“Five Digital Marketing Trends For The 2017 Holiday Season
It used to be that retailers couldn’t wait to
hear the unmistakable sound that said the holidays had arrived — ringing cash
registers. Today’s businesses are adapting to the new signs of the holiday
season — digital clicks and online carts. Black Friday, the most joyous of all
shopping days in the year for retailers and customers alike, still tops the
list of sales spikes for the year, followed closely by its relatively new
cousin Cyber Monday.
Omnichannel shopping, new technology and
elevated consumer expectations are driving retail marketers to capitalize on
the holiday buying season for 2017. eMarketer estimates that retail e-commerce
sales in the U.S. will see a 15.8% boost for the holiday season.
Bottom line: Holiday sales are key for retailers. Let’s take a look at five
digital marketing trends for the 2017 holiday season.
1. Mobile leads the way.
Mobile will continue to be the marketing hero
of the holiday buying season this year. Consumers are now using their
smartphones to do preliminary research on products and pricing, as well as
making purchases. Retailers that use mobile payment methods such as PayPal,
Apple Pay and Amazon Pay increase their appeal to consumers who can research,
browse, pay and schedule delivery all from a smartphone.
Email is also big during the holiday season,
with an estimated 54% of emails opened on a mobile
device. And where would retailers be without mobile shopping apps? 65% of consumers have a mobile
shopping app on their smartphone and have made a purchase using it.
2. More efficient spends with programmatic marketing.
The ability to deliver digital ads in real
time completely changes the ad game. Add in the ability to deliver only to
specific audiences with highly targeted messaging, as well as managed delivery
times, and programmatic is a holiday gift to retailers all on its own. Getting
in front of the right customers at the right time with the right message really
streamlines promotions for the retailer and makes holiday shopping easier for
the consumer.
Programmatic geotargeting gets even more
specific and pulls in customers due to their proximity to stores as well as
their interest in a retailer’s products, making it a win-win for both parties. According to eMarketer, "A big driver
of ecommerce will be the continued growth of mcommerce sales—particularly
smartphone commerce, which will rise by an estimated 57.8% in 2017
overall."
3. Social media marketing puts products right where consumers spend their time.
Social media will have a big impact on
holiday consumer shopping, especially among millennials and Gen Xers. According to Salesforce, 30% of Gen X and
48% of millennial consumers indicated that they will use social to find out
about products to purchase. Not only do these consumers plan to buy online,
they also plan to post about the gifts they receive on social media. That’s a
double win for retailers that can rise above the rest.
4. Video makes the season come alive with sales.
Why is video so important as part of your
digital holiday marketing initiatives? Quite simply, because people like to
watch them. Whether you’re creating a warm and fuzzy seasonal brand piece or
using video to promote more practical sales messages, consumers like them and
expect to see them. This is especially true with younger viewers who are on
social media for holiday information as discussed above.
In addition, 51.9% of marketers report that video
delivers the best ROI and that their customers have a preference for video over
other types of content. And at least half of shoppers will search for a product
video before visiting an online store.
5. Blockchain could be the year’s rising holiday star.
Blockchain and its darling, Bitcoin,
are emerging as important factors in retail transactions. Essentially,
blockchain lets companies and their partners manage and track digital
transactions and then store the information contained within those
transactions. Consumers can purchase items internationally using Bitcoin, a
cryptocurrency exchange. Blockchain has a scope of advantages for retailers
including thwarting counterfeiting and serving as the basis of loyalty programs.
Source: Forbes (NOV 28, 2017)
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