Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Small Business Saturday. Green Tuesday.
There is no shortage of sales events for online retailers this holiday season.
Some retailers have even had success starting their own unique events. Even if you aren’t starting your big sales event for the next few weeks, you should have a solid idea now of what it will look like and a clear strategy to make sure everything goes smoothly.
To help you, we've put together this ecommerce marketing holiday checklist that we hope will help you plan for success.
At the most basic level, you and your team should have a shared calendar that communicates the timeline around your holiday planning.
One of the most common mistakes made by ecommerce businesses is forgetting to mention the exact start and end time for a promotion – including the time zone. Make sure it’s clear in your communication to customers.
Set the dates and times for:
☐ When your sales events begin and end
☐ Sending campaign e-mails or newsletters
☐ Publishing social media posts
☐ Sending out print marketing
☐ When your sales event’s PPC ad campaign starts and ends
☐ Releasing new pricing on your product feeds
☐ Reverting to old pricing on your product feeds
☐ When free shipping promotions begin and end
☐ Shipping deadlines (USPS, FedEx, UPS)
Start by taking time to reflect on last year’s big sales event. What worked for your business? What worked for your competitors? What changes can you make to improve your marketing strategy this year? Then you can begin to implement this year’s marketing plan.
Make sure your marketing strategy is in overdrive:
☐ Audit and segment your email list
☐ Do an inventory of marketing channels
☐ Reflect on last year’s performance
☐ Verify tracking pixels, set up relevant analytics systems (Facebook, Pinterest, Google)
☐ Optimize website SEO for the holiday season
☐ Optimize your product feeds
☐ Revise PPC ads to include holiday deals
☐ Set up retargeting campaigns wherever possible
☐ Adjust ad spend accordingly
☐ Create newsletter or email blast content
☐ Create and schedule social media content
☐ Create transactional email content (empty cart emails, thank you, follow-up emails, etc.)
☐ Create graphic assets (website banners, hero images, print materials, etc.)
☐ Send pitches to blogs and gift guides
☐ Secure plans for any offline events to promote your sale
☐ Create a product recommendation/holiday gift guide
The sale is going to move fast, and you do not want your staff feeling flustered when the sales come pouring in. Delegate tasks to team members for the holiday season.
Make sure your team is prepped to:
☐ Answer email inquiries
☐ Respond to social media engagement (mentions, comments, etc.)
☐ Help customers through live chat
☐ Keep an eye on competing brands and sales
☐ Collect data and measure your success in real-time
☐ Coordinate holiday return process
☐ Evaluate site security
☐ Handle your merchandising strategy
If there's ever a time to polish up the path your customers have to travel on to get your end goal, it's right now.
Combat cart abandonment and prevent silly frustration by optimizing your customer experience. Take the time to verify that every aspect of your business is ready to handle what's to come.
Confirm the following:
☐ Optimize your checkout page
☐ Optimize landing pages
☐ Make order tracking easy and obvious
☐ Test your site on desktop and mobile
☐ Update your shipping and returns policy
☐ Review shipping and packing best practices with staff
☐ Test your server load capacity at loadimpact.com
☐ Test coupon codes
☐ Verify inventory levels
☐ Consider alternative forms of shipping (just in case)
☐ Make sure buyers are thanked
Planning for what is going to happen is important, but so is planning for what might happen. This means your team will be on the same page if something goes wrong with your business’s technology, partners, or products.
Plan for the following crises:
☐ Shipping problems
☐ Weather issues
☐ Data breach
☐ Website malfunctions
☐ Product or supply shortage
☐ Server crash
Follow these guidelines and check items off as you go to make sure your ecommerce marketing is in order before the holidays.
Good luck and happy holiday sales!
Bryan is a digital marketer with roots in journalism and creative writing. Over the past decade, he's helped hundreds of online retailers develop and implement ecommerce marketing strategies. When he isn't educating retailers on ecommerce, he's out exploring South Florida and stalking local breweries.
Run a free feed audit and see which of your titles are matching queries you'd never choose to bid on.
.avif)