Hey, it’s Christmas holiday season again :).
Though it seems the recession is over, consumers are still feeling the pinch.
According to new Yahoo! research, most U.S. consumers surveyed say that they expect to spend less this holiday season.
Based on research, here are five challenges and solutions for making this holiday selling season a success.
Challenge: Some 85 percent of shoppers surveyed say they will spend less this year than they did last year.
Solution: Appeal to conservative shoppers with incentives, coupons, sales, free shipping and other exciting promotions.
Challenge: Holiday shopping starts earlier every year. Back in 2006, consumers generally started their holiday gift searches around September 30. This year they started around August 8—16 weeks before the start of the Christmas season!
Solution: Start your promotions early and get out in front of the competition use branding and performance campaign together.
Challenge: With earlier holiday shopping, holiday seasons tend to overlap—that is, Halloween and Thanksgiving shopping overlaps with the big, end-of-season holidays like Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Years. Note that a good percentage of holiday shoppers are searching for holiday décor.
Solution: Employ an “always on” strategy to reach consumers across overlapping holiday seasons, because shoppers clearly aren’t taking a break between the big days. Just because it’s Halloween, that’s no reason not to promote Thanksgiving, Hanukkah or Christmas. This should be reflected in your keywords and ad copy on major search medium all the time.
Challenge: More and more consumers are looking for coupons and free offers. In fact, the research revealed a 61 percent year over year increase in searches for free offers and coupons.
Solution: Make it easy for consumers to find out about your deals on the website. Your keywords and ad copy should include your special offers.
Challenge: Interest in free shipping increases as shipping deadlines get closer.
Solution: Remember your customers at the end of the transaction, not just at the beginning. Make their searches easier by adding keywords and ad copy that reflects your intention to offer free or discounted shipping.
Cheers
Labels: christmas season, online advertiser