The end of 2022 is getting closer as Halloween jack-o’-lanterns are taken down. When Double Eleven in the U.S. is racing against the clock to pay the final payment for delivery, year-end sales in other countries have already begun.

In the face of the coming festival, black five, Cyber Monday, and Christmas, Are you ready for your big holiday marketing promotion?

Controlling the holiday marketing rhythm

54% of buyers will start their holiday shopping earlier in 2022 due to concerns about running out of supply and having to wait longer for their parcels.

In 2022, consumer goods prices and inflation are greater than in 2021 due to the pandemic. Foreign customers who are used to spending early will start shopping early to take advantage of bargains and stretch out their spending over several months because presents and meals will be more expensive.

So, for brands, the control of the overall supply chain rhythm is very important, but so is the control of the marketing rhythm.

The holiday marketing stage of a festival promotion can be roughly split into four parts:

Warm-up period (15–25 days before the big holiday promotion)

People will seek holiday goods on key platforms four weeks before the promotion. Merchants can now promote sales and sell their products more.

Growth period (10–15 days before the holiday promotion):

Sales conversion rate rises. Live streaming and commercial drainage can increase fandom faster.

Outbreak period (the day of the huge promotion and the first 1–5 days)

Merchants might increase their marketing budgets and swiftly capitalize on traffic prospects.

Recovery period (1–7 days after the huge promotion)

Merchants should evaluate their promotion strategy and data performance till the next delivery strategy.

Tips for choosing products to sell at festivals

Even though it’s a sale, there will be small differences in categories that are selling well. On Double Eleven in China, sales of beauty products and everyday items are hot, and on Double Twelve, when weather and other factors come into play, clothing can be said to be the big promotion’s leader.

The same is true outside of the United States. For example, during Halloween, candy products become very popular. So how should we pick the products for the end-of-year promotion in other countries?

First, we need to know what the most important parts of the end-of-year promotion season are.

It can be seen that, with the exception of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, both Thanksgiving and Christmas are still traditional western holidays. So, when it comes to choosing products, what’s the difference between consumer nodes and festival nodes?

Consumption nodes:

The general consumption nodes are shopping times like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the domestic Double Eleven, 618, and other widely known shopping times. Users are very likely to buy, and merchants Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the domestic Double Eleven, 618, and other shopping days are general consumption nodes. Users are likely to buy, and sellers have more options. In 2022, Black Friday will kick off Christmas shopping, so there will be more options. Clothing accessories, beauty and skin care products, 3C home appliances and accessories, and other items will dominate the bargains.

Festive nodes:

Most Western countries have a demand for gifts during traditional holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. And because the big holidays at the end of the year are so important, customers don’t care as much about the price per unit at the end of the year. So, gift box products that are beautifully packaged will be more popular.

Why festival influencer marketing is important

At the start of the fourth quarter, all cross-border sellers will start a series of holiday sales, such as those for Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. In December, people will have time off for Christmas and New Year’s. You could say that all of Q4 was the start of the shopping peak season for the whole year. All merchants can feel the activity of online traffic under this node, which is also the most expensive time node for online traffic.

So why do we still have to do holiday marketing during the most expensive time of the year?

First of all, Q4 is the time when there are the most cross-border e-commerce nodes and the most sales throughout the year. This also means that the unit price of a customer is highest at this node at this time of year. So, if this key node can be taken, the money coming in will go up a lot.

Second, the fourth quarter is also the busiest time for Internet stars. In recent years, influencer marketing has become a bigger part of marketing. The reason is that the products that are competing with each other are becoming more and more alike. We need to use Internet celebrities to spread interesting and appealing content about products to get people to buy them. By having Internet celebrities grow grass, consumers can be convinced to buy the product before the big promotion starts.

Last but not least, Q4 is still the busiest time for digital marketing traffic. If all of our marketing and advertising is done online, CPC and CPM will be pretty high. In this case, we need to find a way for people to get into the station from outside, and online celebrity marketing can help a lot at this time.

From the above, it’s clear that if we can figure out Q4’s key node and do a good job with online celebrity marketing, Q4’s sales are likely to be higher than the total sales of the first three quarters. Because of this, it is very important to do influencer marketing well during the festival.

Get ready for a big holiday marketing sale by shopping on social media sites

In addition to influencer marketing, merchants can use social media commerce as a more convenient way to shop to attract customers during the upcoming festival promotion. Statistics show that more than half of adult Americans will use social media to buy things by 2022.

During the End of 2021 Sale, there are a number of social shopping events on Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.

This year, for example, YouTube added a live shopping feature and shopping links to YouTube Shorts. Glossier, a beauty company, was the first company to sell products through YouTube Shorts in June of this year. YouTube was also named the #1 most trusted social commerce platform. This shows that YouTube is starting to give brands powerful social commerce tools.

Instagram is another example. In July of this year, the company announced that users will be able to pay for things right on the chat page. This new feature gives people a new way to shop on social media, which is great news for small businesses that rely on Instagram Shops to boost sales during the holiday season.

So, when you make a plan for holiday marketing promotions, don’t forget to use the social media commerce features of each platform. This will take your holiday marketing promotions to the next level.