Six Digital Marketing Tips for the Holiday Season

December 21, 2016Leave a comment

‘Tis the season to be jolly! With chestnuts roasting on an open fire and good ol’ Saint-Nick getting ready to deliver presents around the globe, a lot can be forgotten during the holiday season. Of course, while people are currently running amok over the next couple of days (either at shopping malls or during office parties), marketing professionals simply cannot put their campaigns on the backburner. This is especially true for ecommerce business, where processing transactions on a daily basis can become more time consuming and physically demanding.

With that in mind, I have prepared some handy tips for marketing during the holiday season. While these are more geared towards B2C businesses and ecommerce stores, the salient points can be applied to the B2B realm (replace “discounts” and “coupons” with “free booze trials”).

1. Keep your SEO campaigns hot with fresh content

You better believe Frost is going to be writing a lot of content this winter.

It’s common for companies to think that this is the time of year to be more relaxed when it comes to investing into search engine optimization. However, that’s a myopic approach to take, especially if your goal is to maintain momentum or increase rankings within the next couple of months. SEO is a long-term play and should never be put on “pause”; otherwise, you’re giving the competition an opportunity to vault ahead of you on the first page of search results.

2. Jazz up your social media marketing with awesome content.

Although don’t make your promotions too appetizing – you don’t want people to eat their smartphones…

This is the time of year where you can throw all types of promotions at users via social media platforms to achieve great success. The advertising options available on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram give you the opportunity to extend the reach of your content beyond the confines of your own audience. Of course, remarketing to your existing customers and followers can prove to be fruitful, especially if you roll out fresh promotions and advertise special discounts.

3. There’s no advertising like product advertising.

The easier you make it for people to find your products, the easier it is to take their money.

Dominate the space on search engines by pushing your product ads in front of targeted users. With the removal of right-hand side ads earlier this year, Google has made it easier for ecommerce websites to showcase products on both mobile & desktop by increasing the amount of space for product ads. Also, don’t forget Bing when you’re optimizing shopping feeds if you want to reach a larger audience.

4. Incentivize existing customers to purchase more via strategic email remarketing.

Stocking stuffers don’t have to be boring…

There’s no better audience to target with limited-time promotions and discounts than your existing customer base. While inboxes tend to receive a plethora of spam during the holiday season, remarketing to your existing customers and subscribers can prove to be quite fruitful once the weather gets colder. Shoppers tend to become more price sensitive and on the lookout for deals, so give them what they seek via targeted campaigns.

3. Create social media gold with interactive contests.

Everyone and their grandmothers love contests.

The holiday season is the time for giving, which makes it the best season for contests. As stated previously, shoppers and social media enthusiasts alike are looking for the best deals during the month of December. This is also the time of year when you have the undivided attention of your followers. Make living through frigid temperatures more bearable for your fans by surprising them with engaging contests and wonderful prizes.

6. Always be diligent with money at stake for media buying campaigns.

Don’t be a naughty media buyer!

I cannot stress this enough: always double check your ad schedules and budgets for all campaigns, whether it’s on Facebook or Google AdWords. You don’t want to come back from the holiday break to find out that you spent money when your company and/or clients were out of office. On that flip side, you don’t want to under-spend if you’re an ecommerce business when people are actively looking to make purchases online. December is a special month…treat it like one.

Black Friday Marketing Fail – “Blackest Deals Are Here!”

November 24, 2015November 24, 2015Leave a comment

It’s been a while since I have contributed to this blog, so I thought this would be the best way to break the ice.

Understandably, companies get excited this time of year because consumers with disposable income (and those without, unoftuantely) splurge like crazy both online and in retail stores. In fact, what used to be just a day-long event has now transformed into a week-long spending craze, starting the Monday before Thanksgiving and ending on Cyber Monday the following week. The image below is a screenshot from an email a friend of mine received this morning. As you can see, Iberostar shows their excitement about the upcoming shopping craze by advertising what they call the “Blackest” deals……wait, what??

Special thanks to @JustinJJFoster for this screenshot

That’s right, folks. The “BLACKEST” deals are here – and they even call it the “BLACK SALE”. Either something was lost in translation, or their marketing team really thought this was a good idea.

Stay tuned for more Black Friday marketing mishaps as this week progresses.

Cheers,

Social Media Image Sizes Cheat Sheet [INFOGRAPHIC]

January 13, 2015January 13, 2015Leave a comment

When it comes to developing your social media presence, there will always likely be a sticking point in the setup proces: optimizing graphics for cover photos, headers, and profile photos. Unless you actively work in social media marketing, setup programs for a myriad of clients, or have an advanced knowledge of social marketing, it can be tricky to remember the exact dimension of each required social media graphic. Even us experienced veterans in the social media world need to take a peek at a sizes guide just to be certain that all graphics used conform with each platform.

Continue reading →

4 Steps to Generate Brand Ambassadors for Your Business

November 3, 2014November 3, 2014Leave a comment

Influencer marketing is becoming a more effective digital tactic for brands to generate exposure among targeted niche audiences. A perfectly executed outreach campaign can provide a myriad of benefits for businesses, such as increased brand awareness, positive brand mentions, and potentially lucrative relationships with new advertising partners. Unfortunately for small and medium sized businesses, reaching out to social media influencers and content publishers can be an arduous endeavor. More often than not, though, bloggers will quickly discard advertising-based emails from unknown senders, especially when the content is geared for impersonal mass mailing. However, there is no need to fret: breaking through the barriers of communication is possible, especially when you personalize your pitches and tailor them to the individual bloggers you contact. Below are some important tips to keep in mind when managing your outreach campaigns.

1. Research the Influencer Continue reading →

Seven Reasons why Your Brand Needs to go Mobile [INFOGRAPHIC]

July 4, 2014Leave a comment

There’s no doubting it: mobile will overtake desktop soon enough.

Every day, digital users access their favourite websites, emails, and social media profiles on all types of mobile devices. This presents a multitude of opportunities for businesses to leverage mobile marketing to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and increase revenue generation. An infographic prepared by Text Market illustrates seven reasons why going mobile is a necessity for brands. They are: