The holidays are the busiest time of the year! This is the time where we want our marketing to be at its peak so we can target our desired audiences. Ari Krzyzek, fellow WBE and CEO and Head of Strategy of Chykalophia, enlightens us with a great strategy to improve and optimize our website conversions this holiday season!
‘Tis the season of shopping sprees!
For business owners, however, holidays mean Q4 sales targets. While preparing holiday promo is the first step in attracting customers, it is not enough to really turbo boost your sales — because it’s not always a matter of pricing and discounts.
A well-thought-out user journey is a key to 2x your website’s conversion during this holiday season. Conversely, poor user journey and experience will make customers leave your site and your promotions go in vain.
What is a user journey?
User journey is the visual map of a user’s trip from having a problem to finding a solution (hopefully, your product or service) and even after-sales.
The map can differ from time to time, depending on the offers, life situation (the pandemic has changed the way people shop and interact), seasons, trends, and other factors.
How to create a user journey for your holiday promo
There are three general steps to creating a user journey. I’ll adjust them for your holiday promo.
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Create your user persona
The purpose is to really understand your audience, not come up with a completely imaginary character just for the sake of it. Some questions to help you create a persona:
- Who are they? Gender, skin color, immigrants/natives, religious beliefs (which influence their holiday behaviors), etc.****
- Where are they during the holidays? Working, chilling at home, on a vacation, shopping, restaurant hopping, visiting the old folks, etc.
- What’s their behavior & thinking like? Do they do their own research, check reviews, follow friends’ or influencers’ recommendations?****
- Where are they in their life now? Did they just have babies, get divorced, lose their job?****
- What’s their deciding factor? Money/budget, time, needs/goals, value, emotion.
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Align your product/service with their needs
Let’s see an example. A new mom is looking for a travel-friendly breast pump for her upcoming family holiday. Your business provides several product and delivery options. Which one would be best to meet this customer’s needs?
Consider where they would go before finding your business, too. Would they stumble upon your Instagram ad, or search online reviews?
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Design the experience
After hearing about your business, customers can start interacting with you through these online channels and their touchpoints:
- WEBSITE: Homepage, sales funnels page, contact page, web chat window, pop-up.
- SOCIAL MEDIA: Carousels, stories, lives, influencer posts, or ads on these channels.
- SEARCH ENGINE: Articles, Google ads, Youtube videos, case studies, reviews, press, or media mentions.
It doesn’t make sense to invest your time, money, and effort in every single touchpoint. For this holiday season, focus only on 1-3 touchpoints.
Let’s continue our example. Our new mom might hear about your products from an influencer and find your ad when she Googles your brand. She will then arrive on the landing page, where she can learn why your breast pumps are better than other brands and what offers you have if she purchases before Black Friday.
In this example, the only touchpoints to focus on are influencer marketing, Google ads, and a landing page.
Putting together all your findings
After collecting all this information, compile everything in a comprehensive user journey sheet:
Creating a sheet like this allows you to meet your customers where and when they need you most. Many of my clients have benefited from this and I recommend you try it.
Your holiday marketing will be a lot more efficient and effective, targeting only those who have the potential to really purchase from you, not just random people.
