Category: Marketing Strategy

By now, you have probably started preparing your strategy for Black Friday and the December holiday sales. The upcoming holiday season is predicted to be eCommerce-driven, with more businesses than ever before competing for the attention of online shoppers. 

It is a huge opportunity to tap into the online audience and drive traffic to your eCommerce store, but how do you recreate the in-store feel-good experience digitally? By feel-good experience we mean the physical experience of browsing the store aisles with festive songs playing in the background, interacting with a sales associate, and all other sensorial elements of in-store shopping. 

We listed 7 ideas to help you enhance the digital shopping experience and stand out this holiday season. Continue reading or watch the Holiday Sales webinar for expert insights on how to prepare for the 2020 holiday season. 

#1 Microsites

Create a microsite with branded content to highlight a specific product line or a campaign, or focus on a niche audience group. Alternatively, you can leverage a digital storefront to tell your brand story through an immersive, digital experience. Shops on Instagram, for instance, is essentially a lookbook that makes it easier for shoppers to browse your product catalog and curated collections, and check prices without leaving the app. 

#2 Reviews & Testimonials

Product reviews are the cornerstone of an online store and an essential element when building trust on your products and brand. In fact, 89% of consumers read reviews before buying products. Ensure your website has authentic reviews and real testimonials from your customers. Avoid pushing for reviews that aren’t rooted in real customer experiences. 

#3 Email 

Stay top of mind and send emails regularly to highlight your promotions and seasonal products. Keep the communication going with potential customers through effective email nurturing and drip campaigns. Don’t forget post-purchase emails to generate reviews after the festive season – they are a great asset to drive sales all year round! 

#4 Live Chats

Deliver the best customer service during the holiday rush by staying alert and prepared to handle the increased volume of customer requests. Consider using a live chat on your website or a Facebook Messenger campaign to bring that white glove sales associate experience shoppers get in-store.

#5 Videos

Enhance the digital shopping experience with creative content that goes beyond static product photos. Help customers make the purchase decision through a product video that gives a complete picture of the product, demonstrate what they can do with your product, and explain the benefits of the product. 

#6 Influencer Content & UGC

In addition to branded videos, influencer content is a great way to show how your products work in real life. With nearly 50% of consumers depending on influencer recommendations, leveraging an influencer to curate stories, photos, and videos that feature your product can have a huge impact on your sales. User Generated Content (UGC) is a good alternative to add authenticity and social proof. 

#7 Memes & Stickers

Engage consumers in social media with thumb-stopping memes and fun stickers. They allow you to share your brand voice while attracting more follows and shares. There is a lot of room this holiday season for this type of marketing that has both experimental as well as direct commerce side.

Hopefully, these tips have given you fresh ideas to think outside the box this holiday season. The holiday rush will be here before you know it, so start planning now. If you need help with your strategy, book a consultation with our digital experts. 

Businesses and organizations looking to scale their marketing are faced with a question: should I hire an in-house marketing team or work with an agency?

Given the evolving landscape, personnel costs, technology savings, and the specialized nature of the labor, we have listed 8 key benefits of partnering with a marketing agency.

#1 You Pay Less

One of the biggest misconceptions is that hiring an agency is expensive. In fact, working with an agency usually costs you less than having an in-house team – and you have more flexibility. You save on recruiter fees, you save on training, you save on software, and you can dial the agency’s involvement up or down, according to your needs.

#2 A Wider Range of Skills 

A digital marketing plan needs a multitude of skill sets. Budgeting, copywriting, social media, creative, Google, video ads, emerging platforms, managing these pieces… these are all unique skills. Building a team packed with all this talent can take months from posting a job and conducting interviews until hiring best candidates and onboarding them to their new roles and company culture. When working with an agency, you get a pre-packed team of highly trained experts who have the right combination of skills. You will have the ideal full-time equivalent (s) who can jump in quickly and get your marketing programs running in no time – without complex hiring and salary costs. 

#3 Better Return on Investment

Agencies are result-driven; it is in our best interest to keep you happy (and maximize your ROI) – for the sake of the partnership and our reputation. 

