By Jessica Wong
The expression “Christmas in July” is more than just a throwaway remark when it comes to getting ready for a successful ecommerce holiday season. While July has come and gone, early preparation remains key to outstanding holiday sales.
Brick-and-mortar businesses may be dusting off holiday decorations and changing playlists, but online businesses need to look for different strategies. The good news is online shopping has grown in popularity over the past decade or so, and the growth became exponential throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Insider Intelligence’s U.S. Ecommerce Forecast sees digital sales growing by nearly 18 percent in 2021 compared to 2020. Brick-and-mortar retail is also predicted to grow, but only by approximately 6 percent. The forecasters believe that the growth will continue after the pandemic subsides as it is likely to be a permanent shift in consumer behavior.
“To Maximize Potential Sales, They Need to Be as Targeted as Possible”
As ecommerce is growing, it is likely that more retailers enter the field. The holiday season and sales running up to the holidays are a particularly important time for businesses to maximize sales. Standing out from the crowd will depend on a well-considered digital marketing strategy combining social media, content marketing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click, email, and influencer marketing.
Social-media sales are set to increase by more than 35 percent this year to more than $36 billion. Ecommerce retailers cannot afford to bypass this channel. However, it is important to understand your target market and which social media outlet it’s using. Even if your market spans both Facebook and Instagram, it is unlikely that the same messages will work across both channels.
To maximize potential sales, they need to be as targeted as possible. While this may seem like a labor-intensive and costly way to set up a campaign, it will pay dividends for retailers.
Social media marketing often goes hand in hand with influencer marketing. The concept is simple: Your company partners with well-connected individuals or businesses (so-called influencers) that have a large following among your target market. These influencers test, endorse and talk about your products or services, and word spreads. Influencer marketing works best when it is based on genuine endorsements over a period of time rather than as a one-off activity.
