Deck the Halls With Content Marketing and Personalization

Marketers have made their lists and they're checking them twice, sometimes even three times. If the conversion needle isn't moving, you might need to rethink your digital strategy. To avoid any holiday hiccups, here are 13 tips on how your content management and personalization strategies can boost conversions, foster brand loyalty and keep customers returning year-round:

1. Welcome visitors by customizing messaging. A lot of holiday shoppers are shopping for other people and new to your site. Introduce your brand and point them where they might want to go. Customize your messaging based on traffic sources, search terms and purchase history. Adjust welcome messages or email sign-up layers in line with Christmas. Ensure welcome messages highlight all key unique selling propositions (USPs) relevant to the consumer. Mention any new Christmas-appropriate areas on-site — e.g., last delivery dates/gift guides.

2. Use a marketing promotion to trigger frequent return visits and engage prospects. The more a prospect returns to your site, the more likely they are to purchase. Engage consumers with updated content, features and deals throughout the Christmas period. Use an Advent calendar to count down the days before Christmas.

3. Make Christmas fun and the online experience memorable. Engage visitors with a unique and relevant brand experience so they will remember and come back to your site. Use video, games and innovative technology to inspire shoppers.

4. Push gift guides and present finders. For the most part, consumers aren't shopping for themselves during the holidays. They don't know what they're looking for. Create category pages for gifts (and tag them with UV) or add filters to existing pages. Include size guides, product reviews and detailed specifications. Roll out a gift suggestion guide.

5. Show stock levels. People are loss averse; they don't want to miss out! Everyone enjoys getting "the last one in the shop." A common complaint I hear from shoppers is a lack of stock information. Track stock items and highlight low-in-stock items. Remove, or obscure, out-of-stock items. In the case of out-of-stock items, suggest the nearest store where it's available and offer reserve and collect or home delivery. Increase the threshold for stock level at which to show low-in-stock message. Think about also showing stock notifications for specific products on the checkout page.

6. Bundle products together in Christmas-related merchandising categories. People are looking for stocking fillers. Bundles make them think they're getting a really good deal and you get a higher average order value. Use your basket data to gather items commonly bought together. Add in extra low-cost items. And consider visitor history — e.g., if they've seen a few product pages, serve them a layer about relevant bundles.

7. Publicize store/e-vouchers for gifts and make them easily redeemable. Capture those people who aren't sure what gift to get. E-vouchers aren't dependent on physical delivery. Prepare a specific page devoted to gift vouchers with different image options. Give the same attention to these as any other product. Make visitors aware of e-vouchers’ USPs. Furthermore, after Christmas make sure people shopping on-site using a gift voucher know how to pay with it.

8. Align online and offline targeting. Use data from all channels to give consumers the Christmas experience they deserve. People check online as they shop in-store. Items out of stock online may be available in-store and vice versa. Use geo-location targeting so communications online match in-store messaging. Also offer web promotions that apply in-store to unite your multichannel marketing.

9. Make delivery information prominent. Our exit feedback tool shows delivery to be one of the biggest barriers to conversion. Consumers want to know when their gifts will arrive, especially during the holidays. If you offer free delivery, shout about it! Make this known before people reach checkout. Also consider offering last-minute delivery. Ensure all delivery options and details are easily to navigate to.

10. Offer gift wrapping, but carefully! This service can be a great time-saver for customers, particularly closer to Christmas, and another way to boost average order values. Offer choice of colors and patterns. Build a dedicated section on your site and make sure gift wrapping is a seamless part of the checkout process.

11. Make your returns policy transparent and prominent. Returns can represent a substantial cost for online retailers; a transparent returns policy allows people to buy with more confidence. Give clear links to returns information on product pages. Make your returns policy completely transparent. Provide detailed product descriptions, reviews and size guides to minimize the risk of returns.

12. Upsell or cross-sell to drive average order values. Consumers are always looking for a bargain! Place upsell items next to the basket (especially if you have a free delivery threshold). Recommend last-minute stocking fillers, but make them relevant!

13. Maximize all sales purchases post-Christmas. The bargain shopper is very different than the gift-giver. Get your best-value products in front of the user as fast as possible. Create sale category pages and allow users to sort by percentage off. Target consumers with items they were previously interested in but didn't buy that have since been discounted.

Graham Cooke is the CEO of Qubit, a company that gives online retailers the power to optimize their sites and drive sales in real time.