It’s never too early to create a holiday marketing plan for your online boutique. Q4 generates billions of dollars in sales every single year and you want your online boutique to be able to benefit. But every year, new online boutique owners are scrambling to promote their shop and increase sales. That’s why it’s important to create a holiday marketing plan for your online boutique ahead of time.
And you can test some of the things you come up with throughout the year to get a sense of how they’ll perform during the all-important holiday season.
Because a little preparation can really go a long way.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss what a holiday marketing plan should include. From using ads to grow your email list to offering themed products, you’ll be ready for major holidays like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas.
So keep reading to learn more on how to market your online boutique successfully!
Which Major Holidays Do Online Boutiques Need to Prepare For?
By far, the biggest opportunities to get the most sales across eCommerce are Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
These are the two biggest shopping holidays of the year so you’ll want to mark your calendar. And if you want to take advantage of them, you need to start preparing early.
Billions—that’s right, with a ‘B’— of dollars in revenue are generated every single year across that weekend in the US alone. Some brands include promotions for ‘Small Business Saturday’. While others either extend for a whole Cyber Week or even have an entire month of promotions leading up to Thanksgiving/Black Friday.
It all depends on how creative and aggressive you are with your strategy.
After that, the next big holiday to prepare for is Christmas as shoppers look for last-minute gifts going into the end of the year.
Now there are holidays all throughout the year as well. There are federal holidays and countless national days to choose from. Customers can help you support charitable causes, celebrate their favorite foods, shop for relatives and friends, or pretty much anything else you can think of.
You can start by listing the ones that are most relevant to your target customer. That way you’ll know what to focus on toward the end of this year and be ready for next year too.
Creating a Holiday Marketing Plan For Your Online Boutique
Now that you have an idea of what holidays to participate in, the next step is to get organized! You have to know what products you’re focusing on, which pricing structure you’ll use and how you’ll get the word out.
As you head toward the holiday shopping season, you should start by looking back on your year thus far.
What products or categories performed the best? What styles and colors did shoppers respond to the most? If you did use any sales or promotions during the year, which ones added more revenue?
If you never look at your data, then you won’t have the confidence to make important decisions. So once you have an idea about what actually did well, then you can turn your focus to planning your holiday offers.
Choosing Products To Focus On During the Holiday Season
Your holiday marketing plan for your online boutique is all about having the right products.
You should have a good mix of items that will attract a range of shoppers. You’ll of course want to include some of your best-selling items. But you can also consider introducing new products. The goal is to capitalize on the excitement of the season and nothing is more exciting than new stuff.
For example, if you have a women’s fashion boutique then you’ll want to include the usual mix of tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwear—things that are appropriate for the season. But it could also be a great time to experiment with a resort collection. That way, if your target customer is looking to get away for the winter, they can find options from your shop too.
That’s also why accessories are so important! They’re a great way to upsell customers who are already interested in your products. You want to increase average order value throughout the year but especially during the holiday season. That’s when people are proven to spend the most.
If you sell home goods, then you can focus on seasonal items like candles, throw blankets, holiday-themed decor, etc.
The key is to make sure you have a good mix of products across different price ranges. That way, you can appeal to as many shoppers as possible.
Deciding on a Holiday Pricing Structure
The next step is to decide on your holiday pricing structure. You want to create deals without sacrificing your profit. After all, there’s nothing worse than making sales but not making any money.
Confused about pricing your products? Click here to read this post.
There are a few different options to consider when it comes to holiday promotions. But the most common are discounts, bundles, and free shipping.
Discounts are always popular because who doesn’t love a good sale? You can do a percentage off or a dollar amount—whatever you think will work best for your products. You can even get more creative by offering certain thresholds (ex: save $15 when you spend $100, save $25 when you spend $150 etc).
Bundles are also a great option because shoppers feel like they’re getting a deal when they buy multiple items together. This is especially effective if the items in the bundle can be sold separately at full price.
Free shipping is another great way to encourage people to shop with you. People love free shipping and will often make a purchase just because it’s being offered. You can offer free shipping on any order or over a certain threshold.
You can also consider a “gift with purchase” promotion. That can be a great way to make customers feel like they’re getting some value for free when they spend a certain amount with your shop.
The key is to be willing to find what works best for your business, even if it takes a little trial and error.
Letting Shoppers Know About Your Holiday Offers
Once you have your products and pricing structure figured out, it’s time to start promoting your holiday offers.
The most important thing to remember is that you need to get the word out early! The holiday season is a busy time for everyone (and the most competitive time for businesses driving traffic). With that being said, you want to make sure you’ve announced your offers in advance. That gives shoppers time to plan what they’ll do and where they’ll spend for the season.
You can promote your holiday deals on your social media pages. Send reminders to your email and SMS lists. Add a holiday gift guide blog post to your website that features all relevant products and deals. And you can even try more traditional advertising like flyers in your area or ads in local papers or magazines.
The key is to be consistent and creative. The more people you can reach, the better your chances are of driving significant sales during the holiday season.
Ideas to Promote Your Holiday Offers
If you’re stuck on how to market your holiday deals, we have a few ideas for you to implement.
1. Update Your Website
You can make a holiday-themed logo, change your website pop-up for shoppers to sign up for early access to your holiday deals, or add a banner across the top with your main holiday offer and relevant dates. The key is to make it as easy as possible for someone who lands on your website to know what’s going on and when.
Depending on how long you’ve had your online boutique, you may even need to refresh your website. The only thing better than free is new. So just changing the layout of your website can create a more enjoyable shopping experience—whether they’re on a laptop or a phone. The longer a shopper stays on a website, the more likely they are to buy.
2. Use a Landing Page
You can create a “holiday deals” landing page on your website where people can learn about all your promotions in one place. It makes it convenient for shoppers and easy for you to track how many people are seeing your deals. Make sure to include all relevant links or discount codes (and the terms or limitations that apply) to minimize the burden on your customer service team.
3. Run Paid Ads
You can run ads to each specific deal or to your deals landing page. Ads will allow you to reach more people quicker. The more people that see your offers, the higher the likelihood they’ll purchase. If you are running ads, make sure you are targeting the right audience so you don’t waste money on people that won’t care about what you’re selling. You can use a variety of interests, demographics, similar stores they already shop with or even their location to really nail down a target audience. And that can be on Google, Facebook/Instagram, TikTok or Pinterest. Wherever your customer regularly hangs out is where you want to focus on placing your advertisements. Remember, it’s all about being relevant. That’s the only way someone will stop scrolling, click a link, visit your website and spend their money.
4. Promote via Local Outlets
Post flyers with a QR code that takes people directly to your site. Connect with someone at your local chamber of commerce to see how you can promote your holiday offers. Take out an ad in a local paper or one that serves the closest big city. Or you can work with a local influencer or blogger to help you create content around your holiday offer. That way you can have something to share on your social media or use for ads to reach more people.
Finalizing Your Holiday Marketing Plan for Online Boutique
Don’t forget to set a goal! It might seem scary but having a clear number in your mind on what you want to accomplish will help you get clear on the actions to take to get there.
For example, average website conversion rates are anywhere from 1-3%. So if you wanted to make $20,000 during the Black Friday to Cyber Monday weekend, you would need 20,000 people to visit your website and 200 of them to spend $100 with your boutique. That’s why driving traffic to your store is so important.
The options to grow your online boutique are only limited by your creativity and willingness to try. So don’t sell yourself short. Do the right things to prepare and then get the word out as much as possible!
That’s the key to creating a successful holiday marketing plan for any online boutique.
