The Holiday Season is coming and your brand better be ready, as sales are expected to surpass the trillion (yeah, we said it, A TRILLION DOLLARS) on holiday shopping. But let us not forget that online shoppers have become more responsible and strategic when buying- they always want to get the best price and the competition is getting harder and harder everyday, which means your holiday sales strategy should begin waaaay before Christmas time.
With the biggest single moments for shopping on the horizon (Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas), you better brace yourself and start doing some research pronto. If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed, don’t worry. We love numbers and we’re ready to share some knowledge with you.
A study by Collective Bias showed that 70% of millennial consumers are influenced by the recommendations of their peers in buying decisions and 30% of consumers are more likely to buy a product recommended by a non-celebrity blogger.
According to Kim Westwood, Founder and Managing Director of Shopping Links, a recent survey of 2,000 shoppers showed that 31.7% visit social websites more than once a day during the holiday season, specifically to browse for gift ideas. A separate survey showed that 61% of shoppers use Facebook as their first source of holiday inspiration. She also gambles on these 4 strategies for holiday sales using influencers to showcase brands and products for any type of customer:
Showcase specific products.
Inspire action with time-sensitive sales.
Create a story, not an ad.
Track your results.
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“The upcoming holidays are the best opportunity to open and increase your level of brand awareness.”
Photo courtesy of Noelle Downing (@noelledowning)
But how can your brand measure the ROI other than through the branding strategy with any influencer? Don’t worry, we got you covered. There are many types of strategies you could use with your influencer. You can:
Create a promo code per influencer to have control and know how heavy their impact is with their communities and audiences.
Have giveaways for brand awareness and combine it with purchase codes.
Promote live sessions to create stories and conversations. You know, that organic feeling that any other fake review doesn’t have. Stories matter to customers, because they are certainly expecting lots of advertisement on lots of products.
Still not buying these ideas? We got more research for you. You can see some results from actual previous holiday campaigns. Elliot Moore, from Ad Roll Group, created a really great piece you might want to check out. As you read on the article, you’ll notice that some BIG brands relied heavily on influencers and micro-influencers for their strategies.
But no matter how big or small you’d like to go with your strategy, keep these tips in mind for you to make it a bit easy on creating and planning ahead for the upcoming sales, because like we said, you should already be planning your strategy, if not planned already.
Start with a plan
Outline your promotional dates & platforms
Get creative
Provide a brand experience.
Build a relationship.
The upcoming holidays are the best opportunity to open and increase your level of brand awareness. What better way to expand your business than through happy customer experiences and happy relations and recommendations. Social media is a platform for inspiration, upcoming ideas, product recommendations, product experiences and general opinions.
Overwhelmed? Don’t worry, there’s still time for you to plan. G&B offers advice on planning and getting the right influencer for your brand. Don’t be shy, check out our website and send us some questions if you have them, we’re here to assist you in the most effective way.