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$123 billion - That is how much sales U.S. alone made during the holiday season last year. The 4th quarter of the year clearly takes a clean sweep when it comes to making big bucks. But little do marketers realize that it is also the best time to build a marketing list. Read on to know how you can make the most of the opportunity and convert your traffic into an audience this holiday season.
The holiday season marks the beginning of busier times. There’s a lot of traffic pouring in, a lot of queries, shopping carts being filled, products being added to the wish list and the cash register going cha-ching non-stop.
Revenue spike in quarter 4
While there is a lot going on during this time of the year, and most marketers fail to realize the opportunities that lie beneath it. Most marketers are so engrossed with the bigger picture that they do not notice that the holiday season does not just translate to sales; it is also a wonderful opportunity to build an audience.
An opportunity in disguise
While you might be grappling with a flat tire throughout the year, the holiday season brings you a chance to take charge, excite users and drive sales. And with traffic coming in like a tsunami in the season of buying and gifting, you make most of the sales during this period.
Yes, the holiday season means more revenue. But once the 4th quarter is over, and the excitement fizzes off, you are back where you were. You might be making a lot of money, sure, but is that all there is to the holiday season? It makes one wonder. What if you are stuck in a loop? It is the same old thing every year; waiting for the holiday season to make a mark.
What if you could hit two birds with one stone? What if you could convert the traffic into your audience, to tap into once the holiday season is over? Wouldn’t that be splendid? An audience that you own and the one you can engage to drive even more sales.
But when should you start putting all your efforts into building a marketing list? Because who are we kidding, the traffic starts pouring in way early.
How late is too late?
Akamai analyzed 7 major globally holidays in the 2018 holiday shopping season.
More than 5 billion daily data points assessed in aggregate
As you can see from the graph above, people start shopping days before the holiday itself. And then, of course, there are people like me, who wait till the very last moment. Here the baseline stands for the daily average session traffic for periods preceding a holiday.
Diwali, an Indian festival, is a week long period of shopping, and traffic starts pouring in, weeks before the actual festival. Which means that a LOT of traffic, way before the festival actually begins. Which also means you need to be geared up well in advance.
7 proven ways for growing your marketing list by 326%
Building a marketing list can be tricky. It requires commitment. But at times like these, the users are exploring your website, they are excited, and tend to take spontaneous decisions. Holiday season is one golden opportunity to grow your audience really quick. It is up to you on how you can make the most of it.
Here are 7 proven ways you can grow your marketing list at rocket speed.
Building an army of loyal users
Bait them with offers and VIP access
People are shopping like never before and they are on a hunt for offers and discounts. Offer them a gift card, give them cash backs or even go ahead and give them early access to a sale! No one wants to lose out on the best stuff. Giving users early access to shop gives them a chance to grab the best stuff, all of this but for a permission
Once the user subscribes, you can send them a welcome notification with the coupon code, so that the gratification is immediate.
Be their gift fairy
Users are not just shopping for themselves, they are shopping for their dear ones as well. And most of the time users get confused about what to buy. Nudge them to subscribe in exchange for gift suggestions. In the festive mood, the user would give you their permission to send them suggestions, giving you an opportunity to impress and retain them.
Reassure with back in stock alerts
The hunt for the perfect product is not easy. There is a lot of browsing, comparing and consideration involved, especially if you are shopping for your dear ones. It can be frustrating for your users to zero down on a product they absolutely love, only to figure out that it’s out of stock. These are your high intent users and you don’t want to lose them. At moments like these, you can reassure and subtly ask them to subscribe, to get an alert when it is back in stock.
Alerts for the collection hungry
Are your users about to leave from a collection page without buying? We are the Instagram-infinite-thumb-scrollers. Everybody wants to see more. Scroll endlessly. So next time you have new products getting on the catalogue, tell the world to come back and join the thumb-scrolling spree. Pop up that question and convert your visitors into an audience at this exact emotion.
The price alert
This cannot fail your users. “I want to pay more“ - said no customer ever. Everyone is looking for a better deal and this is what makes price drop alerts really powerful. You can ask the users to subscribe so that they get an alert if there are any changes in for products in their cart. If there is a dip in price or a hike in price for items in cart, the users can be informed.
The BIG sale alert
During the holiday season, every minute counts. No one wants to be the last one to know about the sale and lose out on amazing products. Nothing drives users like FOMO. FOMO becomes bigger when you ice it up with social hype. That’s what Black-Friday really is all about. There is a reason why the Big Retail goes super heavy on put up time counters. The idea is simple - Instill urgency. Once that’s done, ask these users to subscribe.
Gamify your users’ journey
Wish.com beautifully makes use of gamification to bring users back to their site, by giving them daily points just for showing up! And because of this bait, a lot of users make to the site, and well then one can’t stop themselves from browsing the site.
What if you could remind users to visit to revisit, so that they can accumulate points? Or if you are running a contest, you can inform the users when they have won something, how many points they have accumulated so that they can shop more during the holiday season.
Once the holiday season is over and you have won their heart, you can start reaching out to them with contextual updates. By now you know their likes, their taste, the brands that they love. You can reach out to them with relevant personalized updates and alerts at the right time.
Good to know
Timing matters
Prompt the users at the right time. Do not barge in as soon as your website loads. Give them time to browse your website, and make use of the examples provided above.
Make your prompt scream holiday
Set the mood, throw in some colors and add playful icons. Your prompt should look like it is ready and decked up for the holiday season.
Impress them while you can
Once delighted, forever impressed. Seize the opportunity and get the maximum out of the holiday season; make the users happy, keep them wanting to come for more, engage, retarget and make more sales. This time around set the tone for the next year. Strap in because this holiday season is taking you places.
