The festive season is upon us, with Christmas campaigns now in full swing, and shoppers out in force, looking to bag a bargain. For retailers, this is one of the most profitable times of the year, and therefore it’s crucial to supercharge your sales and marketing activity.
Most major retailers started their festive promotions early, to encourage spend and increase revenue. For most shoppers, now’s the time to brave the shops (both online and off) and to cash in on all of the best deals.
Christmas 2016 set a new record in the UK, as revenue reached a whopping £24bn, making it the most profitable Christmas to date. If that wasn’t enough, Christmas 2017 is forecasted to exceed this record.
Here are a few things to bear in mind for Christmas trading success.
Once you pop you can’t stop
Studies show that once consumers begin shopping for Black Friday, they are likely to continue to spend right the way up until the January sales, highlighting the importance of creating a seamless transition from your Black Friday offers, to Christmas, and Boxing Day sales.
Are you up to speed?
In peak sales, up to 50 per cent of purchases are made on mobile – is your site mobile friendly and quick to load? If not, get that much needed dev time scheduled in pronto!
Competition, what competition?
Avoid missing any opportunities by regularly checking your impressions share, average position, and overlap rate to get ahead of your competitors and capitalise on that high value traffic.
Stand out from the crowd
Don’t be scared to offer something a little different – make sure you highlight what makes your brand unique across all marketing channels both on- and offline to promote a united and consistent message.
It’s not out with the old and in with the new
Existing customers often generate the majority of a retailer’s profit, so don’t forget to target them. Make sure you have a strategy for interacting with both new and existing customers, and never underestimate the power of brand loyalty during this festive period.
And finally, some parting words:
Have a back-up plan – We all know that things go wrong when we simply don’t have the time to resolve them. So, make your life easier and set up automated rules in AdWords to monitor the account and flag when potential issues arise. Be sure to familiarise yourself with your agency or AdWords points of contact so that you are able to act quickly should you need to.
Monitor your budgets and run rates
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. So, be sure to measure your budget throughout the season to prevent running out of your budget early. There is nothing worse than knowing that there are shoppers out there that you’re not targeting because you’ve exceeded your budget.
Keep going
Account for post-Christmas activity. With post-Christmas blues, and extra Christmas present money, be ready to do it all over again with the January sales.
If you have any questions on this subject or want to discuss further, please contact us.
