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Learn to sleigh at driving holiday website traffic

For many businesses, the festive season is not just the most wonderful time of year; it’s also the most profitable! While most businesses experience a natural increase in sales at this time of year, they must still plan, prepare, and strategise to capitalise on Christmas fully.

For eCommerce businesses, this means implementing strategies to drive more traffic to their website and get more eyes on their products.

Want to know how to improve website traffic at Christmas? In this article, we’ll unwrap the most effective strategies for boosting website traffic this yuletide. From fine-tuning your SEO for seasonal search trends to leveraging social media to spread the festive cheer, we’ll provide practical tips to bring a flurry of visitors to your website.

What are the most effective digital marketing strategies for Christmas?

Ideally, you should begin planning your digital marketing Christmas strategies well before the festive season – but if you’ve left it until the last minute this year, don’t worry; it’s not too late to make an impact!

We’ve compiled a list of the most effective Christmas digital marketing strategies. Of course, you may not have the time and resources to cover all bases, especially if you’re late planning your strategy. The key is to choose the most impactful ones for your business. To do this, you’ll need an in-depth understanding of your audience. Analyse your customer insights, get to know your customer’s preferences, and tailor your strategy accordingly, focusing on the areas you believe will resonate most with them and, therefore, be most effective.

Let’s discover the most effective strategies for attracting your audience’s attention this holiday season. These strategies focus on enhancing your business’s online presence and increasing website traffic and sales.

Produce engaging holiday-themed content 

In the runup to Christmas, many shoppers are searching for tips, advice, and inspiration to make this Christmas their best yet! Consider why people may search for and buy your products or services at Christmas and create engaging holiday content marketing ideas around your business and what it offers. Think holiday gift guides, Christmas behind-the-scenes videos, hosting tips, festive recipes, DIY and craft tutorials, fashion and beauty tips, and more. Create content that will engage your audience or provide value to them, and try to stand out rather than fit in to grab attention. The content you create can then be shared across various channels as part of your wider holiday marketing strategy.

Run festive email marketing campaigns 

According to research by SalesCycle, 59% of consumers say that marketing emails influence their purchase decisions, and over 50% buy from marketing emails at least once a month. Creating a series of emails as part of a Christmas email marketing campaign is a great way to engage your audience, send traffic to your website, and boost sales during the festive season. Don’t forget to use festive, eye-catching email subject lines and include an effective call to action in each email.

Leverage social media 

Once you’ve created your holiday content, social media is the ideal platform for sharing it, engaging your audience, and creating a buzz around your brand at Christmas. Turn your social media profiles into winter wonderlands by decking them out with festive imagery. Connect with and engage your audience by sharing holiday-themed content, running exclusive social media contests, and promoting special offers or discounts – don’t forget to always include a link to a relevant page on your website to drive traffic there. Keep the conversation going by engaging in real-time with your audience and responding to all comments and messages.

Offer promotions and discounts

Christmas can be an expensive time of year, so consumers are always looking for the best value deals. Offer discounts to entice customers to choose your store over competitors. Highlight your offers or discounts on your website, in your email marketing campaign, and across all social media channels to attract more website traffic. 

Women holding a Christmas presentUse PPC ads

Pay-per-click advertising platforms like Google Ads can be used to create highly targeted advertising campaigns. Incorporate a festive theme into your ad copy and imagery and direct traffic to optimised landing pages that align with their search intent to increase conversion rates.

Optimise for holiday keywords

This strategy is best for the more prepared among us, as it needs to be implemented before the holiday season. Adjust your SEO strategy to include holiday-specific keywords to begin your Christmas website optimisation. Your audience will search for terms relating to Christmas, so incorporating these into your website’s content can improve your visibility in search results. This could include optimising product pages and meta tags to reflect holiday search trends and creating high-quality holiday-themed blog posts targeting popular search terms.

Run retargeting campaigns

Retargeting campaigns can be particularly effective during the holiday season as they remind browsers about the products they have viewed or added to their cart when previously visiting your website. This strategy helps to recapture the attention of potential customers and encourages them to complete their purchase.

Encourage user-generated content

Invite your customers to share their holiday experiences with your products or services. This could be in the form of video reviews, photographs, testimonials, or case studies. User-generated content provides authentic promotion for your brand, acts as social proof, and helps build a community. You can then share this content on your social media channels, website, and in marketing emails.

