Holiday 2017 saw a retail industry permanently transformed by shoppers able to find great products whenever they want, wherever they are — in the speed of an instant. This year, the world’s consumers are driving a new shopping paradigm that’s mobile-first, always-on, and hyper-personalized.
To prepare for Holiday 2018, we put together these top marketing tips to help you get ready for the biggest gifting season yet.
1. Develop an always-on holiday strategy that starts early and stays late.
Drive shoppers back to your site by recommending the best offer from your entire product catalog. Criteo Dynamic Retargeting can help you do this in real time, serving up personalized ads for maximum sales. Since gifters start browsing early, be sure to raise your CPCs accordingly to remain competitive and build a larger cookie pool. That way, you can retarget shoppers during key holiday peaks and stay top-of-mind when they’re ready to buy.
To support holiday sales and ensure that shoppers will see personalized product recommendations on their favorite retail sites, keep Criteo Sponsored Products always-on, from early in the season through New Year’s, when gift card redemption peaks.
2. Reach holiday shoppers most likely to be interested in your products.
Attract shoppers to your products by showing them offers based on how they shop, what they want, and when they want it. Criteo Customer Acquisition, when used early in the holiday season, can help you reach new customers just as they start to think about buying gifts for their friends and loved ones.
3. Optimize your online presence for mobile transactions.
With more of the world shopping on their smartphones than ever before, mobile as a channel has become hugely impactful. Our Global Commerce Review from Q4 2017 showed that more than 40% of all online sales in November and December were made on mobile phones.
Responsive design, images that read on phone screens, carts that are persistent across devices, and the ability to call up online accounts at in-store registers are all becoming the norm. Be sure your mobile presence is ready to make the most of all the on-the-go opportunities.
4. Make your in-app experiences exceptional.
Help your shoppers with their day-to-day adventures by creating a mobile experience that lets them buy without leaving their favorite apps. With Criteo Dynamic Retargeting for Facebook and Instagram and App Advertising, you’re able to deliver personalized ads to your audience across these social media apps, making it as easy as possible for them to complete their holiday purchases.
5. Build personalized holiday marketing campaigns.
Whether your shoppers are rushing through a store to find the best deal or hunting around online, there’s nothing that quite beats the thrill of finding exactly what you want. With Criteo Audience Match, you can build unique shopping experiences, offers, messages, and promotions that resonate with shoppers and drive them back to your website.
6. Bring holiday shoppers back to your site.
Joy can happen as soon as a shopper sees something they know they like – and may have forgotten about. With Criteo Dynamic Retargeting, you can bring holiday shoppers back to your site to convert, wherever they’re shopping online.
7. Keep your marketing strategy strong through Cyber Week II.
To prepare for Cyber Week II, the week between Christmas and New Year’s, it’s essential for brands and retailers to continue their advertising presence. During this period, people tend to feel more free to spend on themselves. Be sure to keep your multi-pronged marketing tactics going to take advantage of impulse purchasing. Shoppers tend to be even more motivated by year-end deals, and inspired to cash in the gift cards they received.
8. Stay top-of-mind during post-Christmas opportunities.
The anticipation of the New Year after the holidays is followed by a calm after the storm, when shoppers relax and resolve to improve themselves. As people are researching the things they need to achieve their goals, Criteo Sponsored Products helps promote the best possible items for their interests across every retail site they search.
9. Get access to more data.
The smartest retailers and brands are building longtime customer loyalty by creating the best, most personalized customer experiences across channels and devices. But in order to achieve this, only a collaborative approach to marketing will do. Since a lack of data translates to an incomplete view of the shopper (and there’s no way to meet the expectations of someone you hardly know), you need the largest possible data sets to connect online and offline behavior.
10. Help shoppers find what they need for key moments in their lives.
Whether they’re planning a proposal, a vacation, or even just a family dinner, you can help your shoppers along the way by knowing what they need next. With Criteo Shopper Graph, you’re able to tap into three data collectives that allow you to reach shoppers as they’re really thinking through these moments — across the web, on every device and app — and help them take that next step.
Make impactful instants on every channel.
Shoppers deserve to experience the best of your brand at every touchpoint. Brands that can connect, no matter the time of day, day of the week, or season of the year, stand to build a series of moments for their customers over time — ones filled with discovery, joy, hope, excitement, and love. Holiday 2018 is just the beginning.
