High Season: Plan Your Digital Marketing Strategy for Increased Year-End Sales
The final months of the year present a significant opportunity for entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to boost their sales. With events like the Buen Fin, holiday shopping, and end-of-year sales, consumers tend to increase their spending and actively seek promotions.
However, businesses often improvise their marketing strategies during this peak season, which can be counterproductive. Having a clear and well-thought-out plan can make the difference between capitalizing on consumer spending or flying under the radar amidst competition.
Well-Thought-Out Campaigns: The Key to Success
Grace Sandoval, CEO of Empoweringrace, shared on the “El lado A de los negocios” podcast by El Economista that during high season, advertising investment can triple. Therefore, it’s crucial to design strategic campaigns.
If you don’t optimize your digital campaigns, clearly define your goals and know how much you want to sell, don’t throw too much money at it because you’ll lose it.
Sandoval further explained that organic campaigns can also be effective, but only if followers are genuine and interested in the product. Otherwise, the message gets diluted. When the goal is to attract more ideal consumers, investing in paid marketing becomes necessary.
Common Marketing Mistakes
According to data from the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness and Deloitte, high-season sales like Buen Fin, Black Friday, or Christmas can account for 40% of annual sales. However, entrepreneurs often commit mistakes that cost money, customers, and brand presence.
The most common error, according to Grace Sandoval, is improvising campaigns, launching without planning, failing to correctly segment audiences, and lacking a clear objective.
They don’t have a funnel, which is guiding customers through specific areas to make a purchase. The funnel should be ironclad, and once a customer enters, they cannot leave until they take the purchasing action.
Another error is not having unified communication channels, slow websites, and jack-of-all-trade profiles without specialization. “Without clarity, there’s no trust. What are sales? Trust. We need to give the person full confidence that they’re reaching a secure site and that it’s the best option for them at that moment.”
Strategic Discounts: Not Just Price Cuts
Overemphasizing discounts can be counterproductive, as it devalues product quality. The key, Sandoval explained, is to offer a solid value proposition and attractive yet genuine discounts, accompanied by additional incentives or benefits.
An irresistible offer adds more value than you’d normally pay but doesn’t drastically lower the price. A real discount means if I offer the same deal next week, customers will feel betrayed.
Sandoval reminded us that people buy based on emotion and products that make them feel good, so brands must connect with what consumers feel, not just what they save, and blend the rational aspect—discounts—with product benefits.
Post-Sale: The True Cycle Closure
Sandoval detailed that post-sale is a crucial part of the purchasing process, as it’s where you build customer loyalty and ensure their return.
If you don’t provide good service, you’ll only make transactional sales, which is the most expensive thing in digital because every time you attract a customer, you spend. If you create a customer and maintain them, it becomes profitable.
She emphasized that “the sale doesn’t end when you receive payment; it concludes when they buy again. If we, as entrepreneurs, think long-term and follow up, it turns into profitability.”
Key Questions and Answers
- Q: How can SMEs maximize sales during the holiday season? By crafting clear, customer-centric digital marketing strategies.
- Q: What are common mistakes in high-season digital marketing? Improvising campaigns, lack of planning, poor audience segmentation, and unclear objectives.
- Q: Should businesses focus on discounts during the holiday season? Yes, but strategically. Offer genuine discounts alongside added value and incentives.
- Q: Why is post-sale important for business success? It builds customer loyalty, ensuring their return and turning transactions into long-term profitability.