Create urgency

As Christmas draws closer, there can be a sense of panic amongst shoppers. Creating a sense of urgency using limited-time offers, countdown timers, or highlighting low stock levels encourages customers to make quicker purchasing decisions.

How can social media increase Christmas website traffic?

People tend to be more active on social media than ever over Christmas as they catch up with their friends and family’s festive shenanigans and post pictures of their own celebrations. This means it’s also a great channel for businesses to capture and engage their audience’s attention. Here are some top tips for using social media to drive traffic to your website this Christmas.

  • Share engaging holiday content – Link your holiday-themed content back to your website to engage your social media followers and increase traffic.
  • Run festive giveaways – Encourage users to visit your website to enter the competition or read competition rules and terms.
  • Share user-generated content – Ask your following to create festive content related to your brand or products. Then, share this content with a link to the relevant product on your website.
  • Collaborate with influencers – Partner with influencers to promote your brand or products to a wider audience and direct their followers to your website for more information or exclusive deals.
  • Promote exclusive discounts – Create exclusive deals for your social media audience to generate a buzz and drive traffic to your website.
  • Run social media PPC ads – Create engaging holiday imagery and ad copy and leverage social media’s precise targeting features to drive highly relevant traffic to your website.

Remember: Consistency is key. Regularly update your business’s social media platforms with festive content, and make sure you reply to all messages from followers to keep them engaged throughout the holiday season.

Close up of a Christmas tree

What are some quick wins for boosting website traffic during Christmas?

If your business is short on time this holiday season, you can still employ several quick and effective strategies to boost website traffic. These methods are low effort but can potentially drive significant traffic to your website when performed effectively.

  • Limited-time discounts – Create a limited-time discount code and share it with your audience on social media or in a marketing email to quickly boost traffic to your website.
  • Marketing emails – If you don’t have time to create a series of marketing emails, summarise everything your business is doing this Christmas in one or two festive emails. Include links to festive content, details of discount codes or special offers, links to seasonal products and more.
  • User-generated content – Not got the time or resources to create tons of your own festive content this year? Let your customers do the hard work for you! Encourage customers to send photos or videos of them using your products or services and then share them on social media with a link to the relevant product. Authentic and effortless!

Remember: Timing is everything. Schedule your quick-win strategies to coincide with key moments of the festive season, like Cyber Monday or Boxing Day sales. Timing your efforts right can significantly improve their impact.

FatFace Christmas Marketing Campaign

Plenty of businesses are smashing it this Christmas, but one of our favourites is sustainable clothing brand FatFace – who seem to have all bases covered!

Over Black Friday week, FatFace ran new limited-time deals daily. Each deal was promoted with marketing emails with subject lines like “Deal of the Day: 25% off denim, tops & more! Shop our classic looks before midnight.” and “Today Only: 20% off Partywear. This invite ends at midnight.” The subject lines were attention-grabbing to create a real sense of urgency and FOMO (fear of missing out). The word “invite” also made the offer seem more personal. 

When you opened the marketing emails, the background colour was red to create a sense of urgency (and keep things festive!). The shout-out “FREE delivery” also took centre stage, with links to the website’s different product categories displayed clearly as buttons above the fold. A prominent countdown timer was present to show how long was left on the deal, creating further urgency. 

FatFace’s social media presence is just as strong as its email marketing game. Over on its Facebook page, there’s plenty of festive activity, including holiday gifting inspiration from the brand, influencers/bloggers, and customers. User-generated and influencer content features prominently; the brand shares plenty of user-generated videos of festive product styling, each featuring a link to a relevant page on its website. There are also holiday behind-the-scenes videos and just-for-fun posts, increasing engagement and tempting its audience to click a link and visit its website.

Team up with Create8 to drive more traffic to your website this Christmas 

Are you buzzing with festive ideas and eager to implement some of the strategies in this article to skyrocket your website traffic this December?

If you need help writing Christmas-themed content, optimising your website for seasonal traffic, or crafting a merry yuletide email – our team is here to lend a helping hand. We offer a range of digital marketing, content writing, and SEO services that can help you boost traffic and revenue this Christmas.

Contact us today to make this festive season the most profitable one yet for your business!

A Christmas wreath on a white fence