In this current holiday season, consumer holiday spirits seem to have hit a low point this year. Despite being a wonderful time to spend with family and friends, the holidays are a strain financially for many people.

According to a Dentsu report, 86% of consumers say they are concerned about higher prices as they approach this holiday shopping season, up from 75% last year. And 53% of shoppers expect inflation to impact their holiday celebrations, per Aki Technologies.

Budgets are tightening across the board. There are also larger spending trends to consider, like buyers prioritizing experiences over material goods. So how can brands continue to attract consumers?

The first answer is emotional resonance. Brands that make shoppers feel something get them to spend. This is nothing new, but it’s especially true when the marketplace is this competitive.

One way to get to consumers’ hearts is to convey that buyers truly care for the people they’re shopping for through the products. Personalization conveys this. Sites like Etsy offer items like cutting boards, luggage, and underwear — all of which is customizable. Initials, full names, significant dates — anything meaningful can be incorporated into most products. This doesn’t have to be pricey; you can personalize gifts like earrings and blankets on Amazon. This extra step differentiates your product from your competitors’.

Don’t miss out on the personal touch

Another way is by implementing personalization across digital touch points such as their mobile app, email communications, SMS, and various other touchpoints, brands can effectively cultivate customer loyalty on a broad scale and attract fresh purchasers. Personalization enhances retention by providing customers with a distinct online shopping experience tailored to their preferences. Cultivating a devoted customer base is essential for boosting customer retention, as these loyal customers place their trust in your product.

Invest in loyalty programs

Google Insights found that 58% of shoppers favor companies whose mobile apps remember who they are and their past behavior.

Offer incentives such as discounts, free shipping, or exclusive access to products. Recognize and reward customers for their loyalty. Send personalized emails or newsletters to keep customers engaged. These incentives and rewards give customers a reason to keep coming back to your business. They also provide a way for customers to feel appreciated and valued, which can lead to increased loyalty and word-of-mouth marketing. Additionally, personalized emails or newsletters are a great way to stay connected with your customers and give them relevant and timely information.

According to PwC research,  Gen Z consumer loyalty is available for brands to cultivate. While they don’t belong in large numbers to customer loyalty programs, those who do belong outperform other age groups.

Avoid false urgency. Create a real reason to buy.

If panic buying has taught us anything, it’s that consumers can have a sense of urgency and will purchase when they have confidence something they need or want will sell out. The holiday season is known for deep pricing discounts that can only be found once a year and shoppers know how to spot the good ones.

When creating your holiday marketing plans, make sure you’re clearly incentivizing shoppers to visit your online store and complete a purchase. There is a fine line between haphazard discounting or giveaways and creating a relationship with your customers. You don’t want to devalue your brand to the point where customers think it’s cheap. They might not be compelled to make a repeat purchase.

The holiday season isn’t just about creating revenue — it’s also about establishing connections with customers who will return to purchase in the offseason. Make sure that customer retention is top of mind during any marketing decision you make for the holidays.

Brands can capitalize on the holiday spirit by crafting heartfelt messages and campaigns that evoke emotions and create meaningful connections with their target audience. They can also use festive design elements and colors to create a festive atmosphere, and offer free gifts or discounts to customers who make a purchase during the holiday season. Additionally, they can partner with charities and donate a portion of their profits to charity.

By Dani Rovin, Business Development Manager

The holiday season is a difficult one for any sales or business development manager, but you can overcome it with the right strategies and some creativity. Even though many of your leads are likely to be on holiday vacations at this time, app usage skyrockets during this busy season. This jump in app usage means it’s not about sending more emails and contacting all of your past leads but rather about finding new and creative ways to reach the most relevant prospects.

Marketing Strategy for an App: How to market a mobile App?

Finding new and creative ways to reach the most relevant prospects for your app during the busiest shopping season.

To help you have successful reach outs over the holiday season, we’ve built a list of SaaS selling tips to help inspire you:

1. Prepare for the holiday season in advance

The holiday season doesn’t always start with the actual holidays. Many prospective leads start preparing for their Christmas purchases early in the year so plan ahead and make contact early enough they haven’t already made their decisions.

2. Don’t be too pushy in your outreach

The last thing your prospects want is to be inundated with emails and messages from you during the holidays. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t reach out at all, you just need to be creative with how you do it. Many leads are both considering and willing to buy at this time, so it’s crucial to hit the right person with the right messaging without unintentionally pestering them away.

3. Target your efforts on the right vertical

Get better results by focusing on the right targets. Some verticals can still prove very fruitful during this time. For example, e-commerce is a great vertical to target during this time as consumers spend an increasing amount of time on e-commerce apps year after year. According to Adjust, in November 2021, global installs and sessions of shopping apps jumped 24% compared to the rest of the year, which leaves you with many opportunities to make contact.

4. Use special Christmas-themed sales and promotions

Spread the cheer around by offering deals themed for the holidays. This could be in the festive form of promotions that take on holiday themes to attract new customers, or you could encourage current customers to play Santa by gifting your product to someone for a discounted price. The holiday season is full of creative inspiration, so find exciting ways to make your customers’ seasons bright.

