5 Top Tips for Keeping Online Sales High After Peak Periods

As the after-Christmas sales period approaches, you need to make sure all your communication is clear and concise so that your customers know exactly what they are getting, where, and when.

Understandably, eCommerce businesses want this time of year to run as smoothly as possible, so it’s essential that you get the most out of peak while it’s here so you can keep that momentum going throughout the rest of the year.

Post Holiday Sales: 5 Top Tips

Here are a few ideas to help keep sales high after the holiday spike:

Grow your contact list during the peak season

You may be thinking how can I grow my contact list? During a peak season, customers are far more active both online and in-store. At this time, it’s vital to know how to grow your email database and build a strong client database by adding these details to your CRM.

Once the season is over, you will be able to sort customer segmentation and prepare for the next big sale. Customer engagement platform dotdigital offers automation for campaigns which saves time and valuable resources.

Make the most of the increased traffic through your website by introducing links and invitations to encourage new subscribers. Incentivising customers with a discount code or promotion can help increase sign-ups.

Giving out promotional codes or discounts can also be enticing and encourage your customers to return in the offseason. Offer incentives for next season or perhaps introduce a referral scheme to get new leads and details from existing customers.

Just make sure you comply with GDPR legislation and are only contacting those who have opted in.

Boosting Sales Through Social Media

Social media marketing is a powerful tool to use at all times of the year. Between busy sale periods, the last thing you want is your customers unfollowing or unsubscribing because the holiday season is over. An interactive approach, such as running competitions and creating polls and discussions appeals to customers’ curiosity, promoting engagement and shareability.

Creating a strong social media presence by publishing your content across multiple platforms during the peak and off-season is a way of making sure you have full exposure. Facebook, Instagram-live, and Snapchat stories act as more instant marketing tools that can help build excitement in the run-up to a big sale or promotion.

Tagging locations and posting localised content that users recognise and can relate to are more ways to drive participation. It’s even worth jumping on the bandwagon and celebrating smaller holidays e.g St Patrick’s Day if they can be linked to your products.

These holidays will resonate with some of your clients more than others but being inclusive is always a bonus. Creating posts in advance to promote the sales period will help your store stay on top once the peak period ends.

You can also use scheduling software which allows you to remain organised and avoid content duplication. Having an up to date content calendar is a simple yet effective way to organise and coordinate your work.

You should share this with members of your team to ensure everyone knows key dates and can plan ahead for the next event. Ideally, prior to busy periods, you should be planning content at least 3 months ahead of schedule.

Gather customer reviews whilst it’s busy

Customers are more active with both leaving and reading reviews during peak season, which can be used to your advantage. Make it really easy for your customers to leave reviews, and collect positive ones for use across your social channels, websites, blogs, and in your email marketing.

After all, customers’ buying habits can be heavily influenced by the reviews they read, and you want to be a reputable and dependable source.

Giving an opportunity to submit images and videos along with comments can increase trust, transparency, and their confidence in your products. In the off-season, positive customer service reviews can stop customers from looking elsewhere.

Email marketing

During the peak selling periods, contacts can often get bombarded by campaigns from every angle – with all companies selling a wide range of products simultaneously e.g  Black Friday or the January sales.

Keeping your messaging clean, and on-brand is the best way to get your point across and improve your click-through rate.

Adding clear and visible CTAs (Call to Action) in your email campaigns to encourage newsletter and mailing list sign-ups will help your contact lists grow, which will be invaluable during the quieter months.

Outside peak periods, it’s worth limiting your emails to fewer but higher quality communications, that keep your customers interested, without overwhelming them.

The Importance Of Competitor Analysis

Do some market research to analyse what your competitors are up to over the peak period, and make sure you’re not missing out on any potential offers. Competitor analysis is always important to see what you’re up against and seeking opportunities for your brand to stand out.

If you would like more information on our digital marketing services or are looking to get ahead and make changes to your online store before the next peak season hits, get in touch with us today. Call 0121 369 5874 or email success@5874.commerce.com to chat with our eCommerce experts.