With consumers in a festive mood and actively searching for gifts, decorations, and seasonal deals, the demand for products and services skyrockets during the holiday season. Shoppers are more willing to spend on everything, making it a prime time for businesses to use creative marketing strategies to maximize sales and build customer loyalty. 

In this blog, we’ll discuss one such strategy called Christmas remarketing. 

What is remarketing

Remarketing is a digital marketing strategy that targets people who have previously interacted with a brand but haven’t completed a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a service. It involves sending emails and showing ads to these individuals (as they browse other websites or use social media), reminding them of the brand, and encouraging them to return and complete the action.

For example, if someone visits an online store but leaves without buying anything, remarketing emails and ads can be used to display relevant products or offers to them. These emails and ads are personalized based on the user’s past behavior, making them more effective at driving conversions.

Why Christmas is great for remarketing

Before and during the holiday season, people are actively on the lookout for and willing to spend considerable amounts on gifts, holiday preparations, and personal treats. According to the National Retail Federation’s findings, retail holiday sales in the U.S. in 2023 were worth a whopping $886.7 billion. Many shoppers browse products in advance, adding items to wish lists or carts without immediately completing their purchases. Christmas remarketing ensures your brand stays at the top of their minds, increasing the chances of their conversion from window shoppers to customers. 

As Christmas approaches, there is a rush to get desired items before they sell out. A Christmas remarketing campaign can remind potential customers about limited-time offers, stock availability, or shipping deadlines to motivate them to act quickly.

The holiday season also brings with it exciting promotions, sales, and discounts. Many people save their big purchases for this period, hoping to catch a good deal. With a Christmas remarketing campaign, you can retarget potential buyers with exclusive holiday offers, enticing them to take advantage of the seasonal savings.

Best practices for running a remarketing campaign 

Prepare ahead of the holiday season

Avoid creating your Christmas remarketing campaign at the 11th hour. Ideally, you should prepare it before the holiday season begins. This way you will avoid last-minute burnout and have all the necessary assets ready to go for effectively retargeting your customers.

Start by analyzing customer behavior from previous holiday seasons, and identifying key trends in shopping patterns and product interests. This data helps you create targeted remarketing content that resonates with different audience segments.

With PosterMyWall, you can create your email campaign in no time. Browse through the Christmas email templates, select ones that resonate with your brand personality, and customize them to convey your messaging. Once you send out the emails, you can track the email metrics and adjust the following campaigns accordingly. 

Make use of a content planner to ensure that your remarketing content is ready to roll out on time. PosterMyWall’s Content Planner helps you plan, organize, and schedule your email campaigns all in one place. Click on the plus sign on the day you want to schedule the content, select the design/graphic you’d like to use, and schedule it with the publisher. 

Personalization is key 

Every customer is different and has different needs and preferences. Targeting them with the same emails and ads wouldn’t suffice. Personalizing your remarketing content ensures that customers feel understood and valued, boosting your chances of converting them during the competitive holiday season.

For email remarketing, this means crafting subject lines that include their names, referencing the exact products your customers viewed or added to their carts, and sending exclusive holiday offers based on their previous shopping habits. A personalized email reminding a shopper about that perfect gift they left behind—paired with a Christmas-themed discount—creates a sense of connection and urgency that generic messaging simply can’t achieve.

For online ads, personalization is equally important. Dynamic product ads allow you to display the exact items your customers browsed, making your offers more relevant and attractive. When combined with festive visuals and holiday-themed copy, personalized ads tap into the emotional aspects of Christmas shopping. Shoppers are already in the mindset of finding thoughtful gifts, and seeing ads that reflect their interests can trigger the final purchase decision. 

Time your messages strategically

Consumers are bombarded with holiday promotions, so sending your messages at the right moment can make the difference between getting noticed and getting lost in the crowd. 

Time your follow-up messages shortly after a customer abandons their cart. A reminder within 24-48 hours allows you to recapture their attention while the products are still fresh in their mind. As the holiday season is time-sensitive, following up with a reminder that includes a limited-time or fast-shipping offer prompts the shopper to make a quick purchase decision.

Avoid overwhelming users with too many follow-up emails. A well-timed series of 2-3 emails over a few days or weeks is often enough to re-engage prospects without being annoying.

Striking a balance between timely follow-ups and overexposure is also crucial for online ad campaigns. You want to reach out when customers are most likely to convert, i.e. shortly after they’ve browsed or a few days later when they’ve had time to consider their options. 

Additionally, consider sending different messages at various stages of the holiday season. For example, a “Last Chance to Buy” ad can be a final push for indecisive buyers in the days leading up to the holiday, creating a sense of urgency that drives conversions.

Test and optimize

With so much competition during the holiday season, it’s essential to continuously fine-tune every element of your campaign to maximize conversions.  

Conduct A/B testing on various aspects of your remarketing emails, such as subject lines, content layout, visuals, and call-to-action (CTA) buttons. This can help you identify what resonates best with your audience. For example, you might find that a “Free Shipping” offer outperforms a “10% Off” discount. By continuously refining your emails, you can ensure that your message is as effective as possible.

Similarly, you must continuously test and optimize your online ads. Experiment with different ad formats and targeting criteria to see what performs the best. 

Additionally, analyze the performance of different creative elements, such as festive imagery and messaging. Using the insights from the ad data, optimize your ad copy, audience targeting, and placements to focus on the strategies that deliver the highest return on investment. 

Get Christmas remarketing right

Christmas is a merry time for businesses and their customers alike. Customers are willing to go all out in treating themselves and their loved ones to quality products and experiences. If businesses are successful in attracting customers to their offerings during this time, they can potentially have more revenue than they did in the entire year. 

Hence, Christmas remarketing is important. People who have previously shown interest in your products are very likely to convert during the holiday season if you remind them about those products, especially if you pair this reminder with attractive limited-time offers. 

By following the tips mentioned in this blog, you’ll be well on your way to running a successful Christmas remarketing campaign.