Seasonal Marketing Campaign Steps
‘Tis the season to be merry and celebrate – but it’s also the season to shop. A lot. From Black Friday all the way up to Christmas and the new year, UK consumers will be looking to spend more than ever. The holiday season is the perfect time to attract more visitors and customers to your site. Using an appropriate seasonal marketing strategy and making certain changes to your website will help you engage with your audience and align your message and offers with their seasonal needs and desires – and in turn, help you sell more products.
How should you plan your marketing strategy to make the most out of the festive season? Read our top 3 tips to find out.
1. Research your audience
Before you start planning a seasonal marketing campaign, take a look at your current audience and buyers. What products or services have they previously been interested in? What are they talking about on social media? Don’t try to shake things up too much – keep giving them what they expect from you.
If your website is dedicated to mobile and broadband deals, now is not the time to branch out into shoes. While you still want to attract new customers, nurturing the relationship you have with your current visitors and keeping them interested should be your number one priority. So make sure you know them, you know what they want, and you’re the one who can give them just that.
2. Optimise your website
Ensuring your website is optimised and ready for a potential spike in traffic around Black Friday and Christmas is an essential step to attracting more customers. Before you start, make sure you have Google Analytics set up so you can measure traffic and see how much more visitors you get throughout the festive period.
Make sure your website is free of any issues – slow loading times, bad navigation, poor user experience… Tools such as Google Search Console (previously known as Google Webmaster Tools) and Website Grader can help you identify and correct the problems.
Refresh your graphics and promotional materials – all your images, text, design… Be clear on what your offer is, and add a subtle touch of seasonality to the visual content. Don’t over do it on the Christmas theme, however! Keep it subtle, and avoid making your website look like it belongs in the 00s.
Ensure any call to actions (CTAs) or buy buttons are well positioned, prominent, and that they really push users to purchase, or perform whatever action you want them to complete. Keep CTAs relevant and to the point, and make sure they stand out from the rest of your content.
3. Step up traffic
It’s time to get your seasonal marketing on! From content marketing, to ads and promoted posts on social media, to Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Google advertising, there’s a wide variety of options for you to make sure your content and website are seen by new and existing customers alike.
If you’re spending money on marketing and advertising, make sure to set a realistic budget. Be aware that competition will be high around this time of year, and therefore PPC and social media advertising costs will be higher than usual. You should try to choose a niche where there is less competition, and use relevant keywords.
It’s not all about spending, however – content marketing and a strong social media presence will also help you attract customers. You should aim to post more content during the holiday season (when people are in a buying mindset), both on your website and social media. Got an email list to market to? Send them emails! Anything you can do to get your website and content in front of potential customers is a winner. (Just don’t send too many emails or post too often, you’ll just end up looking spammy.)
Are you ready for the holidays? If you need any more information on seasonal marketing and website optimisation, get in touch! Our experts will be delighted to help you.
