set up a tailored remarketing email campaign. This will further entice prospects who have already shown interest in a particular product, such as a registered customer who abandoned their cart before checkout.

6. Run a time-sensitive special offer

Sense of urgency can be a powerful motivator, especially when you’re promoting something truly beneficial like free delivery or double-digit discounts. Entice your customers by putting a time limit on your special offer, using trigger phrases such as “last chance” or “only one day left”. Keep in mind that it’s important to send consistent reminders of the offer, so this is another area where countdown posts and newsletters will work well.

7. Host a branded social media photo contest

Ask your followers to share a photo of themselves using your product in a creative way for the chance to win something spectacular. As a brand, you stand to enjoy increased product sales and awareness, and you can build up a ‘library’ of user-generated content to share with your audience going forward. Because social media users are likelier to see content posted by their friends, it can also help you stand out from the barrage of updates and adverts posted by business pages.

8. Share holiday-themed social media posts

In the midst of your marketing efforts, don’t forget to add a touch of holiday spirit to your social media posts. Because no one wants to be sold to all the time, include a variety of non-promotional posts in your content plan. These posts should entertain or inspire your followers, and they could be everything from funny holiday memes to delicious Christmas recipes, tips or tricks.

9. Appeal to emotions

Anticipation, excitement, nostalgia, stress, frustration. The holidays can be a rollercoaster ride of emotions! With that being said, some of the most successful holiday campaigns appeal to human emotions, good or bad. Whether your product or service can make customers’ lives significantly easier or bring their families closer together, your marketing messages will have a greater impact when they use emotional trigger words or play on certain scenarios your customers can relate to.