When is the Best Time to Start Holiday Marketing Online – read here!

When is the Best Time to Start Holiday Marketing Online – read here!

Going out into retail this past Halloween, you may have noticed a lot of Canadian retail stores had already switched their Halloween decorations out in favor of holiday decorations. Even more surprising, there’s a lot of shoppers enjoying the early holiday shopping and already doing some of their Christmas décor shopping. That says a lot about how lucrative the holidays are. Is it time for your brand to start holiday marketing online – hold on because the answer varies.

The holidays are a wonderful time of year. Very festive and family-friendly, for corporate marketing and small business owners, it’s a time for gift guides, holiday displays, and massive sales. The optimum time to start marketing the holidays though is unclear. Beginning too early can actually turn off shoppers. Getting on it too late means you’re losing out on the financial rewards. All this in mind, knowing where the balance is comes from experience.

If this isn’t your first year in business, you’re fortunate. You have data to look at that may show when the right time to holiday market is. If this is your first year, it could be a little trickier. All small businesses with brick-and-mortar should be prepared to launch holiday marketing efforts in the first week of November. November is filled with Christmas and Santa Claus parades, and is the start on the long road towards December 25. Introduce consumers to the holiday season and warm them up to your holiday marketing slowly by getting out your holiday products in-store.

November-based holiday marketing must come with considerations of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, both falling on days towards the end of the month. Towards these sales days, some brands may hope to target these first with a slight slant towards the post-November holiday shopping season. Holiday marketing has three components – getting inventory out on the sales floor and/or prepped in storage, the release of general holiday marketing materials that invite shoppers to purchase from your brand, and last-minute deals released the closer you get to Christmas day or a post-holiday shopping deal to help clear out some of that left-over inventory.

If you’ve never done holiday marketing before, you may want to speak with a digital marketing agency specializing in aspects of eCommerce, social media, email marketing, and video. An experienced agency can help in targeting your budget and ensuring a smooth, successful holiday season. For example, holiday marketing materials should be customized with unique copywriting and graphics. Remember it takes spending money to make money. So plan your budget accordingly. Furthermore, across direct-to-consumer email marketing, social media offers, or SEO-friendly landing pages, test everything. Use analytics software to gauge whether strategies are working or not. If you’re not getting the results you want, you can always pivot to something new.

Some more tips for holiday marketing include minimizing customer acquisition costs, making custom graphics that reflect your audience, personalizing holiday marketing messaging to your target demographics, and taking risks to keep up with the competition.

Jump into holiday marketing today with Unlimited Exposure, an experienced agency specializing in digital marketing, eCommerce, SEO, social media, and email-based holiday marketing strategies. The holidays are a truly fierce time of year. Don’t let it slip away without a concrete plan on how to succeed. Join Unlimited Exposure and see huge results this holiday season!