4 Holiday Marketing Trends To Use This Season
Digital Marketing
Nov 29 2022
Holiday season 2022 is here, and with it a crucial period for advertisers looking to move products even as economic and supply chain challenges persist. The closing months of the calendar year are generally a marketing department’s time to shine. Still, first, we need to understand the difficulties facing brands this season and the base strategies used to overcome them.
Here’s our look at finding success this holiday season through webrooming, email marketing, intelligent retargeting, and video campaign strategies.
Biggest Marketing Challenges in Q4
For a third straight holiday season, brands are expected to contend with the aftereffects of supply chain delays and shipping problems resulting from pandemic difficulties. Additionally, rising inflation rates and a consumer base already tightening budgets to avoid excess spending has marketers expecting a particularly challenging holiday push.
Despite a shaky economic outlook, holiday benchmark surveys show “nearly one-third of marketers plan to increase their promotional activity this holiday season” — a figure demonstrating much more optimism in holiday spending compared to last year’s 13%.
Why Marketers Are Emphasizing “Webrooming”
For the uninitiated, “webrooming” refers to when users explore products online before making an in-store purchase (as opposed to showrooming, where customers evaluate products in person before shopping around for the best deals online). Catering to a growing number of users who initially discover products from a personal device before visiting a store changes how brick-and-mortar operations approach everything from customer service to in-store advertising.
Webrooming is a particularly important experience for buyers looking into appliances, electronics, and apparel. Brands in these categories can capitalize on this trend by streamlining in-store and digital purchasing, adopting multi-channel marketing methods, and providing customers with reviews and options to return items to a physical store if necessary.
Boost Your Holiday Email Promos
The holidays are understandably a busy time for your contact list’s inboxes, and standing out from the crowd likely requires more than a simple seasonal promotion. Brands are turning their attention inward this fall to determine the best time and frequency to launch their email marketing sequences, using data to guide more impactful email delivery.
Within the messaging of these branded email campaigns, be sure to include evidence of social proof — third-party reviews or case studies praising your business and products have proven nearly as effective as recommendations from close friends and family.
As Always, Retargeting Is Key
Retargeting around the holidays is especially effective, as brands and products already familiar to prospective customers carry a natural advantage into the annual Q4 spending spree. Applying data from previous site visits, engagements, and abandoned carts to your new campaigns is one of digital marketing’s most useful tools around the holiday season.
Remember, the traditional rules in regard to ad fatigue change when launching short-term promotions or items that may soon be unavailable. Rather than artificially capping ad delivery, many brands allow holiday retargeting campaigns to find and serve their most highly-qualified audiences throughout the season.
Using Video for the Holidays
Studies have repeatedly shown video marketing’s effectiveness in influencing product sales. With video-sharing apps and social media usage continually on the rise, strong video promotion is a foundational piece of virtually any holiday campaign. Fortunately for advertisers, it’s not too late to dive into a holiday video promo. Certainly, there are big-budget video ads circulating this time of year that took months of planning and production work, but there are also zero-cost TikTok ads going viral with little effort beyond showcasing a product in use.
The rise of authentic branding and engagement includes video marketing that breeds real connections between brands and customers. While traditional principles still apply (eye-catching imagery, A/B tested messaging, tailored audiences, and so forth) companies shouldn’t be afraid to launch holiday video promotions even late in the year — the effectiveness of video advertising is simply too good to pass up.
The holiday season is officially here, but it’s not too late for your brand to stand out to keep customers engaged and reach and convert new shoppers. Applying the above digital strategies can help your holiday campaigns overcome challenges for increased conversions and success this season.
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