Whoever wrote It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year obviously didn’t work in marketing.
The late nights, quick turns and pressure to perform amplify even more right around now. And to those who procrastinate, we say don’t worry!
Most people won’t finish their shopping until sometime in December.
Here’s how to maximize your remaining peak earning weeks.
Focus On One Thing
Let’s be realistic: You won’t conquer the world in six weeks or less. That reality should comfort you because you don’t need pages and pages of strategy – what you need is clarity. That means homing in on your single biggest goal.
- If it’s sales, focus on abandoned cart emails or products with the highest margins
- If it’s sign-ups, focus on gift guides or other lead magnets
- If it’s brand awareness, you want reach and engagement
Trying to accomplish everything and the kitchen sink usually ends up accomplishing nothing it all. Remove the distractions and pour everything you have into what you want to achieve the most.
Don't Reinvent The Wheel
While you might be tempted to reach for the stars, it’ll be much easier to grab some low-hanging fruit.
Look at the existing marketing assets you used this year and see which performed best. It could be:
- Emails with open rates >20%
- Click-thru rates above your account’s average
- CPAs or CPLs lower than average
Rearrange, refine and voilà: new campaign assets that took an hour or two instead of a day or two. And if all else fails, you can copy your best-performing ads from last holiday season.
Quick Wins
Speed is the name of the game at this point. Use that to your advantage and focus on more immediate media:
- Paid social – Lean into User Generated Content (UGC). It’s faster and more realistic, anyway.
- Email – Consider 1.5X more sends per week during the peak shopping weeks
- Retargeting banners – Shorten attribution windows to seven days or even one day
- Paid search – Promote “Can’t Miss Prices” with a clear discount code in the ad
- Local search – Update your Google My Business and other platform profiles with store hours and inventory photos
While you’re at it, channel your urgency into your messaging: short and to the point but human, limited-time offers and countdowns.
Be Ready To Pivot
- Pause an ad if its CTR underperforms by 25-30% after two or three days
- Reallocate budget from ads with CPAs 50% above target
- Double down on the channel that’s delivering 60% of conversions
Follow Through
Believe it or not, your audience still exists after the holidays. Even if they don’t become an official customer, you can pursue them with a more formal strategy once the season rush ends.
And for those that did convert? Send them an email 14 days later asking them if what they bought was a hit.
Last-Minute Holiday Campaign Checklist
- Single goal identified
- Three assets to repurpose
- Two creatives designed (primary and retargeting)
- Emails scheduled
- Daily KPIs defined
- Budgets by channel allocated
- Post-holiday nurture prepared
You Can Do It
It may not be fun. You might even feel a little stressed. But with these tips and checklist, you can build a successful holiday campaign that converts sooner than you think.
Need a little extra help? Schedule a no-cost digital strategy session now.
As the US literally blossoms back to life around us, leisure travel is quickly picking up steam. With each passing day, more and more people are planning road trips, weekend getaways, even full-on vacations. In fact, 56% of Americans expect to travel for leisure this year.*
Considering the year we just had, that’s huge.
And if you’re a member of a Convention and Visitors Bureau hoping to attract visitors to your community, Stealth has one simple message for you:
Start advertising. Now!
This is a fresh opportunity for your community to shine as an attractive destination. An opportunity to be top-of-mind as tourists reemerge. The easiest, most effective way to do this is through digital advertising (which happens to be one of our strengths).
Travel on Their Minds: The State of The States
In a previous blog, Heads in Beds: The Stealth Way, we outlined the general, day-to-day challenges convention and visitors bureaus face. That was, of course, before a global pandemic rocked the tourism industry worldwide. Since then, many CVBs have had to be creative about what attractions they promoted amid shutdowns (if promoting anything at all).
But as 2021 roars back to life, there are undeniable factors driving the resurgence of domestic tourism…
- Americans are so ready to travel. Many people have been stuck at home for a year. Families are ready to get the kids out and engaged with the world again. Consumer confidence is steadily rising, as more and more folks are getting protected by the vaccine.** The American road trip is alive and well!
- Americans have spending money. Financially, American households stayed relatively strong during the pandemic.† Thanks to stimulus packages, historically low borrowing rates and the propensity for Americans to pay down debt and start saving during times of social distancing, CVBs now have a critical opportunity to cash in as spending increases once again.
