Holiday Marketing 101 – Part 2

After taking a look at what boutique owners should do to increase their sales during the holiday season, we’re now offering tips to help designers and fashion brand managers get the most out of this time of the year.

 

 (image via cnbc.com)

 

1) Reduce excess inventory

 

Christmas season is the perfect time to sell your obsolete or surplus stocks. Consult with your merchandisers to find out which collections and specific products need to be pushed. Then you can come up with certain promos such as GWPs (Gifts With Purchase) to get rid of excess smaller and cheaper merchandise, and place discounts or special final sale prices to alleviate slow-moving inventory.

 

2) Put together special holiday collections

 

After you’ve done your trend research, you can then come up with a special holiday line, develop a new exclusive collection that shoppers can only purchase during the holidays, or produce themed collections from your existing merchandise (e.g. red-colored product lineup).

 

(image via nymag.com)

 

3) Collaborate with retail stores

 

Reach out to your stockists to make sure that your brand is given enough attention and promotion in their boutiques through displays, product positioning, and special deals and offerings.

 

(image via interiordesignhq.com)

 

4) Leverage the power of the Internet

 

Another important “out of the store” strategy that both retailers and brand managers have to invest time and effort in is maintaining an active online persona. Concentrate on the most popular outlets:

 

– Social media

Whether it’s via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other kind of social media, make sure to keep these accounts updated regularly, especially as Christmas day nears. The key to an effective post is to not give everything away. Provide sufficient and catchy information alongside the right imagery that will make the readers pay attention and make potential customers visit the store and shop. Other gimmicks you can implement are:

* Promote special deals and discounts, just-in collections, and sale items
* Rewards (coupons, freebies, discounts, etc.) for every “like”, “comment”, “share”, “retweet”, and “repost”
* Online contests
* Customer interaction and customer service

 

However, remember – more posts aren’t necessarily better. Bombarding your followers with deals and other offerings has proven to negate the influence of social media outlets. Condense your content and schedule the posts wisely.

 

(image via yahoo.com)

 

– Website, online store, newsletter e-mails

 

Make sure that your online store works properly and that your website offers an efficient online customer assistance program and newsletter sign-ups. You should also make the most out of your site by putting up information about your special holiday deals and promos.

 

 

– Fashion blogger tie-ups

 

Collaborate with relevant fashion bloggers to target a larger pool of fashion-savvy audience. Promote special deals (e.g. coupon codes, discounts, sale events, online contests, etc.) or sponsor a blog post by sending them clothes and other merchandise.

 

 

– Paid search

 

Invest in a paid search campaign—a.k.a. cost-per-click (CPC) advertising—by coming up with an ad that shows up whenever someone searches through major search engines using the keywords you pre-selected.

 

(image via accessoriesmagazine.com)

 

While maximizing sales is important, it’s also imperative not to compromise your label’s premium positioning by offering too many discounts for an extended period of time. Strive to strike the right balance by giving your clients a shopping experience that perfectly aligns with what your company stands for.  And don’t forget to inject creativity!