If you are hesitant in spending money on agency fees, take a moment to think of the monetary savings you achieve with all that agency expertise. Picture an in-house marketer with versatile marketing knowledge who may be familiar with SEO, Facebook Ads, social media, and email marketing, but only has basic understanding of each. While this person does a great job in running day-to-day marketing, you need deeper knowledge of the tools and techniques to scale a specific area and get the results you had hoped for. 

#4 Fresh View of Your Brand

An agency will give you fresh ideas and opinions based on their knowledge of industry trends and competition. Yes, an in-house team will start out knowing your business better than an agency. But an external perspective from an agency can be an advantage to your business.

#5 Access to Latest Technologies & Best Practices 

Agencies are continuously training and educating their staff to stay on top industry best practices and latest developments. We come to the table with not only the expertise and knowledge, but also with industry’s must-have technologies and best tools, some of which smaller in-house teams cannot afford, or simply don’t have access to.

#6 Flexibility to Choose the Right Level of Service 

A good agency will embrace close collaboration, stay responsive when ad-hoc issues arise, and facilitate weekly, or biweekly, meetings to discuss results and projections.

Typically, agencies offer a range of service levels so you can choose the Service Level Agreement (SLA) that meets your communication needs. You can select an SLA with monthly meetings, or you can choose an SLA where there will be zero daylight between your agency and your team.

#7 End-to-End Project Management

Although collaboration may be faster with an in-house team, it doesn’t guarantee that the process is more efficient. Some in-house employees may be disorganized, or get distracted when other priorities come up. Such occasions have a negative impact on your results, and may cause significant delays. Agencies, however, are deadline orientated and follow a clear project structure, from planning to delivery, to ensure projects are delivered in a given timeframe and on budget. After all, your success is their success. 

#8 Been There, Done That

A reputable agency has years’ of experience working with multiple businesses and organizations. To talk about Mason Interactive specifically, we have helped wholesale businesses go big with Direct-to-Consumer, eCommerce startups build a strong foundation for their brands, and dozens of colleges exceed their enrollment goals. When you want to do the same, we will bring those wins to your table so you can lean on us for our strategic expertise and tactical execution.

In the end, outsourcing or keeping your marketing in-house can both be a correct solution for your business. It all comes down to your unique situation. While the marketing technology continues to evolve, it has become easier to create and track campaigns, manage workflows and drive results, even within smaller in-house teams. At the same time, advanced use of the latest technology and tools requires constant training on new skills in order to keep up with the competition. 

A hybrid approach is the most desirable option for many businesses. Getting that extra help in areas where you don’t have an in-house expert can make a huge difference to your overall performance. We’d love to talk to you more about your marketing situation, book a call with our digital marketing experts today. 

Summer is in full swing, but at Mason Interactive our focus is already on Black Friday and the upcoming Holiday season. 2020 has been an interesting year this far, to say the least, and while things are still not “back to normal”, it is more important than ever for businesses to start planning their holiday strategies well in advance. 

We spoke with Mason’s Director of Media, Adrian Padron, about Holiday trends and why this year is shaping to be different than others. He also shared insights on how his team is preparing for the busiest sales period of the year. 

Adrian, what is 2020 looking like in the digital advertising world? 

The Coronavirus certainly flipped our lives upside down, and for advertisers this meant quick strategic shifts, or even pausing advertising all together. This year has also created new opportunities when it comes to eCommerce. Since the pandemic first hit in March, we saw significantly higher add-to-cart activities and online interactions with our clients’ brands and products. The leading eCommerce platform Shopify recorded higher traffic volumes in March compared to the traffic normally during the Holiday season. The trend has continued throughout the Summer while people are still spending more time at their homes and browsing online. 

With all the uncertainty, it is impossible to predict what the second half of 2020 will look like. If it is anything like the first half of the year, the 2020 Holiday season can become the biggest online sales event in history. Essentially, this can be a huge opportunity for online merchants. On the other hand, when digitally-native brands and brick and mortar retailers are all competing in the same marketplace, the market will become more competitive. Even more so, retailers must have a robust strategy in place in order to stand out. 

Does the increased online traffic mean we are going to see record-breaking sales volumes?

It is important to understand that increased traffic doesn’t always lead to increased sales. In fact, while we have seen the online traffic grow since the pandemic, the conversion rates have decreased. This happens when consumers are in a “browsing mindset”, and add products to the shopping cart without an intention to buy. My recommendation for retailers is to put emphasis on effective cart-abandonment programs, VIP customer nurturing and remarketing tactics in order to drive conversions.

