Getsitecontrol Insider

11 Christmas Promo Ideas for Your Online Store

November 12, 2020 Getsitecontrol Episode 24
Getsitecontrol Insider
11 Christmas Promo Ideas for Your Online Store
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Need a few last-minute Christmas promotion ideas for your online store?
We've got you covered!

In this episode, we talk about proven ways to increase your revenue and customer loyalty during the holiday season. Gift guides, holiday-themed quizzes, 12 Days of Christmas campaigns, and more - get ready to walk away with at least one idea for your ecommerce business.

Stay tuned! Ho ho ho.

P.S. Prefer reading the text version? We've covered Christmas promotion ideas on our blog, too!

Create beautiful email signup forms, coupon boxes, and pop-up surveys for your store with Getsitecontrol.

Hi,

You’re listening to Getsitecontrol Insider, a podcast where we share tips and tricks for growing ecommerce stores.

In this episode, we’ll discuss 11 Christmas promotion ideas to help you make more sales and increase customer loyalty.

If you run an ecommerce store, it’s never too early to start planning for the holiday season!

While that may have elicited some groans from some of you, remember that the earlier you start planning, the more prepared you will be when it’s time to launch seasonal promotions.

Not sure how to make the most of the holiday season?

We’ve prepared a few last-minutes ideas to help you out!

Number 1. Create a fun gift guide

Ever went online to buy a gift and just couldn’t pick anything due to the mountain of choices?

Your customers are probably experiencing this, too!

Customers around the holidays will either be overwhelmed with options, or unsure of what to purchase for their loved ones.

In both cases, gift guides are a great way to inspire them. Gift guides will help your customers to avoid the dreaded analysis paralysis.

When you create a gift guide, you have two ways to deliver it:

  1. Publish the guide directly in a blog post or on a web page, or
  2. Turn the gift guide into a lead magnet so you can offer it in exchange for your customers’ emails 

Which option is better? It depends on your goals.

If you publish the gift guide directly on your blog, more people will access it, meaning that more customers are likely to use it as inspiration to make purchases.

On the other hand, using the guide as an opt-in incentive will allow you to nurture these subscribers via email.

Number 2. Bundle gift products together

Many of your customers will be busy during the holidays. 

Every decision takes mental energy, and when there is so much to do around this period, they’ll be happy to offload some of these decisions.

When you create gift bundles available during the holidays, you’re offering a win-win situation!

Bundles benefit you because you will sell more than a single product. Your customer benefits because they have one less decision to make. Instead of having to curate their own bundles for a loved one, they can choose from existing bundles and skip the curation.

And if the price of the bundle is cheaper than buying everything separately – your customers will also benefit by saving money.

While you may not have as high of a profit margin on gift bundles, you’ll be more likely to sell more of them – another win for you!

Number 3. Offer free shipping and returns

To obtain gifts for all their loved ones, your customers will most likely need to source products from several places.

This means shipping fees can quickly add up!

Increase the chances of converting holiday shoppers by offering free shipping during the holiday season – if you don’t offer free shipping already. If your online visitors have a choice between a similar store that offers free shipping while yours doesn’t, they’re likely to pick the option with free shipping, so don’t let your competition get the edge here.

Consider offering free returns, too! Your customers may worry about whether a certain product is a good idea for their loved one: What color should they pick? Will they even like this gift?

And the more they worry, the less likely they are to buy. So just remove the risk factor from their purchase by allowing them to return or exchange the item for free!

Number 4. Create a holiday-themed quiz

Quizzes are an amazing way to grow your email list and generate more leads on your website. 

Just like gift guides and gift bundles, holiday quizzes can also help reduce analysis paralysis.

How?

Depending on the results your visitors get, you can curate relevant gift ideas directly on their results page or via email. 

And because this curation is based on information your visitors gave you, they will be much more relevant than a general gift guide suited for everyone.

The more relevant the curation, the more likely your quiz takers are to convert into paying customers.

Plus, a holiday-themed quiz will help your visitors get into the spirit of the times and make their experience on your website more enjoyable.

You can even add questions in your quiz that are for entertainment purposes only and that aren’t necessarily used to calculate the results. 

For instance, asking your visitors what holiday song they can’t resist breaking out into dance when they hear won’t necessarily tell you much about their purchasing habits, but it will add a fun element to the quiz.

Number 5. Run a holiday contest or giveaway

You can run contests and giveaways all year, of course. But make sure you give yourself the bandwidth to run holiday-themed contests and giveaways especially during this time of the year.

To complete their holiday shopping on budget, your visitors are likely to be interested in entering contests and giveaways.

