RevLocal is revving up to help our clients and every small business succeed in the 2021 holiday shopping world.
Read on to power-up your holiday shopping season marketing strategy.
2020 brought an influx of online shopping due to the pandemic and business closures. Experts expect this trend to continue in 2021. However, shoppers’ expectations for their online shopping experience, and in-store experience, are going to be higher than ever. It’s essential to prepare your business to meet the ever-climbing standards of your current customers and to “wow” new customers! Your digital marketing might just be the thing that helps your business stand out from the competition and cut through the holiday noise.
First, here are the important 2021 holiday shopping dates your business needs to be ready for:
- November 25th - Thanksgiving
- November 26th - Black Friday
- November 27th - Small Business Saturday
- November 29th - Cyber Monday
- December 24th - Christmas
- January 1st - New Years
Give Your Website a User-Experience and Holiday Makeover!
Having a seamless online customer shopping experience is a must during the holidays. Your website should be easy to navigate, have eye-catching designs, and offer a safe and secure checkout.
- Pro-tip: you might know that your checkout system is secure, but do your potential buyers? Advertise on your site that you have a safe and secure system to encourage purchases and lower cart abandonments.
Outfitting your website for the holiday season isn’t just about posting candy cane and Santa pictures (but please include those). As you spruce up your website’s look, make sure that your server can handle an increase of traffic and the content is up-to-date with promotions and any new product reviews!
Promote Those Promotions
Run promotions to encourage customers to spend more and save more! You can use a combo of social media contests, online or in-store only savings, free shipping, and more. Consumers expect sales, discounts, and savings bundles around the holidays. If your business doesn’t have these, you risk being looked over! Do some research on what your competitors are doing and improve on it! Check out this episode of our Marketing Revelations Podcast to get started.
Give a Resource, Get an Email
Share a free resource to help build your email database and encourage connection to your brand. Think holiday gift ideas, a list of other local businesses, holiday events in the area, and holiday meal and baking recipes! Require the user's name and email for the download so that you’ll have a way to stay in touch after the holiday season is over. If you nail this shopping season, you’ll have more emails and more potential to create loyal customers throughout the year. Here’s an example of a helpful resource from RevLocal.
Count On Less In-Store Customers, but Don’t Forget About Them
Especially if your business is low on staff, consider pushing curbside pickup or utilizing a third party shipping service to meet demand and ease up the need for resources in-store. For those who do choose to shop in-store, make sure their experience is memorable and worth it!
Create Shareable Social Media Content to Get Free, Organic Advertising
Create a memorable video for social media that your followers will want to share and promote. Bonus points if you attach a promotion to the video and make it quick & easy for users to visit your website and make a purchase. Think of it as free advertising!
We believe that you and your business have what it takes to flourish during the holidays. Sometimes, the best move is to partner with a trusted digital marketing agency so you have no doubt that your marketing is working its hardest for your business. To learn more about RevLocal’s services, check out these resources.
Call for a free consultation with one of our experts to learn more about our digital marketing plans!