Strong Marketing Makes For Happy Holidays

In our first blog of the month yesterday, we discussed how an effective online marketing campaign during the holiday season can significantly help to “explode” sales for your business in the fourth quarter. Commonly considered the busiest time of the year, the fourth quarter is certainly an opportunity for business owners to cash in on the holiday rush.

We raised a number of questions in yesterday’s blog that centred around how you can encourage consumers to visit your store over the competition this holiday season. With help from Paula Polman’s article on About.com, we analyzed a five step method to creating a successful internet marketing campaign.

Picking up where we left off, Polman recommends that business owners seriously consider their budgets during this time of year. This should be done after you have already determined who your target market is. This will allow you to realistically decide how much your costs may be.

It is important to prioritize your ads in terms of where you will get the most exposure. If getting the desired results do not fit into your budget, you will have to put some ads in a “holding list”. As Polman explains, “as the ads start to pull in results you can always go back and expand your marketing campaign from that holding list.”

Step four involves “creating your ad content”. She says that internet marketing works best when you focus on only one or two things. Choose your best selling items and create a solid campaign that will draw appeal from your target market. Remember to focus on the benefit of the product or service rather than the product or service itself.

This way, you will connect with your customers on an emotional level. For example, writes Polman, “If you are selling fishing rods…you’re selling the excitement of successfully landing that monster in the lake. If you are selling cosmetics, you’re selling beauty.”

Finally, track and monitor your ads. This step is critical in maintaining an effective marketing campaign, states Polman. Paying attention to what works and what doesn’t work is how you will be able to continue to use your money wisely going forward. Of course, it will also help you to maximize profits by focusing on what makes you successful.