Spruce Up for the Holiday Season

Make the Most of the Online Spending Spree

Greetings!

Welcome to the latest edition of the Inside Edge--your monthly report on Internet trends and advancements that can turn your business into a more profitable e-Business. As we approach the holiday season, the shopping madness has already begun. Is your online business geared to get the most out of it? Even if you think you’ve got it all worked out, there may be that little extra you need to set the ball rolling and keep the momentum going in the new year. Read on...

The financial downturn and the change in consumer spending habits have meant that whilst businesses focused on critical economic issues, the holiday season has just crept up on most of us. There must be a way for businesses like yours to maximize a share of profits from the holiday shopping season. To quote Daniel Butler, vice president for retail operations, US National Retail Federation, "During the next 3 months small retailers need to maximize their one-on-one personal relationships with customers. That is the secret weapon that small independents have against big national chains."

One-on-one personal relationships via a website, a landing page, a blog, an email newsletter, an online banner? Sounds difficult to accomplish when there is the vast empty (cyber)space lying in between. Savvy Internet marketers will tell you that space is not empty at all. In fact, it’s more cluttered than you can imagine and it’s up to you to fill it up with VALUE – to each and every customer and prospect that visits you online.

The big winners this holiday season will be businesses that are agile and capable of reacting to the changing marketplace. What can you do? This guide should assist you in preparing for the holiday season across both your website and your business back-end systems.

Keep in mind that your website must work for you, the search engines and your customers. If you are considering making amendments to your site, consider adding:

• Seasonal categories to your product range
• Wish lists
• Gift packaging and gift card options (including e-gift cards)
• Discounts and early bird promotions for prudent shoppers
• Putting the best-selling and most popular items on your
• front page and prime locations
• Add holiday related content
• Consider jazzing up your site with holiday images

Technically, you should ensure that your website is indeed working for your customers, as well as for the search engines. Your WSI Consultant can work with you to ensure that:

• Your e-commerce and checkout facilities, shipping costs and taxes calculation, are fully functional. Any discounted or bundling options are processing correctly.
• Your refund, return and exchange policies are mentioned clearly and visibly.
• You have a full back-up of your website, and there are measures in place to prevent server or bandwidth crisis.
• Double check that your domain is not due to expire.

Your Stock and Systems

• Ensure that all your back-end systems and staff are able to cope with any unexpected demand. Remember, hectic times can put stresses on even the most robust software, hardware, and humans!
• Check inventory and be aware of shortfalls so that customers do not order out of stock products.
• Test your customer support arrangements: email, telephone and in-site call services, live chat, etc. A high level of real-time support for anxious customers may prove the catalyst for sales that sets you apart from your competition.

Get in touch with your WSI Internet Marketing Consultant for these more specialized techniques.

General Marketing and Search Engine Optimization

• Create landing pages with holiday keywords and search terms, and tie these in to your paid search campaigns for maximum ROI.
• Monitor your site statistics carefully, particularly for long tail search terms. These may prove valuable well beyond the holiday season.
• Look for complementary partners to add links to your site and track the effectiveness.
• Geo-targeting will help pick up shopper traffic from your locality.
• Check whether your site works for mobile search. Many people will be using their cell phones to track down holiday bargains.

E-mail Marketing

• Re-use your effective email campaigns with new, up to date content. Clean up your database to keep your campaigns slick with minimum administrative effort.
• Create a gift list targeted at all sectors of your audience so that you can minimize the number of different emails.
• Use tracking software to measure response rates.
  Still not too late to do a November email blitz! Send follow-up emails in December to capture last-minute shoppers.

Paid Search Marketing

• Use automated bid managers and scheduling to get maximum effect for minimum budget.
• Optimize your pay-per-click (PPC) campaign for holiday keywords. Increase your budget slowly but surely in the run up to the peak holiday season.
• Tie this into your optimized landing pages, so that customers respond to the appropriate advertisement for the right product.

This may seem to add to your workload, but wins made here in sales could keep you going throughout the tough times in 2009. Satisfied customers today may well become loyal customers into the future. Much of the work you do now will last long beyond the feasting and festivities of the holiday season.

Call your WSI Internet Marketing Consultant to find out how your online business can please holiday shoppers, add value and deliver results.

This edition of the Inside Edge has been brought to you by Jennifer Green, Certified Internet Consultant. For more information about WSI Internet Solutions for your business contact us today! WSI Conversion Matters London Office: Jennifer Green 1-519-642-3222 611 Wonderland Road North, Suite 102 London, Ontario N6H 5N7 Toronto Office: Jeff Green 1-416-628-8411 2365 Queen St., E, Suite 404 Toronto, Ontario M4E 1H2