Omnichannel opportunities: How to make the most of peak periods
We don’t have to tell you how crucial seasonal sales periods are for your business. But we will anyway.
These periods offer the opportunity to unlock massive profits, collect data, expand your permissions base and deepen brand loyalty among your customers.
But to capitalise on these opportunities, there are a few key considerations to keep in mind. In this article, we’ll walk you through the insights we’ve gained during previous holiday seasons like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas and New Year and explore how to leverage them during this year’s big sales events and beyond.
Plan ahead of time
As with any marketing automation campaign, it’s important to plan.
While that goes without saying, the key to success during high-volume shopping periods is to have your communications planned and executed well in advance.
This means that you should have a clear understanding of the messaging you want to convey and the channels through which you’ll reach your audience before the holiday or sale starts.
Consider factors such as content creation — including writing, editing, photography, graphic design and video creation. These are major players in every campaign and the time to get them right can’t be rushed.
Be relevant in your communication
During peak shopping days, ensure your communications are relevant to your audience.
This means that your messaging should be tailored to the specific interests and needs of your customers. Use data-driven insights to determine the type of messaging that resonates with your audience and ensure you’re providing value with every communication.
You don’t want to push a sale on espresso machines to someone who, after looking at the data, is primarily a tea drinker.
Collect and analyse your customer data to help create and target communication that matters — especially during the holidays when every inbox blows up and push notifications are being received at a breakneck rhythm.
Use different channels to engage your customers
To reach the widest possible audience, it is important to use a variety of channels to engage your customers. This includes email, paid media, SMS, and push notifications.
By using an omnichannel approach, you guarantee that your message is reaching your audience, no matter where they are.
This goes back to looking at your customer data and seeing how best they want to hear from you. With Agillic, your brand benefits from a centralised content hub where all communication originates, connects and informs each channel.
This means that you’ll know exactly when to send a text message and when the mobile push notification will complement a buyer’s journey.
Import your data sets in advance
It’s all about targeted, effective communication. Remember how packed your inbox was last year during Black Friday?
Have a clear understanding of your customer segments and their preferences. Use this information to segment your audience and deliver targeted messaging that resonates with each group.
With Agilic, this targeting includes high-level personalisation and even product feeds tailored specifically to each individual.
Forget sending one email and hoping it works. With Agilic, you can easily send truly individualised emails, text messages and more to each specific customer.
Execute campaigns at the optimal time
Timing is everything when it comes to high-volume shopping periods. Execute your campaigns at the optimal and relevant time by using data-driven insights to determine the best time to reach your audience.
That goes for where they are in the customer journey, too. Did they just make an in-store purchase or click through a product description on your website before bouncing?
These 2 customer journeys aren’t the same — so the campaign you execute for each of these customers has to be unique as well.
How to prepare for a high-volume period
There are several special measures to take before critical days.
Drive reactivation campaigns in the weeks before high-volume periods
To ensure that your speciality campaigns reach as many people as possible, it is important to drive reactivation campaigns in the weeks before high-volume periods. This will prime your customer base for the deals and communication to come and help maintain high open rates.
Maintain high open rates
Maintaining high opening rates is essential to ensuring that you are communicating with customers who are still interested in your messaging. Use mechanisms such as VIP campaigns to incentivize your customers to sign up for your newsletters in time to receive your promotions.
Remove customers who aren’t interested
For the customers who you can’t successfully reactivate, it is important to remove them from your mailing list. This will help maintain high opening rates and avoid creating brand frustration and disillusionment among customers who are not interested in receiving your message.
Put your usual automation flows on hold
During high-volume shopping periods, it is important to put your typical automation flows on hold to ensure that customers are not spammed with these on top of your promotional communications. Make sure that all your communications on that day are relevant to your campaigns.
Test your content, flows and everything you want to send out
Always test your content, flows, and everything you will be sending out at least two to three weeks before peak days. This will help minimise risks such as broken links, personalisation issues and more.
Preparing for a high-volume period involves more than just sending out emails and promotions. Retailers should also consider how they can provide an omnichannel experience for their customers.
An omnichannel approach means that customers can interact with your brand across multiple touchpoints, including email, social media, in-store, and online. By creating a seamless experience across all channels, you increase customer satisfaction and drive sales.
One of the key benefits of an omnichannel approach is that it enables retailers to collect more data about their customers. By tracking customers across multiple touchpoints, retailers can gain a deeper understanding of their preferences and behaviours. This data can then be used to create more personalised marketing messages, which are more likely to resonate with customers.
To create an omnichannel experience, retailers should consider using a marketing automation software provider that offers a range of communication channels.
This might include email, SMS, social media, push notifications, and more. By using a single platform to manage all of your communications, you keep your messaging consistent across all channels.
Another important consideration for retailers is the timing of their communications. As we mentioned earlier, it’s important to plan ahead of time and ensure that your campaigns are executed at the optimal and relevant time. But it’s also important to consider the timing of your messages across different channels.
For example, you might send out an email promotion on Black Friday but also follow up with a push notification or SMS message later in the day.
By using multiple channels to communicate with your customers, you increase the chances that they will see your messages and take action.
Finally, it’s important to remember that high-volume periods are not just about making sales. They also provide an opportunity for retailers to deepen their relationships with customers and build brand loyalty.
By providing a great customer experience across all channels, retailers create more meaningful connections with their customers and drive long-term value.
High-volume periods such as Black Friday and Christmas provide a crucial opportunity for retailers to drive sales and build brand loyalty.
By following best practices for marketing automation and using an omnichannel approach, retailers can create a seamless customer experience and maximise the impact of their campaigns. So, plan, prepare, test, and deliver a great experience for your customers, and you’ll be well on your way to success during high-volume periods.
