Christmas Marketing Tips In a COVID World reference image

Christmas 2020 is going to be a Christmas like no other. We can awe at how the world has changed dramatically since last Christmas.

In a new (dare I say it) COVID world, we are now depending ever-more on technology to facilitate the purchase of goods.

From buying our groceries, to ordering weekly food kits, through to purchasing petrol through our smartphone when we’re at the pump. Everything has moved further to a ‘contact-less’ type structure.

  • If you’re not already online, your business is without a doubt, missing-out.
  • If you’re not putting a new strategy together to market your online shop, you will lose out to those who are!

Here are FIVE cool things you can do to generate more sales this Christmas for your business.

1. Offer contactless delivery & pickup options

If you have a local store, or have a large customer base that are in driving distance of your store, consider mentioning and implementing a contactless pickup option where they can order product and pick it up the same day. Very important in the last few weeks leading up to Christmas when the shipping companies are less reliable.

Remember since COVID-19, the courier and postage industries have been flooded from more people buying product online - so offer a suitable solution in case people can’t get their goods in time and accidentally leave it too late.

2. Offer a FREE delivery day

Furthermore to point 1. Consider early in December, offering a ‘free’ delivery day. So if someone orders from your shop on say the 6th of December, they get FREE shipping.

Push this out on your social media and email channels (existing customers) in order to make them aware they can buy and not pay a cent for shipping.

This will help get some sales through the door in volume. This is critical if you sell items that are easy to ship (for example beauty products, jewellery and other small nic’ nac’s).

3. “Do you gift wrap?”

Say “YES”. If you have a good volume of online sales already you may find it lucrative to offer ‘free’ gift wrapping to customers who order online.

Think about all the people (myself included) who can’t gift wrap, or more-so don’t have the time to gift-wrap… Offer them the ease-of ordering online and their purchase being delivered to their door, pre-wrapped, and ready to gift.

So easy - so convenient. It’s a low-cost and enticing incentive to order directly from your shop.

Look, if you want to make some money offer a free basic gift wrap option, and perhaps a $9.90 up-sell option to include a pre-written card and extra ribbon!

4. Don’t get caught out with your stock-on-hand

With COVID-19 causing shipping delays since earlier in the year, it is important to plan your stock well in advance.

You can also give your customers an option to sign up for an email alert that will notify them when items are back in stock. Remember, the buying doesn’t stop on Christmas Day, but don’t think you’ll be receiving any new stock prior to New Year.

Get your stock orders in ASAP if you haven’t already, and look for trends online to see where potential products you have may see growth.

5. Use your social media, or get an agency to do it for you!

Social media platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Facebook and Snapchat are growing continuously as more people look online when buying.

You need to consider pushing out more content through your social media channels to promote your products and any deals you may be running this Christmas.

If you sell clothing, then post photos DAILY of your clothes being modelled / worn, if you sell child’s toys - then post pictures of kids using the toys. Create engaging content.

The main thing you need to do is ‘tag’ your posts with keywords that people are searching particularly within Instagram and Pinterest. So if you sell products for kids, then tag the image with a hashtag ‘#kids’! This means that anyone searching for images about kids will likely see your image pop-up.

BONUS TIP: Retarget Customers After Christmas!

As mentioned earlier in this article, online orders don’t stop after Christmas Day, you can still make use of Boxing Day, as well as New Years and January.

Ensure your website has relevant Facebook Pixel’s, as well as Google Remarketing audience tags setup.

This way you use a method of advertising called ‘remarketing’ or ‘retargeting’.

Basically, anyone who has purchased or considered purchasing from you prior to Christmas can be shown ads promoting clearance products and ‘new years’ deals.

It’s a great way to get those few extra sales in the door.

Remember, it is far easier to sell to someone who has already purchased from you or who has at least browsed your websites prior, than marketing to people who have never seen your shop before!

Its critical you put a plan in place each Christmas so you can maximise your sales revenues. Christmas time for many retailers is the highest grossing period in the year, so it’s key to get it right.

If you would like support with this exciting time of the year, get in touch with RAZOR Web Design. Your all-in-one web design, social and digital marketing specialists.