While the holidays are a time for peace and relaxation, in theory, they’re becoming well known as one of the most hectic times of the year for consumers and businesses alike. Fortunately, consumer-first channels like text messaging are making it easy for businesses to communicate and engage with shoppers during the holiday season without overwhelming them or spamming them with unnecessary content.
Understanding consumer needs and sentiment during the holiday season is important for B2C businesses because, contrary to popular belief, it is actually possible to find new leads and attract new customers during this time of the year – if marketers are smart with their content.
Here are a few top marketing tips that will help your team bring in new customers, close more deals, and have a successful, customer-first holiday season.
The holiday shopping season is all about promotional content from businesses and this isn’t going to change any time soon. What can change, however, is how companies decide what and how to share these deals with shoppers. The secret, of course, is analytics. Look back at your most popular products and orders and determine the buying audience for these items. Then, when you’re texting out promotional codes or announcements, tailor your promotions to specific buying audiences to drive even more sales.
When modern consumers are looking for a new business to buy from, they are going to do plenty of research (especially if this is a big-ticket item like a new car or power tool). One of the first places this research starts is on social media and online review sites. Consumers are now more likely to look at online reviews than previous generations, which means businesses can proactively target these new shoppers by putting their top reviews in front of more people. If you receive a winning 5-star review, share it on social media! Just don’t forget to include a link back to your website where followers can do some shopping of their own.
So much of today’s holiday B2C communication now comes in the form of mass email blasts or salesy cold calls – two of the least personal communication channels out there. Inspired B2C companies can deliver a consumer-first shopping experience by leveraging personalized content and text message marketing. Using consumers’ names, asking their opinion on recent orders, and sharing content that is relevant to their past shopping experiences are all ways your team can personalize the holiday shopping experience for consumers.
It’s okay to want to build long-term, personal relationships with your top customers, and text messaging allows businesses to do just this. Instead of having to communicate with an informal, almost robotic voice call system, texting allows for a two-way, back-and-forth conversation between a shopper and a real person. Businesses can even leverage other digital channels like Facebook Messenger and AI-powered chatbots to stay connected to customer needs no matter where they are.
You can learn more about texting consumers here. Happy Holidays from Kenect!