It’s Christmas in July! Or it should be. Read our three tips on how to increase holiday profits NOW.

The holidays may seem distant as you fire up your BBQ or pack for the next camping trip, but the time to start prepping for a successful holiday social media and email campaign is right now. Summer is an ideal time to get ready so your Ecommerce efforts produce profits during the best shopping time of the year. We have the three key tips to get going for your holiday marketing, in between those beach vacations.

Build up your email list.

Email is one of the easiest and most effective ways to let customers know about your holiday offers. Email marketing is up to 40 times more effective than social media, according to a study done by McKinsey & Company. The same study also shows that the buying process happens three times faster than social media. This means email is absolutely essential for your holiday marketing success.

You can start sending out email exclusive offers and definitely give an offer for signing up. Make sure email signup is easy to find throughout your site to capture the most customers. If your customers made a purchase in a physical store, have email follow-up with them and encourage them to sign up online.

If you maintain a blog, there are two easy things you can do to build your email list. The first is to encourage email sign-ups in the blog. The second is to send out an occasional email with what is happening on the blog. Don’t blast every post in an email for the risk of unsubscribes, but occasionally updating customers with the valuable content your producing is a great way to keep them coming back.

Of course, don’t forget to mention on your social media channels about the great offers the email list can get, or the valuable content you send out. Starting to build up your email list now will mean a great reach come the holiday season.

Engage with customers on social media.

Don’t wait until November 1st to start engaging with your customers on social media. Start early to connect with your audience and see what kind of content interests them. Do they love quick tips or creative ways to use your product? Maybe they love seeing how other customers use their product in their lives. Some brands have the most success with aspirational lifestyle photos. Customers hitting that “like” button is a key indicator of what will be successful for your holiday marketing.

Frequent posting is important throughout the year. Although you may not have a new product or a sale to promote, keep your channels active. This will keep your customers engaged with your brand and keep you top of mind once the holiday season hits.

Test out offers.

Deciding on what kind of promotion to run during the holiday season can be tricky. Take some of the guesswork out by testing out offers and ideas now. Test if customers respond to 20% off coupon (offer) vs a free gift with purchase (promotion). Another idea is to “reveal” a gift in an email (like a scratch-off) and customers click to reveal their prize or discount. These offers can start off at a smaller scale for the initial engagement, and then increase with enticing promotions depending on your user interaction and tracking their data/response. This type of testing can be instrumental in determining what excites and entices your audience. That way when the holiday season arrives, you are ready to market with a successful campaign!

If you are looking for a jumpstart for your holiday email marketing or social media campaign, Jennergy is here to help! Let’s start a conversation to begin your successful Ecommerce strategy for the holidays.