Erika Brookes — January 18, 2019 — January 18, 2019
As consumers seek out gifts for everyone on their holiday shopping lists, the last few months of each year consistently deliver increased traffic and sales for retailers small and large. The latest numbers indicate that November to December revenue was in the ballpark of $ 122 billion for online retailers in 2018.
While stores love to see numbers escalate during the busiest shopping days of the year, it will almost always be followed by a return back to average run rates once the season has passed. Maintaining holiday-boosted revenue numbers throughout the year is a big ask for most, but merchants can still capitalize on the extra exposure by implementing some proven marketing strategies to retain some of the new customers gained during the holidays.
Keep Engagement up with Email Subscribers
Many retailers ran promotions during the holidays offering potential customers exclusive discounts for joining an email list. Now that the holidays have passed, don’t overlook this powerful marketing opportunity. Set up email marketing campaigns to re-engage those first-time email subscribers and customers. When developing your campaigns, keep in mind that most people receive promotional emails almost hourly. It’s best to avoid sending messages too frequently and focus on ways to make your emails stand out from the competition. Using personalized, engaging subject lines, offering unique discounts or running contests are a few effective ways to engage your audience and boost revenue.
Provide Excellent Customer Service
Unique, enjoyable experiences are what will keep shoppers coming back to buy directly from you. The time immediately after the holidays have ended is when your customer service should be on point, because stores will inevitably have an influx of return and exchange requests. Making that process smooth and even enjoyable can turn one-time customers into loyal shoppers.
Today’s consumers expect to get results quickly, so try to keep phone wait times as short as possible. If you also offer customer service through social marketing channels such as Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, be sure you have people monitoring these platforms consistently and responding in a timely fashion. Also, explaining your return policy via email or including an FAQ section on your website can be a very effective way to answer common requests, making interactions with customer service much more efficient.
Stay Up-to-Date on New Year’s Trends
Each new year brings new trends that are opportunities for you to relate to your customers. For example, after two months of indulging in food, alcohol and shopping, many people consider the new year as a time to re-prioritize their life and look to integrate healthier routines. You can capitalize on this “new year, new me” attitude by promoting any products related to health or fitness.
If your eCommerce site uses content marketing strategies like blogging, you can capture more organic traffic by including posts with keywords related to positive habits, resolutions or whatever the latest fad is capturing people’s’ attention. Creating timely, relevant content is an excellent method for boosting organic web traffic. Do some research on popular keywords used around the New Year and integrate these phrases into your post-holiday marketing strategy.
Retargeting Campaigns
For eCommerce businesses, there are several goals of retargeting campaigns, but one of the most effective is cart abandonment retargeting. Cart abandonment is a widespread issue that plagues every eCommerce site, and it occurs when shoppers visit a site, add products to their cart and then leave the site without ever making a purchase.
Customers may have dozens of reasons for doing this, most commonly due to a complicated checkout process or unexpected shipping costs. If an item is in the cart, the shopper has indicated they were at least considering the purchase. Retargeting campaigns can remind them of what they liked and bring them back to complete the purchase, especially if they’re incentivized.
Customer Incentives and Loyalty Programs
According to eCommerce platform BigCommerce, designing and promoting a customer loyalty program can drive your sales five times higher. After the holiday season has passed and the shopping rush comes to a halt, create an email campaign for all your customers, new and old, who purchased from you during the holidays.
In this email, outline your customer loyalty program and let the recipients know that they have already earned a reward because of their holiday purchase. You can organize your loyalty program in a number of ways, but offering something upfront entices the consumer to take advantage of the promotion and continue earning rewards over time, turning them into a regular customer.
While you are likely a bit weary from the non-stop holiday action, now isn’t the time to take a breather. It’s prime time to focus on cultivating seasonal shoppers into repeat customers. Keep them engaged with your eCommerce store by offering personalized offers and a great customer experience to reap the rewards of consistent revenue and brand loyalty.
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