The Christmas period can make or break many businesses, especially in the retail industry, due to the competition between brands and the all-important profit margin growth throughout the busiest months of the year that can determine the success of your business that year. With so much to think about around the festive period, maximising sales is at the forefront of any business owners mind, so it is crucial to utilise your team’s skills and not be scared to take risks to beat the competition.
Take advantage of your social platforms
Social media is the best way for free or low-cost marketing and increasing the chance of sales. Platforms such as Instagram and Facebook are brilliant, visual ways to gain followers, customers and to spread your overall message via hashtags, likes, comments and recommendations. Many brands have attributed their growth and success to social media and have continued to grow through the utilisation of growing social platforms. It is possible to increase sales by social branding and marketing alone with high quality images and engaging content.
Make your website accessible
In June 2019, the Office of National Statistics found that ecommerce has continued to steadily grow, with the online share of overall retail sales in the UK currently at 16% rising from 9% in 2012, showing that a brand’s website has a huge part to play in the profit and success of a business and is continuing to become an increasingly popular way to shop for consumers.
However, this same research shows that 61% of people abandon their shopping at the checkout due to website errors, which highlights just how important a clear and accessible website is to the everyday shopper. For example, if a potential buyer searched for wholesale clothing by BGirl Fashion, they would expect a simple checkout process in order to meet the high standards that other fashion brands have implemented on their site to make it as convenient as possible to increase the chance of them returning and recommending the brand.
Push adventurous marketing strategies
Each year around the holiday season there are many brilliant and clever marketing adverts and campaigns, such as John Lewis’ 2016 #BusterTheBoxer campaign and Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot winning hearts and consumers. Ensure that your campaign is engaging your target audience by making it personal and emotive on a one-to-one marketing level to keep up with the fantastic seasonal campaigns that are created each year. The main aim for any brand is to make their customers feel strongly about the content they have seen, which will in turn make them spread your message via social media and word of mouth.
Make customers come back for more
Returning and loyal customers play a huge part in the success of a brand, particularly over Christmas due to much online traffic being generated from people who have already tried and tested products from previous purchases. Hard work through a thorough marketing strategy can only take a business so far if the quality of what you’re selling isn’t high quality. If customers are disappointed with a product, they’re more likely to purchase from a competitor and leave negative feedback on your social platforms. This can result in a negative brand image which can take seconds to create but much longer to recover from.
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