Master Your Holiday Ecommerce Strategy: Avoid Common Pitfalls and Thrive This Season

In 2024, global ecommerce sales are expected to exceed $6 trillion, marking an 8.4% rise from last year. This holiday season, shoppers plan to spend more, setting new records. Deloitte predicts that the average shopper will spend $1,778, which is 8% more than last year.

According to Adtaxi’s 2024 Holiday Survey & Report, consumers are eager to shop, with many already starting and looking for deals. They’re also more inclined to use digital tools for shopping and price comparisons.

To succeed, ecommerce brands must quickly adapt and avoid making common mistakes to effectively engage, convert, and retain shoppers in this fiercely competitive period. Having audited thousands of ecommerce sites and collaborated with hundreds of brands, we’ve identified recurring pitfalls that can hinder success. More importantly, we’ve discovered insightful solutions to overcome them.

Common Pitfalls in Holiday Marketing

Navigating the complexities of holiday promotions can pose significant challenges for even the most seasoned professionals. A major hurdle is wasted spending. Marketers often misallocate resources, leading to inefficient budget use without achieving the desired results. Focusing too heavily on a single advertising platform can result in overspending and diminishing returns, as many fail to diversify their efforts, missing the benefits of a broader reach. In a saturated market, marketers struggle to stand out as their content often fails to captivate and engage their audience effectively.

Frequent algorithm updates on digital marketing platforms can disrupt strategy effectiveness, making it vital for marketers to stay ahead of these changes. Accurately measuring the return on investment (ROI) of holiday marketing efforts involves analyzing data across multiple platforms for a comprehensive understanding of performance. Many face difficulties with accurate attribution, which can lead to skewed insights.

Also Read: Halloween scares that keep even sales pros up at night (and how to defeat them)

Solutions to Holiday Marketing Missteps

With pitfalls like wasted spend, platform overspending, and content that fails to engage. Here are some of our top proven strategies to overcome these common marketing mistakes, ensuring that your brand capitalizes on the holiday rush.

One of the most effective solutions to wasted spend is to create dedicated ad groups that focus on specific target audiences known to generate revenue. By employing AI modeling, you can further refine your targeting efforts, ensuring your ads reach the right people at the right time. It’s also crucial to optimize the platforms you’re advertising on, using their specific features to maximize your campaigns’ effectiveness.

To avoid overspending on a single platform, diversify your advertising budget across at least two platforms. A cross-platform and cross-device strategy will ensure a more balanced and comprehensive reach, allowing you to capture customers wherever they are. This approach not only spreads risk but also leverages the unique strengths of each platform, enhancing your overall marketing efforts.

Creating engaging content is vital for attracting and retaining customers. Using first-party data and developing a detailed customer persona helps you understand who you are speaking to. This knowledge allows you to create a clear and compelling call to action that resonates with your audience. To further enhance your holiday marketing efforts, learn about your competitors and test different ads with tools specific to each platform.

Algorithmic changes on advertising platforms can disrupt efforts, but staying aware of these changes and adjusting targeting methods accordingly can mitigate their impact. Be flexible and willing to experiment with new technology to keep your campaigns running smoothly.

Measuring success is more than just tracking sales; it’s about analyzing reporting data from all platforms to create a comprehensive view of your performance. This includes evaluating revenue and sales data to calculate your blended return on advertising spend (ROAS), providing a clearer picture of your marketing’s impact.

Attribution challenges can obscure your understanding of what is driving sales. Employing multiple attribution methods beyond the “Last Touch” model can offer more insight into your customer’s journey. Monitor all active platforms and avoid relying on a single channel for results, ensuring a balanced and informed marketing approach.

Optimize Your Ecommerce Site for Holiday Success

Turning more website visitors into buyers can be tough, often because the site isn’t optimized well, especially during checkout. Many businesses put too much focus on their homepage and forget how crucial product detail pages (PDPs) and the checkout process are. Make sure you display shipping and return policies next to the call-to-action (CTA) from the PDP through the checkout process. Improving your site’s user experience and streamlining the checkout can reduce any hassles customers may face.

If offering free shipping, remove “Shipping Calculated at Checkout” on Shopify. By removing the message and replacing this text with alternatives, you can help reduce cart abandonment, as unexpected costs at checkout often cause customers to abandon their carts. Showing all costs upfront, including shipping, creates a more transparent pricing strategy and an honest consumer experience. This can give you a competitive edge over stores that add shipping costs at the last step.

Include a checkout progress bar, as research shows that simplifying forms boosts completion rates. To increase conversions and average order value, provide a dynamic banner when free shipping isn’t available but offer a threshold for it. For a smoother transaction, offer diverse payment options, including deferred payments. To boost holiday sales, consider cross-selling items that naturally complement the current purchase.

Building strong relationships with new customers post-purchase is crucial for sustaining long-term engagement and driving growth. Equally important is having a mobile-friendly website, as it caters to the increasing number of holiday shoppers who use their phones to browse and make purchases on the go.

Finding the Perfect Media Mix for Holiday Success

Selecting the right blend of media channels is an area where many marketers face challenges. So, how can you determine the most effective media mix?

For Startups: Focus on building brand awareness. Use search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing to establish your presence without breaking the bank. Boost reach with social media advertising and prioritize organic retargeting to nurture leads gently. Spend 20-30% of your budget on paid retargeting for better conversions but avoid overloading your audience.

For Emerging Brands: Make email marketing a priority. It’s a powerful way to drive sales with personalized offers. Add search engine marketing (SEM), social media, and programmatic ads to increase visibility. This mix helps target customers effectively using data insights.

For Mature Brands: Leverage your established customer base. Use SEM, social media, and programmatic ads, and explore creative channels like connected TV (CTV), digital out-of-home (DOOH), and retail media networks. Invest in data tools to fine-tune targeting and measure campaign performance accurately.

This holiday season promises record-breaking spending by shoppers, presenting a prime opportunity for marketers. However, after evaluating numerous ecommerce sites and working closely with hundreds of brands, we’ve seen recurring mistakes that can impede marketing efforts. By leveraging our expert strategies, optimizing your site, selecting the best media mix, remaining adaptable, and drawing insights from the latest marketing trends, you can avoid these pitfalls and boost your ecommerce brand’s holiday marketing success now and into the future.