Holiday Planning & Strategy: Part #1

I can guarantee that the big brands will be even more aggressive this year as capturing wallet share early on will be at the forefront of every marketing strategy. I encourage every small brand marketer to consider a few things this year.?This is the first article of a few more to come that pertain to marketing during the Holiday season.

Last year, brands were creating strategies around dealing with supply chain issues and low inventory levels. This year, we have the opposite problem: Consumers are more frugal. In reality, consumer consumption is pulling back, inventory levels are rising, and the CPI continues to rise. These are all significant symptoms of a more price-conscious consumer.?

I am in the process of creating part two of this series which will include content for luxury brands. Nonetheless, if your product targets an upper-income individual, not all of this will apply to upper-income individuals who are less price sensitive and most likely are not affected by the symptoms outlined above.?

Step 1: Identify Your Loyalists?

Identify which cohorts drive the highest engagement and efficiency for you. Or in other words, identify your loyalists. I would bet that it would be users who have purchased at least two times and have visited your site at least once in the last 60 days. Once you identify your loyalists, begin thinking about how you want to message them uniquely.?

While you may think that these loyalists will most certainly purchase from you this Holiday season, remember, they are also loyal to other brands. Start by having your campaigns speak to these people with the respect they deserve and have earned based on their behavior with your brand (yes, this means you will have to do double the work and create creatives just for these cohorts). Or in other words, have messages that thank them for continuing to be a part of your brand and vision. I’m not the best copywriter, but you could consider messages like “We Appreciate You, We Are Giving You Early Access.”?

I would also consider taking it a step further by going dynamic. If you have a consumer that has purchased multiple products in one particular category, offer a discount on that product category. If you collect preference opt-ins, then consider having a deal that is based on their preferences. This level of personalization, along with offering positioning that speaks to their loyalty, will feel more genuine and will build even further trust. Also, the big brands will be doing it…?

2) Re-Activate Your Dormant Users Now:?

I would place another bet that over 65% of your database is dormant. Or in other words, at least 65% of your users haven’t engaged with your brand in at least 180 days. If this is the case, you need to get them to engage with your brand in some form before the end of October. A sign of engagement can be as simple as opening an email (IOS updates complicate this a bit). However, the best indication of engagement is a site visit or a purchase. How do you do that? Send them your deepest cut discount and tell them you miss them.?

Re-activation campaigns are crucial to setting your holiday campaigns up for success this season. The goal is not to get them to purchase on this type of campaign; rather, it is to get them to visit the site. Visiting the site is a bottom-of-funnel engagement and is a significant sign of intent. If you have your segments set up correctly, these users will be pushed into your engaged cohorts and primed to hear from you more often during the Holidays.?

3) MOST IMPORTANT: Feature Your Deep Cut Sooner Than You Think

If your Q4 calendar isn’t already at least in its second draft, you are behind. Nonetheless, there is still time. You might think your Black Friday promotion should be launched near or around the actual day of Black Friday. While it would make sense to do that, the goal is to be competitive and capture wallet share before other brands do. How do you do that? Start your promotion sooner than you think.?

Of course, you don’t want to feature your deep-cut discount for Black Friday and Cyber Monday during the first week of November. However, you can get the ball rolling with your middle-cut discounts early on. While it is true that many brands will be “Unlocking Black Friday” in week one, the reality is, that the offer will most likely be their soft-cut discount. I would encourage a deployment strategy along these lines:?

• Week of 11/1: Launch of soft cut discount?
• Week of 11/7: Launch of middle cut discount?
• Week of 11/14: Launch of middle/deep cut discount (have run through 11/22)?
• Week of 11/21: Launch of deep cut discount (launch two days before Black Friday)?

For Cyber Monday, if you can, keep the deep-cut discount rolling. I realize that every brand is different, and this outline may not apply to your brand and respective target audience.?

Nonetheless, if there is one thing I leave you with, please realize that it will be quite competitive this year. The brands that are leveraging personalization and messaging their cohorts uniquely, are focusing on re-activation, and are focusing on being first will most likely be the ones to win this Holiday season.?

If you read this and made it to the bottom, I appreciate you. I will be drafting part 2 soon which will discuss cadence and timing in much more detail.