Plus, this is the season for gift-giving, so why not take advantage of this time to cultivate more loyalty from your customers by running a giveaway?

In addition to running a traditional giveaway, consider adding a small gift for each purchase that surpasses a certain price threshold. Just make sure the production cost of the gift is in line with the price threshold you choose so that you don’t cut into your profits too much.

Number 6. Promote gift cards

While promoting specific products and gift ideas will help you increase your sales during the holidays, remember that many shoppers are looking for more simplicity.

Sometimes shoppers just won’t know what to get for their loved ones, even if you help guide them with gift bundles and guides.

If you decide to go this route, just make sure that you let your audience know that your gift cards are an option, too.

Number 7. Run a “12 Days of Christmas” promo

“12 Days of Christmas” is a popular promo idea that adds some variety to holiday ecommerce marketing.

During this type of promotion, each of the 12 days will typically focus on promoting one discounted item every single day.

But this type of promotion does more than mixing things up for your visitors – it adds an element of scarcity to your holiday marketing efforts.

That’s because each item is discounted for only 24 hours. So if your visitors are interested in your discount of the day, they know they have to purchase on that day if they want to take advantage of this promotion.

Keep in mind that you can do more than offer a different discounted item on each day. You can also announce a new limited-edition item, perform a surprise giveaway, offer double the loyalty points for purchases, and run a BOGO promotion.

Number 8. Create holiday-themed packaging 

Your packaging says a lot about your brand – and for some consumers, a difference in packaging can be just as important as the quality of your products.

7 out of 10 shoppers claim that product packaging has an influence on their purchase decisions.

This is especially true when influencers purchase your products to unbox them on social media, because many viewers will see your packaging without even needing to make a purchase themselves.

On top of that, gift-like packaging makes 40% of shoppers more likely to make repeat purchases with your brand.

So, what’s the point here? If you have the resources to offer holiday-only packaging, you should do so. This won’t just help you make more sales this year – it will impact what your customers think about your brand and may help increase your sales for the year to come.

Number 9. Update your website to create a holiday theme

Whether you update your header, change up your featured images, or edit the color of your buttons, creating a holiday theme on your website is a fun way to get your customers in the mood for gift-shopping.

Keep in mind that this doesn’t have to be a complete overhaul in which you spend thousands of dollars on development and design.

Something as simple as adding a short script to your website to create a falling snowflake effect can be enough to add a fun, festive feel to your brand.

Number 10. Run a Christmas-themed ad campaign

Does your ecommerce brand have a paid advertising budget?

If you’re running pay-per-click campaigns on search engines, you should start targeting keywords that will typically be used during the holiday season instead of relying on your usual keywords.

If you keep your existing PPC campaigns as is, you’ll likely see a decline in results as people are shifting their search behaviors in preparation for holiday shopping.

Additionally, you can run social media ad campaigns to attract new audience to your holiday promotions. For instance, if you’re running the previously mentioned 12 Days of Christmas promotion, you can expand its impact using Facebook ads.

Keep in mind that if you are brand new to Facebook ads, now may not be the time to start. It takes time to begin seeing results from this type of advertising as you accumulate data on which audiences respond best to your ads – and if you don’t have this data yet, it will be difficult for you to get a positive return on ad spend during a short-term promotion.

Number 11. Partner with a charity foundation

There is no doubt that making sales is important. But contributing to helping make other people’s holiday season a little better can be just as important.

The customers who spend the most on your products will most likely be the ones who can afford it – and many of them will be looking for ways to give back.

By partnering with a charity foundation, you’ll help attract those types of customers your way, meaning you can increase your sales AND make a positive impact – another win-win!

The type of charity you choose should depend on your brand’s values, as well as what your audience values most. For example, if you have a smaller brand with most of your customers coming from a local group, consider partnering with a local foundation instead of something more global.

By now you should have a few ideas brewing in your mind. 

Remember that you don’t have to run all of these promotions in order to succeed. Pick the ones that make the most sense for your brand, as well as what your audience is looking for. 

And if you run a smaller ecommerce brand, choose the promotions that will be easiest for you to implement while giving you more bang for your buck.

This is it for the episode,

Thank you for listening,

Until next time!

1. Create a fun gift guide
2. Bundle gift products together
3. Offer free shipping and returns
4. Create a holiday-themed quiz
5. Run a holiday contest or giveaway
6. Promote gift cards
7. Run a “12 Days of Christmas” promo
8. Create holiday-themed packaging
9. Update your website to create a holiday theme
10. Run a Christmas-themed ad campaign
11. Partner with a charity foundation