Preparing Your Digital Marketing Plan for the Holiday Season

Before we know it the aromas of Thanksgiving feasts will be filling homes and businesses, and that means that it’s time to start getting ready for the holiday season when it comes to your business’s strategies. The holiday season is a critical time for businesses, as it presents a unique opportunity to boost sales, increase brand visibility, and connect with customers on a deeper level. With the rise of digital marketing channels, businesses can leverage the power of technology to reach a wider audience and maximize their holiday season success. In this article, we are going to explore some of the essential steps for preparing your digital marketing plan for the upcoming holiday season to ensure you make the most of this time of the year.

Understanding Digital Marketing and its Importance

We have reviewed before what digital marketing is and why it’s important to incorporate it into your marketing plans, but we wanted to provide a quick refresher before unwrapping its importance for the holiday season.

Digital marketing, also called online marketing, involves the promotion of products or brands via one or more form of electronic media. Advertising mediums that might be used for digital marketing include websites, banner ads, social media, mobile devices, search engines, online video, electronic billboards, and other similar channels. This form of advertising typically cost less than other marketing forms, allows for a wider reach, has more ways to measure the success, can be tailored to the demographics of your specific ideal audience, and more.

The National Retail Federation said that in 2022, 196.7 million U.S. consumers shopped in-store and online between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, up 17 million from the year prior. Per GlobalData’s report, consumer holiday-related spending rose around 7% compared to 2021. This is the time of the year where more and more people are spending, and doing a lot of that based on what they see online. When it comes to preparing your digital marketing plan for the holiday season, it isn’t just a nice to have, it’s something that all small and medium sized businesses need to have, to be able to ensure they are a part of the holiday rush.

Preparing Your Digital Marketing Plan for the Holiday Season

Adults in the U.S. spend an average of around 8 hours or more with digital media each day (Statista). Meaning, if you haven’t started your holiday planning yet, it’s time to get planning. A huge chunk of consumers are already starting to do research for the holiday season, and you want to be at the front of their minds, that means being where they spend most of their time; online. Below we review some tips for preparing your digital marketing plan for the holiday season.

  1. Get Started Now: It’s November, so if I you are just getting started on your holiday marketing strategy, you are already a tad behind, but that’s okay, there is still time. Typically, we recommend setting your holiday marketing goals by September. These goals include, determining what you want to achieve during the holiday season. Is it to increase website traffic, generate more leads, drive sales, or enhance brand awareness?
  2. Define Your Target Audience: We have said time and time again how important knowing who your ideal customer is and how to properly target that audience can make all the difference in your marketing efforts. This is especially true when it comes to preparing your digital marketing plan for the holiday season. Are you trying to reach new customers this season? Are your customers in the same places they normally are? What drives their holiday purchasing decisions?
  3. Optimize Your Website: Another thing we mention a lot is about how valuable an optimized website is to converting viewers into customers. A user-friendly and visually appealing website is crucial for capturing and converting holiday season traffic. Optimize your website for speed, responsiveness, and mobile compatibility. Ensure you include all the important things people need to know on your website, make sure it is mobile ready, have a good understanding of how much traffic your website may get and be sure you are ready for it, and so much more. Check out some of our other website tips here.
  4. Use Creative Content: Engaging and relevant content plays a pivotal role in attracting and retaining customers during the holiday season and beyond. With the growth of online shopping and users over the holiday season, you want to catch as many people’s attention as you can. This is the perfect time of the year to draw in new customers. Adding a content strategy element to your holiday marketing plans can gain big rewards, especially if you keep search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. This optimized content will help drive organic traffic to your website as customers search for products that you sell and should keep people talking about your brand.
  5. Keep Things Social: With over 4 billion active social media users worldwide, accounting for around 60% of the total global population, social media platforms provide a massive audience for your business to connect with your customers, increase brand awareness, generate more leads, and amplify your holiday marketing efforts. The holidays are a time to tap into people’s emotions and really connect with them, and social media provides one of the best platforms for you to be able to do so.

Preparing your digital marketing plan for the holiday season is a crucial step towards capitalizing on the great opportunities this festive period brings. While there are other things you can do to get your marketing plan ready for the holiday season, being as it’s already November, the above are what we believe to be the most important and what you likely still have time to plan for. Water Bear Marketing can help you navigate the complexities of holiday marketing and achieve remarkable results.

Don’t let the holiday season pass you by. We are experts in getting your business more business by Advertising with Intelligence®. Contact us today for a free advertising consultation.

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