Holiday marketing typically begins months before the actual holidays – around the month of August to September to be exact. This is due to the fact that 56% of people intend to cross out their shopping lists way ahead of December to avoid the holiday rush. Smart move, right? 

Whether you started early or not, one thing is for sure – you should be seeing some results on your online marketing campaigns by now. As a marketer, instead of celebrating the success immediately or instead of getting discouraged by unfavorable results, evaluate your strategies. 

Know what worked and what didn’t. Remember, consumers extend their holiday spending until the first week of January. You still have time to boost your success or stir your fate. Plus, this is a great start too if you want to come back stronger next year. So, without further ado, let’s start evaluating!

Look into your data and analytics

The first and vital step in evaluating your digital marketing efforts is to look into your data and analytics. Study and analyze the numbers and trends from Google Analytics, your ecommerce analytics, and your social media analytics. By doing this, you can easily figure out what’s working and not. Here are some data that you should focus on:

• Number of Sales to New Customers

Keeping track of the number of new customers you have acquired during the holiday season is valuable in making smarter online marketing plans. Having this data can help you verify whether or not you are targeting the right customer base and buyer persona. 

• Number of Sales to Existing Customers

Same logic applies to existing customers as to new customers. Rethink your strategy if holiday sales to existing customers decrease. It’s possible that your communications were ineffective or that the products and services you provide don’t meet the needs of your current clientele anymore. Whatever the circumstance is, take advantage of the busy holiday season to learn what your current customers are looking for and incorporate that information into not only this holiday season but also to your holiday marketing strategy for next year.

• Email Metrics

Email marketing can be difficult during the holidays. A lot of marketers are competing in customers’ inboxes. But, don’t lose hope. You can still expect a good return since people are actively shopping and looking for deals. Keep an eye on your email metrics, especially the rate of clicks and opens. These numbers will help you understand your holiday success and plan a better email campaign.

• Website Traffic

Knowing your website traffic is important all throughout the year. But, paying close attention to it during the holiday season makes a huge difference given that internet traffic spikes during this period. Examine your SEO statistics and compare your holiday results with your year-round results. Look how customers interact with your website and learn how they find you.This will provide you with insight into the user experience of your website as well as the efficiency of your SEO.

Revisit your marketing goals

After doing data analysis, compare the results to the holiday-season objectives you’ve set for your business. Pay attention to your campaigns across all of your channels to find out if they are succeeding or not. Make sure to go through all the metrics you chose to use to evaluate your campaign performance to get the complete picture.

Amend your holiday marketing campaigns if needed

If you found out your campaigns aren’t working as planned, it’s time to stir your holiday strategy. Make the changes and observe the data again. Repeat the process as long as you need to. Don’t be discouraged to redo your campaigns over and over again. Going through this process will be worth it as it will lead you to a more engaging and tailored marketing campaign for your customers.

If you need further assistance with your marketing strategies any time of the year, iManila can help!

With 26 years of experience in the industry and an IT company at its core, iManila, having been one of the first Internet Service Providers in the Philippines, is committed to providing our clients with innovative information technology, web, and digital solutions. As one of the best web hosting providers in the Philippines, iManila is also a full-service business web development company and digital marketing agency in the Philippines ready to help you with your web design and development, website update and maintenance, web hosting, email hosting, technical support, and digital marketing services needs.  Talk to us!