The Definitive E-commerce Marketing Guide for Christmas 2021
Table of contents
Use Multichannel E-commerce Marketing
Generate Happy Vibes With Videos
Hands down, Christmas is the biggest spending period in any year. As much as eCommerce exploded in 2020, it’s on track to do even better in 2021. Online Christmas shopping is estimated to increase 10%-15% this holiday season. Successful eCommerce marketing starts with consumer awareness and trust, which means that your eCommerce logo and store branding must be familiar. But it doesn’t stop there. Creative content and enticing promos are also essential for a profitable holiday season. Shoppers are expected to spend over $1 trillion around the globe and more than $250 billion in the US alone. To make this season ‘the most wonderful time of the year’ for your business, read our definitive guide to eCommerce marketing for Christmas 2021.
Deliver Irresistible Emails
E-commerce Marketing Guide for Christmas 2021 - Email Marketing
eCommerce Marketing 101: The email list is gold. So you definitely want to use yours during the all-important Christmas season. Depending on what you’re selling, you may prefer to focus your ad campaign on specific products or services that are particularly relevant to the holidays (or ones that you want to push). Alternatively, you can offer a holiday discount to be used throughout your site. Enticements such as “guaranteed delivery by December 25th” should be prominently placed and repeated in the email blast. Because people can be wary of clicking on things if they can’t see where it will take them - use a combination of embedded and raw links, like this: https://www.thepearlsource.com/mother-of-pearl.php. And because people are busy and stressed at this time of year, your subject line must be extremely enticing for them to open the email in the first place.
Create Urgency
Effective eCommerce marketing is all about making buyers believe they must act now or miss out. Holidays, like Christmas, make it even easier to induce this feeling of urgency. Include a countdown calendar in your ads offering limited-time sales, discounts, and promos. Phrases such as ‘Last day’ ‘Final chance’ motivate more people to buy.
Use Multichannel Ecommerce Marketing
More eCommerce Marketing 101: People can’t buy from you if they don’t know who you are. Store branding and a recognizable eCommerce logo are essential if you want to maximize sales this holiday season. Hit all the channels: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, etc. to get the word out about your brand and your product. Refresh your keywords to optimize SEO. Include CTAs (calls-to-action) and shoppable links in every post, tweet, flipbook and ad to make it easy for customers to make purchases. To further boost sales, cross-promote with complementary (not competitive) brands.
Try an eCommerce Recommendation Tool
An eCommerce recommendation or product recommendation tool is a must-have if you need help in increasing your conversion rates. Wondering what it is and how to make one? A no-code builder like Outgrow can help you do it in minutes!
Outgrow is a powerful eCommerce recommendation tool. With this tool, you can create an interactive quiz for your users and guide them to the best-fit products as per their needs. For example, you can create a quiz with the title: “Which Sunglasses Suit Your Face Best?”, and link suitable products on the result page so that customers can make the purchase directly from there. This type of recommendation tool will generate leads and save customer preference data which can be further used for segmentation, analytics, and retargeting.
E-commerce Marketing Guide for Christmas 2021 - Woman Taking Festive Pictures for a Social Media Post
Generate Happy Vibes Via Video
As the saying goes, a picture of thousands words, and this is especially true with eCommerce video marketing. People want to take part in seasonal fun, but they may not be ready or able to go back out into public or get together in groups. This creates the perfect opportunity for your store branding to let them enjoy the season even if they’re celebrating solo. Show people doing upbeat things like decorating or selecting gifts — with your eCommerce logo featured in the video.
Crank Up the Festivity
As mentioned above, even though people are shopping from the comfort of their couch, they’re still looking for a holiday experience. One of the easiest ways to boost your eCommerce marketing campaign is to dress up your site with seasonal graphics: twinkling lights, greenery, dancing snowmen, etc. Be sure to add Christmas themes to your social media platforms as well. Whenever possible, relate graphics to discounts and promotions to further up views and conversions.
Create an Online Catalog
When marketing during the festive season, it’s also important to grab customers’ attention in innovative and creative ways. Why not create an online catalog for your eCommerce store? This will allow your customers to make orders, straight from your catalog. The real-page turning effect, as well as the multiple interactive features, will have your customers more than impressed.
You can also add your eCommerce logo to your online flipbook to maintain your brand identity. Did you know that you flipbooks can be used in many different ways? For example, you can create brochures, user guides, magazines and many more different marketing materials that can be vital for your eCommerce business.
Here’s a perfect example of a digital catalog with a Christmas/Winter themed GIF incorporated (i.e., the cute snowflakes on the front cover):
Amp Excitement
Contests are a tried-and-true eCommerce marketing strategy no matter the time of year. Everyone loves to receive a gift. Everyone loves to win. Boost your end-of-year sales by holding a Christmas-themed contest. To enter, ask customers to post videos or photos showing unique ways of using your products or services. This not only drives sales but also acts as extra free publicity. An all-around winner.
Simplify
Bundles
The rule of retail is simple: capture maximum revenue. One thing that can be harder to do online than in person is browse multiple items at once. A smart eCommerce marketing plan includes bundles. By curating collections of complementary products, you can capture both casual window-shoppers and those in “buy-now” mode.
Gift Cards
E-commerce Marketing Guide for Christmas 2021 - Gift Card
Time is at a premium during the holidays, which means to capture customers’ attention (and cash), you must not waste theirs. An easy eCommerce marketing strategy is to use gift cards. Gift cards are perfect for the shopper who is looking to save time but who isn’t quite sure what their recipients might like. Gift cards have the added bonus of increasing brand awareness because they’re stamped with your eCommerce logo.
Gift Wrap
During the Christmas season, more than 50% of sales are gift items. A gift-wrap option saves shoppers’ time and shows thoughtfulness - a double win! Include your eCommerce logo on the package to boost brand recognition and grow your customer base.
Free Shipping
Everyone loves a freebie, especially if it’s something they wouldn’t have to pay for if they were shopping in person. Carts often get abandoned as a result of customers being dissuaded by shipping charges. Offering free shipping is a very easy eCommerce marketing action you can take to avert cart abandonment and boost sales.
The Wrap-Up
To recap, your eCommerce marketing strategy involves the use of all the tools in your arsenal. Optimize SEO for maximum visibility. Create appealing seasonal-themed blogs, posts, flipbooks, videos and tweets. Send out a killer email blast. Use holiday-themed graphics to get consumers in the mood. Make it as easy as possible for shoppers to buy. Offer discounts, bundles, free shipping, gift wrapping, and gift cards to optimize your chances for conversions. And, of course, be sure you’ve got enough inventory to cover all your sales. By following these eCommerce marketing tips, you’re guaranteed to increase sales in the 2021 Christmas shopping season.
Bio: Sue Seabury is a regular contributor to the blog for top online pearl retailer, The Pearl Source. She lives in Baltimore with her family.
