I was stocking up on candy for the coming trick-or-treaters when I suddenly found myself thinking about Christmas. Good grief — it’s not even Halloween, and Christmas is in my face.
Right next to the Halloween costumes and candy displays at our local Target is — you guessed it — everything from Christmas trees to lights to gingerbread houses. And Amazon TV ads urge us to buy Christmas gifts early. And Outback already pushing its gift cards. Then, it hit me.
If Target’s or Amazon’s or Walmart’s marketing gurus know October is the profitable time to get Christmas promotions underway, it’s a good bet forward-thinking boat dealers should, too. Or at the very least, now’s the time to call the sales team together and plan Christmas marketing if you want to cash in on holiday consumer spending.
The holidays are a great time to market and connect with customers. People are often in a festive mood and receptive to gift suggestions, discounts and promotions. And there’s a whole lotta spending goin’ on! The trick is to get them to spend with you, and early.
Here are some considerations from marketing experts to get your planning rolling.
1. Get the team involved. The best ideas will likely come from your staff. Perhaps each department can come up with a specific gift ideas that customers can purchase. How about watersports items for the teens? Or branded clothing items for the whole crew? You’ll come up with many more ideas. Getting your team involved can really boost your Christmas campaign.
2. Analyze last year’s holiday results. It’s important to look back. When have the majority of your holiday sales success occurred? Was it from email marketing, organic website traffic, perhaps a paid search or social media? If it was successful, it’s the starting point for this year’s holiday promotions.
3. Set up a holiday email-marketing campaign. Virtually every dealer relies on email marketing. However, holiday email offers should be different from traditional campaigns. For example, you may be emailing customers every few weeks on a schedule. But the Christmas window is open only for a relatively short time. So give some well-thought-out holiday products and offers. Remember, consumers are in a buying mood during the holidays — wait too long, and you lose. Moreover, experts agree that slapping together a bunch of emails at the last minute is a ticket to a bad conversion rate, but a good plan with steady execution can prove a winner.
4. A mobile-friendly website. I don’t want to believe most dealers haven’t upgraded their websites to be mobile-friendly, but I suspect some haven’t. And I’m no expert on what’s involved to get it done. That said, those in the know hold that websites need to be mobile-friendly, so it needs attention now whether or not a holiday promotion is in your plan. Moreover, Christmas shoppers want to buy, so it’s critical to make sure they don’t get frustrated trying to use your site.
5. A campaign to share. Studies indicate that 74% of consumers consumers rely on word of mouth as the No. 1 influence on our buying decisions. It’s important to keep campaigns easy to understand so recipients, preferably with one click, can share them. When someone receives information from a friend, it multiplies the impact ten-fold.
6. Remember Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They’re Nov. 24 and 27, respectively, this year. Literally millions of consumers will shop online on Black Friday. Last year, $2 billion was spent online on Black Friday alone. Good marketers run countdowns, contests and other attractors leading up to Black Friday. Similarly, Cyber Monday is an equally great opportunity to cash in. Marketers using online techniques often change the deals from Friday to Monday.
7. Social media. If you utilize social media regularly in your dealership marketing, it also can be used to direct followers to Christmas deals. Holiday-specific images, special messaging and hashtags are important.
It’s a time when people are looking for holiday ideas, deals and want to spend money. Good offers at the right time can make the cash register ring at a time when boat sales are normally slow. Fa-la-la-la-la!
