Strengthening your brand ahead of the busy Christmas trading period is the key to a competitive edge. Here, digital marketing software expert Lee Hawksley shares his tips on how to make the most of summer marketing and build your brand.
With the summer holidays upon us, brands need to effectively communicate with customers to ensure they continue to create social buzz around upcoming promotions and turn customers into brand advocates.
Today’s consumer is the most connected in history, creating an opportunity for marketers to optimise online interactions. With so many channels to communicate through, marketers can deliver a positive customer experience that is relevant, builds loyalty and drives sales, no matter what time of year it is.
These are a few of the top tips to get started.
1. Use your knowledge
Use
data from previous years to identify the most popular summer
products. Promote those products to new customers and offer upgrades
to customers that purchased similar products last year.
2.
Go mobile
Thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and
tablets, today’s consumers are highly connected all the time, no
matter where they are. Around half of all Australians own a smart
phone [1], 50 per cent in major markets worldwide and research from
Gartner revealed “consumers keep their smartphones with them for an
average of 16 hours per day” [2]. To communicate effectively with
your potential customers, ensure all communications are readable on
mobile devices.
3. Enable mobile purchases
Three
out of 10 internet users in Australia made a retail purchase via
their smart phone between May 2012 and May 2013, and 19 per cent made
one via tablet [3]. This trend is likely to continue, so make sure
your customers can buy from your online store easily and quickly
using their smart device.
4. Use summer-themed content
Look for ways to incorporate summer themes into your website
and marketing. Include relevant information on summer-related topics
such as fashion tips, ways to keep cool or top travel destinations.
Keep your content fresh, topical, relevant and beneficial.
5.
Offer incentives/package deals
If summer is traditionally a
quieter time for your business, offer a range of incentives and
package deals. If your business has a range of summer products,
encourage purchases by offering express delivery on in-demand
products.
6. Hold a summer sale
Excess stock takes
up space and limits cash flow. Be sure to plan a summer sale to shift
remaining stock at the end of the season.
7. Plan for
winter
As well as increasing business in the summer, don’t
forget to plan for the coming season.
Sources:
1
eMarketer, Smartphone
Adoption Tips Past 50% in Major Markets Worldwide
2 Gartner. Predicts 2013:
Digital Marketing Imperatives for Consumer Technology Providers. Dec.
2012.
3
eMarketer, Tablets
Rival Smartphones for Mobile Buying in Australia
Lee Hawksley is managing director
of cross-channel digital marketing software company ExactTarget.
www.ExactTarget.com.