merce marketing in 2019: How to make it a success.

The holiday shopping season and Q4 are fast approaching.

Instead of focusing on holiday SEO strategies or campaigns, which you (hopefully), already have in place, now is the time to think ahead to next season.

1. What we learned last year

Review the campaign wrap-ups from last year to find any missing data.

You’re probably now using Google Analytics 4.. Rethinking your reporting is necessary.

Revisit your past reports. You can report on the entire data set you previously had.

Inform stakeholders of any differences that may have occurred due to the new tracking system.

Not sure where to start with tracking? Attend a future workshop on state tracking.

Create a framework for the report by bringing together your team and estimating the date you will need to submit a report about holiday campaigns. This workshop encourages the exchange of ideas and innovative methods for performance reviews.

These sessions often lead us to think of ways we can test and learn.

2. Use a bigger dataset to test and learn.

During the holidays, I have seen an increase in ecommerce traffic of up to 70%. This increase in activity is a good time to identify data trends and test new ideas.

The tests may be for general improvements or holiday-specific enhancements.

It took me a few days to double the revenue per session for a client during peak season. This would have taken weeks at other times of the year.

The following principles are still important:

• Test only one idea at a given time.
• Keep it simple.
• Ensure the test is robust scientifically.

When I need ideas for testing, I use nudges, or small adjustments, to influence decisions.

Nudges, which are based on the research of Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky can be an excellent source of inspiration for testing, especially if they are aligned to audience insights that match possible customer behavior.

Testing is a valuable tool to help you develop your strategy for 2024, whether they are regular campaigns or ones that focus on sales and holidays.

3. Gamification

The use of gamification in marketing is a tool that fluctuates between popularity and underuse.

Gamification is a great way to understand your audience and learn more about them for future marketing.

Gamification can range from simple games that are fun to more complex ones that hold your audience’s attention for a long time. We once designed a football game for a customer that had an average time spent on site exceeding 30 minutes.

What is the secret? Quiz that is highly relevant, engaging and addictive.

Focus on creating custom games to gain audience insights. For example, a psychographic quiz that is tailored to your brand.

A clothing brand, for example, could create a quiz such as “What Does Your Wardrobe Speak About You?” This guide users through statements that reveal a character linked to popular characters. It provides valuable insights into your target audience.

This is a win-win for both the brand and the user. It must be done well to prevent damaging the brand-user relationships.

You can now create segments based on your quizzes. You can then send personalized emails to each profile, based on the information you have learned.

4. Data capture

Zero-party data has a high value. It is important to find mutually beneficial methods of collecting it from your customers.

Holiday promotions and special deals offer more opportunities to engage with your audience. Ask your customers in advance what they value most. It allows for better content personalization and can lead to higher conversion rates.

Consider using planning tools, games, or quizzes to gather information in advance for your holiday shopping. You can benefit both now and next year.

You can reward customers for providing information by balancing the questions with rewards.

Offer exclusive Black Friday access in exchange for your customer’s preferences. Both your event and customers will benefit from these insights.

Additionally, you can categorize your purchases in order to differentiate between gifts and personal items. It prevents misalignment of marketing, and allows you to collect additional information such as birthdays in exchange for discounted gifts.

To collect zero-party data effectively:

• Ensure mutual benefit.
• Store data for usability.
• Use it and monitor its impact.

5. Digital PR

If executed correctly, digital PR can increase authority for holiday campaigns in ecommerce and the coming year. The key is to prepare and be relevant.

Gift guides, Black Friday/Cyber Sunday deals, and other information will be shared by publications. Analyze last year’s coverage, as well as the visibility of your competitors to ensure your brand is aligned with these opportunities.

Wear both SEO and digital PR hats during planning.

• Don’t waste money on temporary URLs. Create a strategy for your seasonal landing pages. This will keep them active and build anticipation for future campaigns.

Focus on immediate impact as well as the coming year.

You should target publications that you do not already have links from. Look at their previous holiday content to see if your brand could fill any gaps.

Plan ahead for the content of January, because it will arrive quickly and with new opportunities.

When it comes to building links, don’t be afraid to ask for them. A client who had a popular beauty calendar took advantage of this by identifying mentions, and then asking for links.

Planning is the key to a successful Ecommerce marketing campaign

Work backwards from your vision of the future holiday campaign.

Plan your future by learning from the past, and adapting to changes.

Start a Holiday 2024 Planning Document to preserve your valuable ideas. Testing and learning don’t happen at once. The best time to begin testing and learning is now.

The post Ecommerce Marketing Next Year: 5 Ways to Set Up for Success appeared initially on Search Engineland.