This is the time of year that online shopping is at its peak, and your digital storefront has its busiest period. You’re probably busy with holiday orders and keeping up with holiday sales, but there are a few things you can do that will help you keep holiday sales momentum through January.

Follow up by email

By building a relationship over email, you can turn casual holiday shoppers into loyal customers. You can show your customers that you value their repeat business by getting in touch with them directly and providing high-quality content.

Consider:

• First-time buyers are thanked with a warm email, discount code, or other special offer to encourage them to return for more.

• Encourage holiday shoppers to return for a different product from a curated selection of related products.

• Visitors who abandon their cart should be invited to complete their transaction by offering gentle reminders or additional incentives.

• Get in touch with customers who haven’t made a holiday purchase yet this year and offer them special deals to encourage them to return to your shop.

Do you find it difficult to keep track? You can automatically generate and send all of these follow-up emails using EmailPoet. You can set up rules to contact customers so that your offers and suggestions will be automatically sent without you even having to move a finger.

Retarget, target, retarget

Customers often need multiple exposures before they make a purchase. So it is important to start targeting them immediately. Retargeting is the best way to reach potential buyers multiple times.

Retargeting is achieved by placing tracking pixels on your website. These pixels track visitors’ online browsing habits and help to keep track of their interests. These pixels can be used to create ad campaigns that target people who have visited certain pages of your website but did not make a purchase.

To collect as much information as possible about shoppers, make sure that you have all the necessary pixels set up for your advertising platforms before the holiday season starts. It’s time for all the pixel data you have to put to good use when the holiday shopping rush slows down. You can create ad campaigns for sites that use your pixel data such as Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads, or LinkedIn Ads.

You can easily set up and manage Google Shopping and Google Ads by downloading the Google Listings extension. Google Listings & Ads allows you to integrate with Google Merchant Center, list products in Google Shopping for free, run paid ads and monitor performance from your store’s dashboard.

Online advertising rates are generally lower from January to May so now is the best time to plan any ads. It’s a great time to retarget customers who have visited your site in the past and give them an extra push to purchase.

In the new year, extend offers

Holiday burnout may be a problem for some customers, but they don’t mind a good sale. You have a lot of gift cards, money, and customers who are looking to save, so January is a great month to increase holiday momentum. Offer discounts to encourage online shoppers to come to your store.

By pivoting your messaging, you can target your online marketing towards new years. Here are some creative marketing strategies you could try:

• Winter clearance sales and holiday sales are expanding.

• Winter holidays and celebrations are the perfect time to run sales

• Encourage shoppers to use gift cards to buy items that they haven’t had the chance to purchase.

• Promote any products that are focused on self-improvement.

Make sure to have enough inventory for extended sales of your most sought-after products. An integrated solution can help you manage and sync inventory depending on how and where you store it.

Gear up your social media engine

The holiday season brings new shoppers to your brand and products. This is the perfect time to tell them who you are, and what you stand for and remind them why they love your products.

Use new reviews and rankings to your advantage

Watch out for star ratings and reviews on your shop in the days following major gift-giving holidays. These reviews can be used to create powerful social media posts. Use eye-catching imagery or user-submitted videos in your posts. Make sure to link back to the products mentioned by your customers in their reviews.

Repurpose content from the past

You can introduce yourself to new customers through reformatting and reuse of your keystone social media content. Although you may feel that your core messages are well-known, holiday shoppers will be new to this content.

Brand loyalty is built by letting new customers know your values, and giving them useful information about your company. Customers who have seen these posts before may appreciate the reminder.

Send a post-holiday Newsletter

Did you ask permission to add customers to your mailing list at checkout? We hope so! It’s time for you to say hello to all your new subscribers.

Even if you send a welcome email to all subscribers and follow-up emails to them, it is still a good idea to send a post-holiday newsletter out to everyone. You should send an email in January welcoming everyone to the new year. It should also include any goals and directions. Invite everyone to stop by to see your most valuable products and values.

Run a contest

The holiday season is a great time to reach new customers, not only shoppers but also those who have received gifts. A giveaway on social media is a great idea for the new year. People can post photos or videos of themselves using your products. You can share your ideas for how to use your products, as well as innovative customer suggestions, and you will build your customer base and customer loyalty. Don’t forget about sharing and promoting your winner’s reaction.

Promote your rewards program

Reward programs are a great way of encouraging repeat business. Two things are especially great to do in the post-holiday period:

Recruit. If they haven’t joined your rewards program, target customers who have spent more than a certain amount in November or December. It’s best to encourage them to sign-up while they are still thinking about their purchases and the happy reactions from their giftees.

Encourage customers to make claims. Rewards programs have the advantage of keeping customers returning and often resulting in more sales. It’s a great time of year to remind shoppers to redeem points they earned during the holidays before they expire.

Analyze your holiday data to plan for the next year

Don’t forget about the holiday rush and increased traffic to your store to gain positive feedback on the products and performance. You can get an idea of what went well and what needs improvement. The following questions can be used to help you evaluate your holiday sales:

• Do you have any top-selling products you would like to promote for the holiday season or in the next year?

• Are there a lot of abandoned carts or returns? This could indicate that your website needs to include more information about your products and shipping costs.

• Are you seeing any traffic increases from new areas or shoppers that could help you target online advertising?

• Are your web hosting, supply chain, and staff up to the holiday sales spikes?

Don’t wait for the right time to respond — make use of your data to optimize your shop and be ready for your next big sales season.

Bonus tip: Celebrate your success!

It’s a good time to reset and transform a sales surge into solid growth moving forward. It’s also a time to relax and celebrate another year. Recharge, recharge, and be ready to thrive in 2019!