In our previous article we  briefly talked about what seasonality is all about and how you can use it to your advantage in your marketing campaigns. Today we will delve a little deeper into some strategies you can incorporate during this season. 

Many marketers know that strategies that once worked might not work forever. Times change and approaches that once worked in the field of marketing might not be as applicable as they once were. 

Your final quarter marketing strategies should be all about ensuring your products are in front of consumers eyes during the holiday seasons. Because where there’s gift-giving, there’s gift BUYING. Choosing the right strategies can result in a huge spike in sales and you’ll be entering the new year with a cash cushion. How sweet does that sound 😉 

It’s all about planning ahead. The time to plan for Q4 is in Q3 or maybe even as early as the later weeks of Q2. And the first thing you should do is a review of your 2019 campaigns. 

1. Review your 2019 seasonal marketing campaigns. 

• What were your top offers 
• Where did your best traffic come from 
• What were the peak dates and days of your campaign 
• What were the key promotions that did well 

Don’t forget to incorporate personalization.  A personalized offer from increasing visibility of seasonal specific products to a personalized email reminder of the items your audience may have browsed but still not purchased can go a long way to maximise your chances of increasing sales. 

Take a deep dive into your data from Q4 2019 to help guide your planning for this year’s holiday season. Analyze the promotions that yielded the best results last year and decide if you can repeat the same promotions again this year or better yet, are they new offers to promote during this time ? Are you able to offer stronger, more competitive promotions ? Besides generating a significant amount of revenue during the last quarter of the year, being able to track your campaigns performance will help give you valuable insights which will help you launch a better campaign and teach you a lot about your audience. 

2. Think beyond Cyber Week

The holiday season is not just about Black Friday & Cyber Monday. There are many other holidays and events to consider when flushing out your marketing calendar for the remainder of the year. Here are a few dates to keep in mind; 

• October 31st – Halloween 
• November 11th – Singles Day (or famously known as 11:11 in Asia) 
• November 26th – Thanksgiving 
• December 25th – Christmas 

In addition, it’s important to know that holiday shopping will start in OCTOBER. That means some (if not most) of your audience have already started shopping! People are starting to think about the holidays and they are creating wish lists and jotting down perfect gift ideas for loved ones.

More people are online and more people are shopping so the chances of getting more clicks on your ads during this time are even higher! With many consumers forgoing travel, vacations and dining experiences during the COVID pandemic, many are left with an increase in their savings and some “dry powder” to spend as the holidays approach. Which is why its the perfect time and opportunity for performance marketers to up their marketing game during this time. There’s a range of seasonal events coming up so for the most success, think beyond just Cyber week!

3. Set up creatives & offers early

The holiday season can easily become a bit chaotic like strategic planning for your marketing channels. Thankfully there are also a lot of ways to prepare ahead of time and get your program in tip-top shape for the holidays. 

• Text links 
• Banners 
• Offers 
• Newsletters 
• Placement trackers 
• Optimization 

Follow best practices when creating text links. Be specific to what is on sale and include dates and time for when the promotions are live. On the other hand, some publishers prefer banner ads. Before doing this, analyze which size banners are the best converting and work on designing an eye-catching creative for your banner ad. You want to stand out from your competitors who will all be vying for the most clicks on their offers. It’s important that during this time to promote holiday specific offers early so that your audience can start purchasing before the actual holiday arrives. You can promote details of your upcoming promotions via your newsletters or email blasts! Once you’ve worked all this out, don’t forget to track all of your work. This way you will be able to track the performance of your ads and identify what is working. It will also help you with your marketing strategy for the following year before you do this all over again for 2021. Last but not least, ensure your mobile site is optimized to capture smartphone orders and to provide an optimal experience for those who browse on their phones. 

While there is a lot to think about when planning for one of the most lucrative times of the year, you can ease the stress by starting to plan now. Implementing these proven strategies can help boost your programs efficiencies and performance. We hope these key action items will help you be ahead of the pack ! 

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