How is the changing consumer behaviour going to impact the Holiday sales?

Without a doubt, the pandemic will affect consumers’ ability and willingness to visit physical stores, and while some retailers have chosen to offer curbside pickups, fast and easy home delivery will be the primary choice for many. 

When we think about the traditional “holiday shopping experience”, it is often associated with busy stores filled with Christmas songs, flashing lights, last-minute shoppers, and big promotions. Now that the in-store experience is less accessible, retailers must find new ways to create digital experiences that embrace the spirit of the season. 

74% of US holiday shoppers said they will shop online more for the holidays than they did in previous seasons

Google Survey, June 2020

What are consumers looking for this Holiday season?

Typically, consumers are more willing to explore new products and buy from new brands during the Holiday season, and businesses often take this time to introduce themselves to new audiences. Promotions are one thing driving the buying decision, but the 2020 Holiday Shopper selects brands that have values. They want to know where the product comes from, how it is being sourced, and is the brand giving back to the greater good of everyone else. 

Social responsibility is going to be really important this Holiday season, just like it has been increasingly important during the first half of the year when the pandemic hit, and when the BLM movement became more top of mind. When planning a Holiday strategy, think of how you can incorporate that level of authenticity, and add value to your customers’ lives. Avoid one-off “I care about this” campaigns just for the sake of grabbing shoppers’ attention. Instead, focus on consistency and rooting those values to your business model. Social responsibility matters, but it has to be authentic.

When should you start thinking about the Holiday strategy?

The sooner the better! At Mason Interactive we start talking about Holiday strategies in July, and schedule meetings with our clients for August to get projections on what their goals are. Consumer behaviours start shifting in September-October, so this is the time to kick-start campaigns in order to build brand awareness and sales intent. When November hits, it is important to have a calendar of planned marketing activities finalized, and shared with your marketing partners so they can build your campaigns around important sale events. Finally, November and December is the big push that determines the success of your campaigns. It is crucial that all strategic decisions are made before this peak sales period. 

Additionally, it is always a good practice to start building your audience months leading up to the season in order to keep your customer bucket full of good-quality customers who are ready to buy from you when Holiday promotions begin. Don’t get caught waiting and preparing a last-minute strategy.

You talk a lot about planning, what’s the first step to get started? 

Setting up realistic goals and expectations are the key to a successful strategy. Start by reviewing your sales and inventory reports from past years, look at the data to identify what worked and what didn’t, what products sold the most, and how well your marketing campaigns performed. Keep your past experiences in mind as you think of this year’s plan. Once you have written down clear goals, you can start talking about the strategy in more detail with your team and marketing partners.

What does the Holiday season look like at Mason Interactive?

It is no secret that Q4 is the busiest period for any performance marketing agency. The Holiday process is rooted in our annual workflow, and we are fully equipped to provide the additional time and resources that are needed to grow our clients’ businesses. The Mason team always goes the extra mile, and during the Holiday season we double that mile while working on daily forecasts and last minute creative swaps, and tracking data in real time in order to maintain the highest performance. 

We are prepared for unpredicted issues, and during the peak days our team is on-call 24/7 to solve queries that require our immediate attention, such as a website going down due to high traffic volumes. It is crucial that we over-communicate with our clients during the sale days, and get their approval to stretch further if we see an opportunity to scale their campaigns. Our clients may receive a text from me: “your performance is good, do you want to do more?”

Furthermore, Q4 is all about reaching the goals together, and our team takes great pride in helping our clients achieve 4X ROAS, or grow their revenue by 100%, if not even more. 

Lastly, how do you win the Holiday Shopper?

Simply put, you win by planning. There is no one-size-fits-all Holiday strategy that would guarantee results for every business. Planning in advance, however, is crucial to everyone, no matter how big your budget is, or what your end goals are. You don’t want to make important, strategic decisions on the fly when you are in the middle of November and risk slowing down the sales. Start the conversations with your marketing partners today, plan your promotions and get ready for the 2020 Holiday success.

Need help with your Holiday strategy? Schedule a free call with our experts, we have been running holiday campaigns for all-size businesses for over 10 years and can help you build a killer strategy.