It’s never too early to start planning your digital marketing campaign as we approach the holiday shopping season. It’s important to have the right marketing strategy so that your business can see a boost in engagement and the all-important increase in sales.

Online sales are thought to make up more than 50% of the holiday shopping sales numbers. This number is expected to significantly increase with each year. There are some important steps that you can take in order to ensure that your business is poised to take on the holiday shopping and spending season without hesitation.

The very first steps

As with any marketing strategy, you will need to first outline the goals that your business will have for the upcoming holiday season. What can your business do to ensure that this upcoming shopping season is better than last years? What steps can your business take in order to boost traffic to your website, see better conversions and complete the sales?

Give some thought to the areas where your business can see an improvement this holiday season, and direct your digital marketing campaigns towards raising that weak spot in your business.

Give some thought to what marketing strategies you engaged during the last holiday shopping season. What worked? What didn’t work? What kind of numbers did you see? By taking an assessment of what steps you’ve taken in the past, you’ll be able to define the strategies that you should incorporate into this season’s marketing plan, as well as which strategies should be put aside this year.

Digital marketing tools on hand

According to the marketing professionals at Azuri Group digital agency, you can’t overlook the importance of having an intuitive and visually appealing website. Interactive and witty social media engagement, combined with an easy to navigate information-packed website, can be the cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy.

There are a number factors that go into a successful digital marketing strategy, and none of them should be neglected during the all-important holiday season. Keep in mind that these are each fundamental parts of your overall brand. Before you get completely swept up in the chaos of the holidays, perfecting these fundamentals should be placed as your priority.

• Upgrade your website. A visually engaging website with an intuitive navigation is just the start of a quality user experience. Give some thought to who is browsing your site and what they might be looking for. Don’t forget to add a bit of holiday cheer to your homepage when the holiday season approaches. A shift in the tone to the website can grab the attention of your website visitors and get them excited about any holiday specials that you may be offering.
• Take the time to set up your content calendar and multi channel marketing well in advance of the approaching holiday season. This gives you ample opportunity plan and ensure that you are producing posts that are going to be effective and perform the way that you need them to. Be sure to reflect the holiday season spirit in your content.
• Keep your social media content reflecting a cohesive brand voice to help with the promotion of brand reliability. Your social media accounts should be seen to be at their busiest during the holidays, promoting those holiday-exclusive deals and sales to boost customer traffic to your website.

The importance of the holiday season, to your business marketing

The importance of digital marketing is often overlooked. There is a misguided idea that the holiday season has an impact on retail businesses solely. The truth is that research has demonstrated that many consumers actively seek out deals on products and services that they may have been holding off on investing in.

Even a bundled deal on services or discounts of just 10% off can be highly appealing to a consumer. By going through your customer data, you can determine which of your products or services are the most popular and consider which ones would best benefit your business and holiday goals if you were to offer a discount.

Also consider that some customers often do last-minute shopping for things like gift vouchers that can be picked up quickly. Make sure that your customers feel comfortable with the spending by pushing out exclusive holiday-only sales as the holidays creep up closer. Focusing on the limited time availability can help to see a boost in sales.

Be aware of when your competitors start to promote their own business and sales. If you understand the importance of digital marketing around the holidays, and if you can leap ahead of them or match their promotional pace, you’ll be in a good position to see a boost in your own holiday numbers.