Once again, it’s that time of the year when shoppers are locked into buying mode. Is your online store prepared to capitalize on the seasonal shopping frenzy and attract more holiday shoppers?
To drive more holiday revenue, give yourself the gift of data. We’re willing to bet that you have a goldmine of information that can be leveraged to win more customers and drive up sales. Here are a few simple ways you can start maximizing your online data and stay ahead of this season’s competition.
Dig Into Your Traffic Sources
As an eCommerce retailer, it’s helpful to know where your online traffic is coming from and how it impacts your conversion rates. If you aren’t monitoring your traffic sources, you could be wasting precious ad spend—which, as you probably know, is more expensive during the holidays!
These days, it’s not enough to know which platforms and channels are giving you the most traffic. A savvy eCommerce store also needs to know which links are being clicked on in their email campaigns and which social media ads are providing the best return-on-ad-spend (ROAS).
You can track this with a standard web analytics solution, such as Google Analytics or through a more robust marketing automation platform. The more you know about your online traffic sources, the more wisely you can allocate your time and marketing budget to attract more holiday shoppers.
Take an Omnichannel Approach
Customers expect their experiences with your brand to remain consistent, whether they are shopping online or in a physical store. In fact, more than half of shoppers say that it’s important for brands to deliver a consistent and personalized shopping experience across platforms and devices.
To attract more holiday shoppers this year, use your marketing tools to track your leads on every channel and capture data at every touchpoint. Want to really impress them? Take the additional set to respond in real-time with a customized message based on their recent shopping behavior.
For example, you can easily do this by setting up triggered emails — which is an essential channel for omnichannel retailers during the holidays. Not only can you send subscribers a personalized holiday message, you can use them to drive sales when shoppers are in full “buy mode” this time of year.
Use Dynamic Ads to Drive Conversions
Ready to take personalization to a new level? Set up dynamic ads and turn passive online visitors into highly engaged buyers this holiday season. Dynamic ads automatically promote your products to people who have already expressed interest in them, making them highly relevant to users. According to AdRoll, dynamic ads have a two time higher click-through rate and a 50 percent lower cost per acquisition (CPA) than static ads.
This year, leverage dynamic ads for Facebook and Instagram by targeting holiday shoppers who have engaged with your Black Friday and Cyber Monday content. These ads not only target interested buyers but provide an opportunity to feature your products in a mobile-friendly carousel ad format.
Find New Customers With Lookalike Audiences
Using Facebook’s Lookalike Audiences feature is an effective way to boost holiday sales by targeting seasonal shoppers who resemble your existing customers. Best of all, you can create lookalike audiences based on your most valuable customers.
For example, you can create Facebook ads that target those who resemble your biggest spending customers and narrow down your audience even more by targeting them based location, demographics and interests. This allows you to optimize your ads for those most likely to convert, keeping ad spend low and your ROI high.
Re-Engage Lapsed Customers
Don’t forget about past shoppers. With the right tools in place, you can dive into your online data to identify customers who purchased from your store last year. A simple reminder of your brand may be all you need to inspire another purchase this holiday season.
Use past purchase data to segment customers who haven’t converted in the last six to twelve months and re-engage them by sending exclusive holiday offers. Give your offers an end date to create a sense of urgency and encourage inactive customers to take action now.
Image via Woolly Threads.
Final Thoughts
Aside from customer loyalty, data is your eCommerce store’s most valuable asset. If you aren’t taking advantage of the mountain of data at your fingertips, you are leaving money on the table for your competition.
Hopefully, we’ve given you some helpful tips on how to start making smarter use of your data today. For more pointers on how to make this holiday season even merrier, check out our free online holiday resources for online retailers.
