12 of the best digital marketing strategies for boosting your sales

During Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, Easter or New Year big sales moments of your (e-)shop, “drops” and limited-time offers are proven marketing strategies. Getting a head start on communicating discounts, promotions, and events to your audiences is key to building anticipation and maximizing engagement throughout your e-commerce or business marketing strategy.

When your brand does decide to start sending out time-sensitive campaigns, it’s essential to do so on the channels shoppers prefer. there’s also no one-size-fits-all when it comes to the right channels for these urgent campaigns. According to Salesforce, over 76% of consumers prefer different channels depending on context, whether they’re browsing, seeking advice, or making purchases.

With more choices than ever to choose from, consumers are more likely to window shop and leave your site without converting. Therefore, do your homework and ensure you’ve segmented your audiences based on their channel preferences prior to sending out your campaign’s communications. Try early bird or last-chance sales. … If you intend to start your sales early, consider some marketing ideas such as Daily Deals to keep shoppers interested. By offering different discounts each day, customers will be encouraged to keep returning to your site to check out the changing deals.

To get the most out of your Black Friday or what else holiday marketing strategy, focus on continuing to build loyalty across digital channels after a shoppers’ initial spend. A loyalty program is the engine that drives retention. According to Salesforce, 78% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand with a loyalty program. Encourage shoppers to join your loyalty program for an additional, holiday-inspired incentive, then use the program to continue to communicate with the new members and maximize engagement in between purchases.

Another very important point is to be creative on social media. One viral video can lead to a cult following around a product, or your brand as a whole, so it’s worth it to start now. Think carefully about your brand identity and your customers’ experience, and find humor in it.

Optimize your site in advance for search result shoppers

Showing up in search engines results is one of the best ways for eCommerce brands to increase discovery during the holiday season. Over 34% of consumers browsed for ideas or inspiration for the holidays on search engines in 2020, compared to 24% in 2019. What does that mean for your eCommerce brand?

The early touchpoints are increasingly important. 

Shoppers that haven’t yet chosen the brand they’d like to purchase a product from will likely type the product name or function into search, and it’s up to your brand to ensure you’re coming up first in results. Did you know that even if a shopper discovers a product on social media, they’ll still do their due diligence. They’ll window search online and comparison shop prior to committing to a purchase.

Ensure you’ve optimized your site for search results leading up to the holiday to maximize your chance of showing up. Get your brand in front of audiences early to start generating anticipation, and to encourage shoppers to do their preliminary research on your site before the holiday. This will help your brand collect more first-party data, an essential strategy, as privacy guidelines continue to shift.