- Americans still want to support local. While Stealth can help you get in front of audiences across the nation, it’s important to keep in mind that some of your community’s best opportunities for support may not need to come from hundreds of miles away. While local businesses were undoubtedly hit hard in 2020, over 82 percent of consumers say they’d spend more to support state and local businesses after the pandemic.†† This sentiment is great news for your small boutiques and quaint brunch spots. Let’s remind the folks nearby
Be Where the People are Looking with Stealth Digital
So, it’s clear that the world is opening back up, and that you should be advertising to take advantage of it. (Like, yesterday!)
Now is the time to spotlight what’s special about your community—whether it’s indoor or outdoor-based! Get some traffic back through your museums, shops, restaurants and parks.
In addition to the full range of traditional advertising tactics we offer, Stealth will work with you to reach a larger audience with tactics like paid search, social media, content marketing and reviews when the user shows interest in travel.
If your community has an attractive mix of activities or destinations to offer—and you’re able to get in front of would-be visitors while in the planning stage—you’ll be in their consideration set for sure.
It’s time to get the word out. Let us help!
Joplin CVB Campaign Results
Not Just Your Vendor. Your Partner.
Whether you are a smaller community CVB with a team of five or less, or a big town with a fully functioning marketing department, Stealth Digital will integrate with you seamlessly to help you define and achieve your marketing goals.
We pride ourselves on our ability to be an extension of your existing marketing team, not a replacement.
We have experience working with local CVBs. We’re familiar with your pain points. We know how to address your concerns.
We are motivated to help America’s communities get back to business and we can help yours reach a larger, more optimized audience than ever.
References:
* https://www.travelagentcentral.com/hotels/stats-56-expect-to-travel-for-leisure-2021#:~:text=Compared%20to%20last%20year%2C%2036,and%20third%20quarter%20of%202021.
** https://usafacts.org/visualizations/covid-vaccine-tracker-states/
† https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-16/the-american-consumer-is-flush-with-cash-after-paying-down-debt
†† https://mint.intuit.com/blog/money-etiquette/buying-local-statistics-survey/
Like most small businesses in the US, Stealth is adjusting to the new normal of social distancing. We’re working from home, taking guitar lessons on zoom and going to church on YouTube. We are finding it’s harder to decline a virtual happy hour. What can the excuse be? I am too busy. That doesn’t seem to work in times like these!
How We're Helping
As a company, we are helping our clients in different ways, depending on the category. We are reducing media for some and increasing for others. Some clients, we’re advising to keep a “heartbeat” of media going, so they can jump in faster once we are on the other side.
We are also looking at short term digital solutions and moving dollars between mediums. Social media is a good alternative! People are engaging more with family and friends and turning to social media for entertainment and news. Social allows us to stay light on our feet as messaging changes daily, sometimes hourly.
To help businesses in this time of need, we are offering a free 60-minute consultation to give you ideas and action plans for your business! Please email info@stealthcreative.com to sign up.
At Stealth, we are thankful for the internet! Right now, we are all one step from being Little House on the Prairie. We plan to take this one day at a time, but now with everyone being able to work remotely, we can take it one month at a time, which is comforting.
Take a Breather
Take a Breather
If you have anxious moments, designate 15-30 minutes each day to write down what you are worried about then cross off everything you can’t control. This exercise can be a great way to refocus on your day and enjoy time with family.
Remember the six basic emotions we all have:
- Mad
- Sad
- Scared
- Peace
- Joy
- Power
Let’s focus on Peace, Joy, Power.
Working Remotely
If you can work from home during these challenging times, remember it’s a luxury that some can’t enjoy. Embrace the back to basics shift!
We aren’t experts yet, but with a few weeks under our belts, we’ve decided to compile some tips from our employees about how they are making their home offices a productive workplace.
Here are our tips so far:
Thank You!
We are sending gratitude, love, prayers and support to the essential workers who have been working around the clock to fight COVID-19.
Life is good; you are a blessing! THANK YOU to all the businesses that made the difficult decision to work from home while we fight this virus as a country. You are making a difference.