Elizabete Smite

This will be a holiday season like no other. With a lot of brick-and-mortar shops getting closed, customers are shifting to shopping online. And many of them don't plan on going back. For you as an ecommerce store owner, this means new potential customers and the opportunity to grow your online business this holiday season. It also means a lot of competition and that can be stressful. Since there's been enough stress in 2020, let's try making the holiday season as peaceful as possible. The secret for making it happen—planning ahead. In this article, we'll talk about getting ahead of your competition, staying in control, and getting your ecommerce store ready for the holiday season. Look for the free downloadable holiday checklist at the bottom of the article to help you keep track. 1. Find the dates to target When: September First, mark down the important dates in your calendar so you can plan your campaigns. While Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the stars of the season, there are other shopping occasions you shouldn't miss. I suggest thinking about the events that are important to your customers and focusing your efforts on those. Here are a few you can research: When finalizing your marketing plan for the holidays, think about the information you need to include in your campaigns, like order deadlines, shipping information, return policies, and so on. Contact your fulfillment partners to get the information you need in advance. 2. Plan your marketing campaigns. When: September Next on your to-do list—deciding what deals you'll offer this holiday season. Pick one or mix and match to find what works for your audience: % or $ discount. Free shippingQuantity discounts Buy one, get one free. Flash sale. Giveaway or contest. Promo code. Loyal customer discount. Extra loyalty credit. If you're thinking about percentage or dollar value deals, stick to The Rule of 100—use a percentage discount for anything below $100, and a dollar value discount for anything above, as that makes the customer perceive the deal's value as higher. You can also try setting a minimum order amount for receiving a discount, free shipping, or a promo code to increase order value. Think about your buyer when deciding which deals to offer—sometimes the way you offer it is more important than the deal itself. Once you’ve made up your mind about the deals, think about the products to put on the pedestal. Are you going to promote your bestsellers, or will you try to get customers interested in your yet undiscovered treasures? If you're looking to add holiday-themed products to your store, consider these trending products of the season: All-over print sweaters BeaniesMugsNeck gaiters Our top picks Decide which marketing channels you're going to use for your campaigns. Keep in mind that different channels are used for different purposes. Use social media for visual content, your store's website for storing all the important information, and emails for promotions, reminders, and newsletters. 3. Set up the tech in your store. When: September It's easy to get distracted when making an online purchase, so make your customers stay focused before, during, and after shopping. The good news is, there are loads of functionalities out there to help you. Research and try: Abandoned cart recovery emails. Retargeting pixels. Exit pop-ups. Web push notifications. Customer loyalty programs. Coupon codes. Chatbots. A great example of an abandoned cart recovery email by Dote Whichever tool you decide to experiment with, set it up ahead of time. You want to have some wiggle room to test it so everything works when shoppers rush to your store in a couple of months. 4. Run store maintenance. When: September Your email campaigns, social media posts, blogs, and videos will direct your audience to one place—your website. To make it smooth sailing for your customers from there, run store maintenance now. Here’s what you should pay extra attention to: Website speed. A single second delay in your website loading time can result in a 7% loss in conversion. Use GTmetrix to test how fast your website appears in all its glory—it shouldn’t take longer than 3 seconds. Navigation. Well-thought-out website navigation lets customers find what they need and find it fast. Ask your friends and family to browse your store to check how user-friendly it is. Use their feedback to improve the navigation or layout of the website. Checkout process. The most important part of your website is your checkout page because it’s where your store visitors become customers. Go through the checkout process yourself to make sure it’s quick and intuitive.User experience on mobile. Mobile shopping is steadily taking over ecommerce. Check out our article on making your store more mobile-friendly. If you notice anything that needs improvement, make the necessary changes right away to avoid having your customers inform you about the malfunctions of the store, or even losing potential sales. You also want to make sure your customers can find all the information they need about your store, products, and policies. Check if everything's up-to-date in your: Product descriptions and care instructions. Store policies (privacy, shipping, returns)Contact and subscription forms. About Us pageFAQ page. A sweet and personal About Us page Pro tip: Find time to go over the tools and plugins you’re currently using on your website. If you stumble upon something that you haven’t used in a while—uninstall it. Any implemented software, even when it’s not in use, can slow down your website or cause downtime. 5. Write those emails. When: October Email's still one of the most effective ways to reach your customers, 72% of adults in the US prefer receiving communication from brands through email. There are also many benefits for you—it's cost effective, easy to get started, and easy to track and measure the results. So it's not a question if you should send out emails, but how to craft the best ones. I advise spending some time crafting copy before the holiday season starts. Write down the important things you want to mention, and keep your notepad somewhere near—the best subject line idea might come at the most unexpected moment. Think about your audience and what kind of relationship you want to establish with them. That'll help you with the tone and voice of the messages you send. And remember to keep it consistent. Taking inspiration from the list of campaign ideas I shared previously, here are a few ideas for your holiday emails: Order deadlines announcement and reminders. Product/offer of the week. Sale sneak peek. Free shipping campaign announcement and reminders. Gift guide. New product launch. A gift guide by Acne Be informative, but keep it short. On average, the attention span for reading emails is only about 11 seconds. 6. Craft social media copy. When: October The most popular social media channels for ecommerce businesses are: InstagramFacebook. Twitter. PinterestTikTok To get a better picture of what content will get more attention on your social media accounts, examine your audience’s behavior on each channel paying extra attention to user activity peaks and top performing content. Use this information to decide which social media channels will work best for your brand. If you spread yourself thin on all channels, you're not going to be effective on any of them. So find the one that works, and focus your efforts there. When creating copy for your holiday social media posts, remember that each channel is used for slightly different purposes. While TikTok is gaining popularity fast, it'll only work for targeting a younger audience as 60% of TikTok users are younger than 30. Another example is Twitter—a platform where people voice their opinions, discuss public events, or let off some steam. Pinterest, on the other hand, is purely visual and used for design or lifestyle inspiration. Although Twitter and Pinterest are similar, their user demographic doesn't exactly match. So, it’s fair to say that what’s popular on Pinterest, won’t be as engaging on Twitter and vice versa. 7. Prepare the visuals. When: October People remember up to 80% of what they see, and only about 20% of what they read. So if you want to stand out from the crowd this holiday season, invest some time into creating eye-catching imagery for your marketing campaigns. Depending on your plans for the holiday season, you might need to create visuals for: Product showcases. Email campaigns. Social media posts. Blog headers. Store banners. Pop-ups. Ads. The good news is, you don’t have to take all the photos yourself. Use the Printful Mockup Generator to add your designs, and download lifestyle mockups of your products. If you want personalized shots of your unique designs, trust our talented Photography Services team to take care of it. Christmas-themed photos by our Photography Services team For general visual materials, browse websites like Pexels, Unsplash, and Pixabay to get beautiful royalty-free images that fit your store's aesthetic. If the pictures need some adjusting, make sure to check our list of free Adobe Photoshop alternatives. 8. Announce order deadlines. When: October It's important your customers order in time to receive their orders for the festivities. Clearly communicate the dates by which orders have to be made for them to arrive on time a.k.a. order deadlines. To make sure your customers get the information: Create an order deadlines page and/or add banners to your store. Send an announcement email and schedule reminders. Incorporate deadlines in your marketing copy. Add the deadlines to your social media profiles or cover photos. A short, yet precise order deadlines email by Harry's We usually share Printful holiday order deadlines in October. Keep an eye out for any updates, inform your customers, and always keep them up-to-date. 9. Schedule your campaigns. When: November You've done the work, now it's time to put the plan...

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