India is widely known as a country of cultural and traditional festivals. It is a nation where festivals not only entail celebrating customs & traditions but are also closely associated with shopping! The period between September to January is known as India’s legendary ‘festive season’ and is undeniably the most lucrative time for Marketers and exceptionally exciting time for shoppers! It is that time of the year when people indulge on themselves and their loved ones. In a country like ours, where purchase decisions are majorly driven by emotions, this season provides a humongous opportunity for Marketers to connect and engage with their existing & potential customers.
With Diwali kicking off this month followed by Christmas & New Year’s, Marketers are putting their best foot forward to attract maximum traffic and optimize their conversion rates. So, apart from driving the usual marketing campaigns, what are the techniques that Marketers can implement to drive more sales?
Fix a goal & be prepared for the traffic! – Firstly, you need to have a fixed goal, strategy and objective that will resonate with your customers. This goes for any marketing campaign that you launch – without a goal or strategy, you will never be able to measure whether those efforts were effective or not. Additionally, be prepared for the traffic since there is 25per cent spike in traffic during festive season.
Lessons from the past – Like they say, the best way to succeed in life is by taking lessons from the past. Closely analyze your previous campaigns, understand what worked for you & what didn’t and ideate your new campaigns accordingly. Additionally, look around you, study campaigns that were implemented by other industry players, cull out the positives and craft campaigns which best address the needs of your target audience.
Start early & build curiosity – This goes without saying! Marketers must start creating a buzz on their portal as well as on Social Media at least 3 weeks prior to the commencement of the festive season. Design your campaigns in such a way that they generate curiosity which lead up to the BIG DAY! Simply slashing your prices for one day will only help you create a small buzz. Add a countdown timer; facilitate sneak peeks on the offers for the day to create excitement, flash banner ads on your website to keep them coming back! Running daily deals and special offers will help you engage with consumers, build awareness and multiply sales. If it all works right, chances are that your campaigns may even go viral!!
“Smell What Sells” –One of the key elements which will help Marketers differentiate themselves from their competition is profound knowledge and deep understanding of their target audience & the need of the hour. For example, during Diwali people tend to shop more for Apparel, Home Appliances, Gold, Home Décor, etc. Run innovative campaigns in these product categories. Make sure to include the top selling products and also ensure that you are well stocked! Focus on what’s selling rather than what’s NOT! Make your customers know that they are a part of something BIG by customizing messages. Use Social Proof to make sure your users don’t feel alone. Knowing what people are looking for will help you make more sales!
Time Limiting: Innovate & empower! – One of the coolest ways to multiply your conversion rates is by installing a time limit on your offer. This helps in making your offers even more attractive & powerful and helps allure customers to buy your products.
Lightening Deals & Flash Sales! – Another revolutionary way to attract consumers is through Flash Sales! The global e-commerce giant, Amazon uses this technique to increase conversions and keep its consumers engaged! Running Lightening Deals & Flash Sales during festive seasons is a great idea since consumers tend to keep a close watch on the deals causing significant rise in website traffic, increases consumer stickiness & loyalty and keeps them coming back for more! Remember, Scarcity causes Virality!
Delight your customers! – Go the extra mile! Surprise your shopper. Do the un-expected. For example, enable free shipping, share brand merchandise, or Include exclusive print coupons in the customer shipment. Cross Sell!
Avoid Feedbacks! – People are on your portal to SHOP! It is not an ideal time for you to ask people for their feedback. Remove all the distracting elements from the page and say “NO” to pop ups! Keep it plain/simple.
Convert consumers into brand endorsers – Yes, you read it right. Your existing consumers are your biggest assets!! Marketers need to stop spending all
their energies in attracting new visitors and must rather focus in transforming existing customers into brand advocates! For instance, if a customer makes a purchase on your website, you can encourage him to share it on his Facebook/Twitter profile by alluring him with discounts/schemes for his next purchase. This will help Marketers reach out to a larger target audience without any investment in advertising. Additionally, it will also build consumer loyalty and strengthen brand recall.
A friend in need; is a friend indeed! – Festivals are all about sharing and receiving gifts! Generally consumers are indecisive while buying gifts for their loved ones and prefer taking recommendations from family or friends while making a purchase. Installing tools which fast-track this process and help consumers decide faster and buy quicker will help accelerate conversion rates and multiply sales.
Bring in the elements of fun, happiness and joy to all your campaigns. Make this festive season more eccentric, engaging and enjoyable for all your
customers! Have a happy festive season!
About the author: Rohan Dighe, Founder & CEO of ViralMint . Founded in 2011, ViralMint’s products are a concoction of Social Experiences which enable marketers to boost sales, increase conversions and drive engagement.
