The holiday season may be over, but customers are still in the mood to buy products, with gift cards and holiday cash burning holes in their pockets. The push to buy last-minute gifts and exchange one gift for something else are just a few reasons why consumers are shopping in January. Capturing these sales during the post-Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa holiday season is not an automatic task and requires a bit of planning. The key is to pay attention to signals from your customers. Here are five strategies to boost those post-holiday sales:
1. It’s Still Christmas Somewhere
Squeeze a bit more out of the holiday season by extending holiday promotions for a week into January. There are plenty of last-minute shoppers who may be traveling to see family into the new year, so capture this market by sweetening January deals with buy-one-get-ones. Deeply discount stock that did not move over the holidays and motivate shoppers to keep adding items to their carts with percentage discounts on bigger purchases. If you have an international customer base, pay attention to shopping dates and holidays across the globe and adjust your campaigns to capture this market. You should also do some research and adjust your SEO and PPC campaign keywords to attract these buyers with the words “holiday discounts,” “promotion,” and “clearance.”
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2. New Year, Fresh Start
With New Year’s Resolutions on the top of everyone’s minds, customers are ready to put the old year behind them and try something new. Use display, social media and SEO campaigns with the keywords, “New,” “Improved” and “Better,” offering free downloads for user guides that showcase features and benefits. Get your website ready with pages that showcase these new product offerings, or new ways to use your products.
3. Reward, Remind and Re-market
If you have pixel tracking in place, you know what people have searched for, what they bought, whether it was a gift, and what they’re still thinking about buying. Use email, PPC and display ads to send targeted ads for product recommendations based on search history and past purchases.
Reward the customers who bought from you over the holidays with discount rates and promotions aimed directly to them. Point them to new products and give them suggestions for complementary accessories for products already purchased. Also, don’t forget to reach out to customers who have not yet completed their purchases with a time-sensitive discount for those items left in carts.
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4. Engage Your Social Followers
Encourage your followers to submit images or videos of them using your products and remind them to share their reviews and ratings. Leverage your loyal social audience with an exclusive Facebook, Twitter or Instagram discount, and incentivize customers to follow you on social channels with rewards and coupons. Social-only campaigns can be more effective than blanketed coupons.
5. Do Something Different
Competition is fierce, with e-commerce giants monopolizing the biggest share of the markets in multiple categories. To encourage customers to buy from you, offer something they can’t get anywhere else. Store their address, preferences and credit card information and give them one-click options. Offer a subscription model that discounts automatic re-orders. Most importantly, provide customers service at levels they won’t find among the e-commerce giants—respond quickly to product and service issues, monitor social media channels and work toward developing a supportive relationship with your customers.
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The end of the holidays does not have to mean the end of sales. Stay aggressive throughout the new year with post-holiday marketing and specials and give your customers the promise of something new and exciting for the new year to come.
