CEO at Bazaarvoicea leading provider of product reviews and user-generated content (UGC) solutions.
I live in Austin, Texas, where daily highs are still in the 90s as I write this. But even though the heat means I couldn’t feel physically further removed from the holiday spirit if I tried, the holiday shopping season is in full swing. According to my company’s consumer survey of 1,000 Americans, almost half (44%) of people start their holiday shopping in September or earlier this year.
In a perfect world, your brand would have started preparing for this season months ago. I suggest our clients start solidifying their vacation budget and establishing an internal calendar in early spring. But the world is not perfect. This year has been financially difficult for many businesses, and you may have been forced to make staff or budget reductions. You may also be running a new or small business and don’t have the resources to develop such rigorous plans.
Whatever your situation, there is still time for your business to maximize its profit potential this holiday season. Based on my experience working with over 12,000 brands and retailers worldwide, here are some tips for the remainder of 2023.
October
The weather (hopefully in Austin at least) will start to drop during this month; people are switching from summer vacation to vacation mode, and you should get ready for prime time. While people may not be pulling the trigger on their holiday shopping yet, they will definitely be doing some research, including figuring out what they want to buy on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
To prepare your website for an influx of buyers and provide them with all the information they need, stock it with varying levels of user-generated content (UGC), such as ratings, reviews, and especially photos and customer videos for this vacation. vintage items that are expected to be in high demand.
You should also respond to customer reviews and questions: this provides them with more information, but it also proves that you are truly listening and caring.
November
Now is the time to really get into the holiday spirit. Although you’ll probably want to save your best sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which the average American spent $500 last year, I suggest you start running promotions before this week.
Shoppers who are already researching will take the opportunity to purchase certain items earlier to space out their purchases. This is also a good time to think about when a shopper adds an item to the cart: what products can you show them as add-on products and nudge them with a time-limited offer (discount) to increase the cart size ?
Finally, it’s not a bad time to run sampling campaigns to collect customer ratings, reviews, photos, and videos that will be featured on your product pages once the post-holiday sales and Christmas gift card spending will begin in January. Sampling is a great way to collect UGC and get your products into the hands of consumers, who will then suggest your products to friends deciding which Christmas gifts to buy this holiday season and beyond. of the.
December
Just because Cyber Week is over doesn’t mean holiday shopping isn’t over yet. There are plenty of lessons you can learn from the wins and losses you experience during Black Friday and Cyber Monday to help you finish the holiday shopping season strong.
There is so much information you can glean from the voice of the customer that can help you decide whether you need to make changes to marketing copy, messaging, product packaging, product wording or even at prices.
Also, make sure you continually respond to customer reviews and questions. This really should be a year-round endeavor, but make sure you’re especially prompt during this time.
Next year
In 2024, preparations for your holiday shopping season should begin in March/April. Like I said, use this time to solidify your budget and establish an internal timeline to decide what resources you need. Make sure to set aside part of your budget for UGC. Now is also a good time for brands to work on securing their place on store shelves and decide which advertising campaigns to launch. As spring gives way to summer, start finalizing your advertising and sampling campaigns.
As the dog days of summer begin, you can look forward to Prime Day, which I think we can all now mark as the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. (Disclosure: My business uses some Amazon products and services.) Even if you don’t sell on Amazon, you can run sales at the same time to attract consumers who are already online and likely shopping and comparing prices on the Web. This is also a great opportunity to collect feedback from all those sale shoppers, so be sure to send emails or texts after the interaction to remind them to submit UGC a few weeks after shipping of their product.
Once summer is over, there’s still time to run a sampling campaign to collect UGC before Black Friday and Cyber Monday. However, be intentional in your approach and make sure you prioritize products that have few reviews and other customer content or featured products that you really hope to sell. If you don’t have the time or resources to sample, a quick way to get and develop the collection of UGC involves running a social media campaign, asking your customers to post photos and videos of themselves using or wearing your products in exchange for a price.
Regardless of when you start, you can prepare for a successful holiday shopping season by delivering fresh, authentic customer content to your shoppers wherever they are, whether on social media, in-store, or online. your own website.
Shoppers want their Christmas gifts to be meaningful and memorable and are willing to take the time necessary to ensure they buy the right things for their friends and family. By prioritizing UGC, you can offer them the opinions and experiences of their peers, and they can feel truly confident when making a purchase.
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