5 Ways to Boost Your Online Sales This Christmas!

Not that it needs to be said, but Christmas really is a crucial time for retailers to boost their sales and increase their revenue! Planning your Christmas campaigns in advance is the key to success.

Since we are getting into the festive spirit, here are 5 Christmas marketing ideas for you to help increase conversions and sell more online this year…

1. Create a Festive Landing Page

Online shopping often lacks the fuzzy, festive feeling that comes from the decorations, lights and atmosphere of a real shop at Christmas. You can help recreate some of this experience online by using festive banners, graphics and photography on your Christmas landing page.

Make the shopping experience easier for your customers by providing a one-stop area on your website where shoppers can access all your Christmas-related products.

A festive landing page also allows you to differentiate and highlight your stock, while sales promotions can increase the average order value.

2. Run Targeted Email Campaigns

Email marketing is the perfect channel to help you be in the right place at the right time. You can get in front of your customers in a cost-effective way by creating a festive email campaign that is perfect for your audience.

Start off with some research – find out when your customers are most likely to be spending, how much they will be looking to spend and what kind of deals or festive promotions they may be interested in.

Don’t forget to consider targeted remarketing emails and automated cart abandonment emails to entice users back to your site to make a purchase!

3. Create an Eye-Catching Display Campaign

A simple and affordable way to expand your reach, good Display Ads can be highly effective in raising awareness and convincing your audience that your shop or product is the right choice for them.

Utilising image ads via the Google Display network allows you to target by demographic, location and other targeting options that are perfect for Christmas shoppers e.g. Topic > Gifts and Special Event Items.

It is also possible to target affinity audiences and in-market audiences in order to show your ad to the most relevant people, grabbing the attention of the right consumers while they are in the mood for festive spending!

4. Boost Your Local SEO

If a customer searches for you, how easily can they find your business? How easily can they find your address and phone number? If they need to visit your website, can they do so quickly? Make it as easy as possible for your customers to do their Christmas shopping with you!

Focusing on your local SEO is a budget-friendly way to ensure your customers can find your business location, website and contact details with ease when searching on Google or other search engines.

Make sure your address is correct on your website, Google Maps and all local citations (such as Yelp, Facebook and Google My Business) while providing whatever information you can to aid your customers in getting to you.

It is also a good idea to consider embedding a Google map on your contact page, allowing customers to generate their own directions and customise their method of transport.

5. Launch a Facebook Ad Campaign

This may seem like an obvious one. However, using social media effectively is one of the best ways to connect you with your customers over the festive period.

• Refresh your audience profile – It’s important to know who your current and potential customers are. Use Audience Insights to review your audience’s demographics, location, psychographics (such as interests, attitudes and lifestyle) and purchase behaviour. Then put together a profile of your target audience (or audiences).
• Identify your key audience segments - Divide your target audience into segments, so you can plan distinct campaigns that will resonate with each group on the lead up to Christmas.
• Add the Facebook pixel to your website - The Facebook pixel is a snippet of code that, when added to your website, allow you to reach your website visitors with targeted ads on Facebook. So, if someone browsed for shoes on your website but didn’t purchase, you can automatically retarget them with an ad for the same shoes the next time they visit Facebook. Have your web developer make sure that your pixel is set up correctly ahead of the festive season!
• Divide your budget strategically - During the Christmas shopping season, you’ll want some ad campaigns that run continuously and some that promote key events or limited-time promotions, like free shipping or discount codes. Allocate your budget accordingly.
• Test creative and ad types – Test different creative and ad formats with your audience segments. Try different images, copy and call to actions and analyse what works best for your audience before Christmas shopping starts.
• Prepare your product catalogue - Product catalogues contain a list of products you want to advertise, their availability, product URL, image URL and other product attributes. Retailers with large amounts of products can prepare and upload their product catalogues to Facebook in order to use dynamic product ads during the holidays.

Need help with your Christmas campaigns this year? At Web Bureau, we’ve got you covered! Give us a call on 02890 731190 or drop us an email at info@thewebbureau.com, let’s chat through how we can help you to boost your online sales this Christmas.