The fourth quarter (Q4) represents the end of a fiscal year and marks the entrance of the holiday season. Traditionally, this is a time when businesses ramp up their marketing efforts, having taken stock of what has been working, what needs improvement, and what they can do that they still haven’t. In addition to doing a big, end-of-year push, Q4 is also a time to appeal to holiday shoppers by fine-tuning your marketing message.

Send a creative e-Card or video you produce yourself – and ask for feedback

We realize most holiday and Q4 plans are already well under way, but there are still some things you can do that don’t require long-term planning and are more than likely to yield results! Without further ado, let’s look at four ways to optimize your online marketing and get more out of the holiday season.

1 – Send a Multipurpose Greeting

Giving client holiday gifts is par for the course in most industries, but before you order a batch of branded coffee mugs or baseball hats, ask yourself: Is this really something I’d like to receive? And do people really need more “stuff?” With the economy and environment being top of mind for many, show you are paying attention. Instead of sending a traditional gift, create a funny or inspirational e-Card or video and send it to your clients via e-mail. Most will appreciate the idea of scaling back, and if you pull this off well, you will stand out. In the greeting, include a link to a survey and encourage clients to participate. Use the survey as you wish: ask clients about their needs or ask for ideas on how to improve. Give clients who respond a 10% discount on their next order, good until January 30th. Not only does this brand your company as savvy and thoughtful, it builds client relationships and drives repeat business!

Look for low-hanging fruit – quick fixes that will improve your site performance

2 – Do a Mini-Audit On Your Website

With all the focus on sales goals, new business, and the office holiday party, it is easy to let things like your website fall by the wayside. Although comprehensive audits of your website should be performed on a regular basis, a mini-audit is more simple and can be performed quickly by taking stock of any low-hanging fruit you can seize to improve site performance and conversions. To start, make sure that:

• Your call to action is ‘above-the-fold,’ aka easily seen without having to scroll down
• Your headline is compelling, timely, and tells visitors what you want them to do next
• Your content is readable and uses subheadings and bolding to break copy into chunks

Addressing these three basic yet important factors takes little time but makes a big difference in how users interact with your site and how many stick around long enough to become customers.

Adjust your ad copy to incorporate holiday messaging for better results

3 – Use Holiday Messaging In Your Ads

We’ve mentioned this before, but it’s so important, we’re going to mention it again. If you are ramping up your PPC budgets and placing a few dazzling banners on high-traffic sites to capitalize on holiday traffic, you are on the right track, but if you don’t incorporate the holidays into your messaging, you are bound to lose some people. People are feeling festive and your messaging should reflect this. For example, if you are selling electronics, simply changing your banner or text ad headline from “Electronics on Sale Now” to “Holiday Electronics Sale” will help draw in customers attuned to the holiday buzz. No matter what you are selling, adjust your messaging to resonate with people in the holiday spirit and this subtle psychological reinforcement will likely boost conversions.

Organizing a charitable fundraiser or giving back in another way feels good

4 – Give Back

The holidays are a time for giving, and while the economy is still in recovery mode, doing good never goes out of style. Show you care by selecting a charity or non-profit and organizing an online fundraising drive. Publicize your fundraising drive by writing about it on your blog and in your newsletter and sending out press releases. You can even do a little email outreach to influential bloggers, clients, and partners to see if they will help you spread the word. Once you organize your drive, give new and existing customers an incentive to participate by offering $100 off their next service when they make a donation. Any effort to help others less fortunate feels good and lets people know you care – and in the new age of transparency and social responsibility, caring holds a lot of weight!

As you can see, these four tips are easy-to-implement, and aside from the discounts you may be giving if you follow tips #1 and 4, they are all relatively free! We hope these tips help you boost your performance this season, and we wish you luck as you gear up for the holidays!

If you have any questions, or would like more information on online marketing, please email us at sales@wpromote.com.

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