The festive season is a boon for ecommerce businesses. Consumers want to avoid long queues and crowded malls at all costs. Since that is a good enough reason for people to switch from brick-and-mortar to online shopping, you just need to remind consumers of this and give them promotions and products they just cannot refuse!

If your ecommerce business is based on selling items suitable for the festive season, then this is your time to go full throttle! Devising a marketing plan during this time will be vital, and implementing the marketing plan effectively will be of highest importance. Even if you don’t sell as much as you hoped you would, your Christmas  promotions can create brand awareness and politely impact your business for months to come.

1. Festive website design

It is a good idea to change your website design for the festive season in order to grab the attention of interested buyers. It’s great to get into the spirit of Christmas, so use the festive season to get your buyers excited. What exactly do you need to do? Redesign your website or make some adjustments to your web pages by adding colour, Christmas designs, icons or images to attract your buyers’ attention. The bright colours and change in web design is also one way of pointing attention to your Christmas specials and promotions.

Don’t only consider the look of your website. You will also need to focus your attention on the usability and navigation. Make it easy for buyers to find items quickly. Also, since it is Christmas, a great tip is to create a Christmas catalogue or a tab on your website dedicated to your Christmas specials and promotions only. Make these Christmas specials easy to find and navigate through.

2. Specials and promotions

Christmas time is ideal for creating specials and promotions. Not only is it a competitive period for all businesses, it is also a busy time where consumers are willing to spend large amounts of money. So why not lure consumers to your website rather than your competitors’? Offer them a deal they can’t refuse!

During the festive season, try to come up with creative promotions like free delivery, huge discounts and possibly free gift wrapping. Go the extra mile for your consumers and ensure they are happy customers who receive the correct items in a reasonable time frame. If you put in extra effort for your customers, they will remember you, sing your praises and return every time.

3. Social media campaign

Plan a social media campaign around the festive season. Decide if you wish to use one particular social media platform or if you would prefer to use several at the same time. Ensure that your campaign successfully combines the festive spirit with the Christmas specials and promotions you wish to advertise. The aim here is to promote your promotions while simultaneously creating social media engagement in order to drive conversation toward your campaign and create brand awareness. A great way to increase engagement is to ask your target audience questions to get the conversation going. Honestly speaking, the most effective way to drive engagement is to create some form of competition or prize give-away. That will get people talking, and fast!

Need ideas? You can use images, video content or social media adverts to push your content. Images are a great way to captivate potential consumers by communicating the core purpose of your message in seconds. Videos are even more powerful, because an average user’s attention span is very short. Videos are also a fun and straightforward way to communicate a message in a few seconds.

Email marketing is an effective and affordable method of communicating your Christmas specials quickly and efficiently. Create eye catching subject lines to entice viewers to open your emails.

4. Follow up

 The festive season allows you to attract a large amount of new customers through strong marketing. It is always important to  remember to follow up with new and existing customers to ensure they are happy with the item they bought as well as the  purchasing process. This step is important to build relationships with customers and retain them for future. Follow up with customers  as this can help you build relationships with your customers as well as establish customer loyalty.

5. Gift cards and vouchers

Many shoppers dread the festive season and postpone shopping for as long as they possibly can. Research shows that shoppers land up purchasing last-minute gifts because they were either undecided or forgetful. This is when a gift card comes in handy, which is why you should consider including this as an option in your ecommerce business. Do you want to know the best part about including this as a feature on your site? Gift cards are suitable all year round and are quite a popular gift option for birthdays or any other special occasions.

Have a bountiful festive business season selling online!