Staying on top of holidays means much more than having a Christmas sale special. Most holidays nowadays are commercialized to some extent, which has built up customer expectations – you need to have something ready for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween, Black Friday, and all year round.
What can you do to make the best out of this situation and make every holiday season work for your e-commerce business?
First, you need to know that this growth hacking tip works only if you have a fast-loading, responsive site, and reliable hosting. Bear in mind that you may experience a spike in visits, and an increasing number of those visits are from mobile devices, so if your site isn’t ready for that, it’s been long overdue. Research has shown that up to 1% loss of revenue is for every 100ms delay in page load time, so do whatever is in your power to ensure that happens.
Second, utilize your social media channels with a themed content and ad campaign. Holidays are an ideal time for a photo contest – people travel, parties are thrown, families gather, photos are shared. Keep your posts – and your promotions – relevant to the holiday and to your audience. Organize the best costume contest for Halloween or upload unboxing videos of your product(s) for Christmas.
Third, adjust your email communication accordingly – offer content, deals, and products that are in tune with the holiday for that extra push that will get the customers to buy from you. Also, holidays that see gifts being exchanged, like Valentine’s Day or Christmas, are a great time to launch a referral program, not only because people buy more, but because most of us look to friends for gift ideas.
Finally, you have to be creative – even if you are selling a service or an app, you can get into the holiday spirit with simple design touches. Your ads can be holiday-themed, or your entire store, or at least the blog section, where you can post pictures from your office party. Try and have fun with it, keeping true to the spirit of your brand, and making the most out of the holiday spirit!