To Work with Me, visit the website of my new business Placentric Digital Marketing
a fresh approach to Digital Marketing with a focus on Tourism & Regional Development

Ann Donnelly Digital Marketing Consulting

Last Minute Marketing for Holiday Sales – Great Example and Trends

Clients often ask me for good examples of digital marketing and so I’m always looking out for the best from all types and sizes of organizations. This week I’ve come up with a great example and some other great information from “Think with Google” to help you with your last minute marketing for holiday sales.

Great Example of Last Marketing for Holiday Sales

Doing some online Christmas shopping (for myself :-), I visited https://www.ralphlauren.com/ and was delighted at the sales and great deal on shipping — all clearly stated in the best positions on the homepage of the site, along with the last date for orders for delivery by Christmas Eve. The folks at Ralph Lauren know their audience and are clearly addressing our needs, real and perceived, at this time:

  • 40% Off – spending budgets may nearly have run out, you may have some second cousins still to shop for that you might not want to spend full price on (no, you wouldn’t?). This is also good justification for those of you like me, purchasing last minute gifts for myself! See more below on the shopping trend to get the best deals!

  • FREE SHIPPING! – who doesn’t love FREE SHIPPING?! Well, you are going to be paying for it somehow, but most shoppers don’t want to deal with the shipping choices and paying for shipping.
    • And, in the case of Ralph Lauren, they are offering free FAST Shipping – who doesn’t love FAST SHIPPING?! It’s not next day, but you will get your package by Christmas Eve, clearly stated in the header of the site. (I just got a notification that I’ll be getting it this week – way to manage and exceed my expectations!)
  • The category GIFTS is now placed in the most prominent position on the site’s main navigation because these are a priority for shoppers at this point.
last minute marketing ralph lauren website

While Ralph’s team are doing an excellent job on the website, the other channels aren’t using these techniques.

  • The social media channels have great imagery and videos inline with the content on the site, but they are not shouting about the discounts or free shipping offered on the site.
    • As they are clearly digital marketing experts, have they determined that soft sell is best on social media? Have they found that if they get them to the website, they can then sell there?
      • Great that they have a specific landing page for the campaign (and hashtag #EveryMomentIsAGift). The Landing Page has stories and then a call to action to “shop the story” so not really targeting those last minute shoppers, though.
      • Not so great that they don’t use calls to action in the post.
  • I signed up for the mailing list a couple of days ago. The site has a pop-up (wonder what their sign up stats are for this) that I closed, but did opt-in when checking out. I have not received any emails regarding last minute Christmas shopping.

As tomorrow is the last day to purchase for delivery by Christmas, maybe they will be pushing last minute holiday shopping then! Talk about creating a “sense of urgency”!

Ralph Lauren Twitter at Christmas Ralph Lauren Twitter at Christmas

For inspiration on creating a great brand,
watch HBO’s documentary Very Ralph.

 

Holiday Shopping Trends identified by Google

Google has just published a post related to holiday shopping behaviors: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/holiday-shopping-behavior-trends/. According to Google the three big holiday shopping trends:

  • “They are thrill seekers” — The thrill of getting the best deal at the last minute — is this inline with the thinking of any segment of your audience? Per Google, “mobile searches for “best deals” have grown over 90%”.

  • “Time is their most valuable asset” — While time is important, but not all shoppers use it wisely, so if you can provide solutions for this, you have a winning strategy. Google also notes that shoppers are looking for the best options for returns – what, when, how, etc.

Make the most of these techniques and observations and develop the best strategy for last minute marketing for holiday sales relevant to your own target audience.