5. Find time to thank your current customers

Don’t leave your current customers out in the cold! This is a great time to reach out to your current clients to focus on promoting upsells and cross-sells. If you’re offering great deals for new customers, make sure you’re taking care of your current customers as well, so they don’t feel left out of the deals. The holidays are about letting your loved ones know you care about them, and if you bring that sentiment to your clients, you’ll be more likely to spend many more holidays with them as you increase brand loyalty.

6. Don’t slow down during the holiday post-season

Nothing is over until the ball drops! Your leads will return from their holiday vacations feeling fresh and ready to explore their options. This makes for a perfect time to reach out and make them an offer so they’ll want to start the new year with you.

The Holidays Don’t Have to Be Hard

The holidays can be a struggle for every SaaS Sales Manager, but they don’t have to be. Instead of seeing them as slow and full of difficulties, see them as an opportunity to be creative in the ways you bring in new clients and an opportunity to build your relationships with existing customers. The holidays can be chaotic, but by planning ahead and following these tips, you will not only survive but thrive during this busy season. Your success will help to avoid any post-holiday slowdowns and allow you to enter the new year on a high and ready to take on new goals. 

Schedule a meeting with us to see how we can help you make the most out of each campaign this holiday season.

2022’s Fifa World Cup represents a lot of firsts. This year will be the first time the event is hosted by a Middle Eastern country and the first time the event has been delayed until fall/winter. The World Cup generally takes place in June – July, but the event has been delayed to November due to the extreme heat in Qatar.

As Qatar gears up to host this year’s World Cup, e-commerce businesses are gearing up for the expected industry boom that comes with it. The World Cup has traditionally had a strong economic impact around the world, particularly for host companies, but now that the event moved to the eventful month of November, e-commerce business owners are unsure what to expect. With the World Cup now scheduled for a major e-commerce month due to the holiday season, how can business owners prepare for the unique opportunities this year’s World Cup has to offer?

E-Commerce and Past World Cups

In the past, the World Cup has been a lucrative event for the industry, but tapping into this opportunity has required some extra spending. For example, in 2014, companies spent $1.5 billion on World-Cup-focused advertising and marketing. During the 2018 cup, a 14% increase compared to previous years was predicted for the global e-commerce market. The outcome exceeded this expectation with sales rising a dazzling 15%. The most growth was seen in the year’s first three quarters, the time period close to the World Cup.

Although the landscape has changed slightly due to the pandemic, online spending has been rising for years, and high-profile events like the World Cup provide an excellent opportunity for companies to expand their user acquisition and awareness activities. The previous World Cup had fans streaming over 15 million hours of digital content, tweeting 700 million times, and posting over three billion World Cup-themed Facebook posts – and this was before TikTok (currently the World Cup’s biggest sponsor) even existed. This means you have an easily accessible and already online audience you can capitalize on with your own user acquisition ventures.

But with World Cup-specific advertising requiring such large investments of time and funds, are the benefits worth the costs?

Consumer Spending During World Cups

The World Cup is more than just an opportunity to further your user acquisition goals with targeted advertising. Several studies have revealed that during previous World Cup events, e-commerce sales have spiked, and user spending has soared. During preparations for the 2014 World Cup, e-commerce purchases began rising in December 2013, seven months before the event was to take place. Studies before the world cup projected that the event would generate a 27% rise in e-commerce sales in the host country of Brazil alone. This increase translates into a monetary value of approximately $16.6 billion US dollars.

Citizens of other countries also increased spending, with UK consumers estimated to have spent approximately 174.71 million pounds. The study added that had their team advanced to the finals, this number may have grown to 367.49 million. These are significant numbers that have the potential to grow your business, and it’s all at your fingertips. So even though it may require more of your budget to be diverted to soccer-focused campaigns, the results prove that investing in World Cup mania is often worth the price.

The Risks

Unfortunately, investing in World Cup-related campaigns isn’t always smooth sailing. Data collected during the 2014 World Cup revealed that consumer spending is often closely tied to their team’s performance in the Cup. For example, Germany, the winner of the World Cup in 2014, showed an average of 75% increase in sales on the day after their victory. On the other hand, Brazil experienced a 17% drop in transactions after their loss to Germany, compared to the 9% increase they experienced after winning a match.

After its elimination from the World Cup, the USA experienced a 7% decrease in online spending, while Mexico had a 51% drop in spending after its loss. Finally, UK’s spending was reduced by 13% after losing to Uruguay. These statistics prove that investing in World Cup campaigns can be a gamble. Although it’s often successful, be prepared for a sudden decrease in user acquisition following a devastating match loss.

Manage Your World Cup Campaign with Skipper

After examining the potential benefits and risks, you’ll need to analyze whether allocating your budget towards World Cup advertising or channeling your budget into the e-commerce events that take place at this time of year will be more beneficial to your company. It’s important to consider your product niche, audience, and user acquisition goals before coming to a decision, and it’s important to remember that the decision doesn’t need to be a choice of “either-or”. With tools such as Skipper, you can manage multiple user acquisition campaigns across multiple platforms- at the same time.

Skipper allows you to create, maintain, and optimize your campaign across multiple platforms without breaking the bank. With real-time performance insights and actionable reports, you’ll be ready to adjust your campaign to accommodate any outcome and address consumers’ needs as they arise. In addition, Skipper supports all major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads, TikTok, Apple Search, Twitter, Snapchat, and more.

Get in touch today to learn how we can help you kick off your campaign and meet all your user acquisition goals.