Holiday Season Shopping Campaign Tips and Tricks for 2018

A year or so ago Anvil partnered with Google to host a workshop in Portland for area ecommerce brands. That presentation inspired an article I authored for iMedia, Holiday marketing best practices. Two years later, we once again partnered with Google to inform prospective, current and past clients on the latest holiday marketing trends. Since only a select few could attend, I thought I would provide a quick recap of the presentation. Specifically, I thought it would be prudent to share three trends that have evolved in just the past few years, hoping it might inspire a little holiday cheer.

Get a Jump on the Season

With big box retailers and global brands competing for attention over the holiday season, the prevailing trend has been to kick off the holiday season increasingly early. An earlier shopping season means planning marketing campaigns earlier. Before mapping out a marketing calendar, it is important to understand how much consumers are planning to spend and when they plan to spend. In a recent survey, 80 percent of respondents say they will spend as much or more this year on gifts as they did last year. That is promising news, but also validates the need to get a jump on the buying season. Researching and spending on gifts varies by generation. Nearly 37 percent of Millennials indicate they plan to buy in October or earlier, while only 29 percent of Baby Boomers indicated a similar timeframe. The research seems to indicate that younger generations plan and spend earlier than older generations.

Regardless of your target audience, we recommend kicking off holiday planning efforts in July and carrying campaigns through January. Specifically, the July and August timeframe are ideal for fine-tuning the user experience and minimizing shopping cart abandonment rates. It is also an ideal time to optimize product pages any new content for the holidays, since search engines need time to index and rank content. The September and October timeframe is ideal for growing your customer and prospect database (email newsletter, social followers, etc.) and test messaging and creative elements before rolling out large campaigns. The sprint officially beings on Black Friday and continues for another 30 days. Spending typically starts large over Thanksgiving weekend, then slowly tapers through December 23rd. Don’t forget to market to customers dealing with returns and gift cards, to maximize upsell opportunities.

Leverage Self-gifting & Impulse Buying

While I have no problem buying gifts for myself, I rarely think of partaking in such a selfish act during the holiday season. According to research, I’m a minority. More than 70 percent of respondents in a recent survey indicate they have purchased gifts for themselves during the holiday season. The percentage of self-gifters varies by generation as well. Self-gifting is typically a more impulsive act. Nearly 66 percent of Millennials and 71 percent of Generation Z shoppers make more impulsive purchases than older generations (X and Boomers). The trend is not race, gender or income-specific, as 68 percent of Hispanics, 54 percent of men and 52 percent of those with household incomes below $35,000 said they did so as well. With these insights, it would be sensible to pay attention to your returning customers wants-and-needs and remind them as they shop, to purchase impulse items for themselves or share those items on a wish-list. Unknown or first-time shoppers may be more difficult to cater to, based on behavior, but retargeting/remarketing can help identify interests.

Create and Market Gift Guides

Gift guides are as old as Santa Claus, yet they can be overlooked or undervalued. A thoughtfully-design gift guide or guides can provide convenience, insight and value that results in increased conversion rates and higher average order value. According to research, nearly two-thirds of holiday shoppers said they would like to use retailer wish lists or gift guides to inform purchases. One of the most common price-oriented gift guides is the magical $50 (or under) mark. According to research, 66 percent of consumers research products at a price point of less than $50 and 54 percent of consumers utilize recommendations from retailers. As a result, we at Anvil recommend creating a host of gift guides by target audience (buyer vs. recipient), price-point and topic or theme. Topics may include: Stocking Stuffers, Gifts for Him, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Coworkers, Gifts in Black/Wood/Crystal, etc. A best practice includes utilizing Pinterest and Instagram to promote the gift guides. For bonus points, utilize shoppable Pins and Instagram posts to promote featured products. Utilize other social platforms and paid search to strategically promote the gift guides to the target buyers. Even if sales do not occur at that time you'll be building out your audiences and remarketing lists through the process.

By leveraging these three evolving trends and tips, you can amplify the impact and return on your holiday marketing campaigns this holiday season. For more ideas and stats, check out the Anvil blog. Happy holidays!