It’s September 1st, which means the holiday season kicks into high gear in 2 months (give or take). Hopefully you had time during August to review last year’s campaigns and start getting things in order. If not, don’t despair – you can view the August Checklist here or download the 2017 Holiday Planner.
The September Checklist revolves around more testing and prep. Here’s everything you need to do this month.
A. TESTING
01. If you haven’t already started A/B testing you messaging via email and social to see what resonates, now’s the time to start. Make sure to test specific segments. Your best customers and 1x customers may respond differently to the same subject line or CTA.
B. PRODUCT PREP
01. Re-Stock Last Year’s Best Sellers
Make sure you’ve got your best sellers on hand. Don’t forget to stock up on products that go hand-in-hand with your best sellers. This is a great way to raise your AOV, recommend new products, and create upsell opportunities.
02. Identify Net New Products (see C2 below)
Decide which products you want to push this year. Windsor Circle clients: make sure to check out your fastest rising products report int he app.
C. PREP FOR THIS YEAR
01. Create Your Calendar
Map out the campaigns and segments you’ll be focusing on this year. Make sure to come up with subject lines (and their variations) for each campaign, plot the dates you plan to deploy, and come up with your KPIs – what does success look like to you?
02. Incorporate Your Hot Products
Figure out how to incorporate selected products into your promotions: gift guides, lifestyle images, social media posts and advertisements, etc.
03. Continued Website Optimization
Keep up the good work from August and continue to optimize your website. Make sure your site is ready and equipped to handle an uptick in traffic. Pay attention to site load times.
04. Technology Implementation
In August, one of your tasks was to identify, research, and vet any new technologies you want to implement before the holidays. September is the time to act to get implemented before the holidays.
D. STAFFING
01. Continue hiring and training new employees.
Campaign Spotlight: Predictive Gifting
Set up a predictive gifting campaign and help your customers buy a special something for the ones they love. While predictive gifting can be used as a year round campaign as it pinpoints gifting events throughout the year, not just the holidays, this is an especially relevant time to get started with this new and innovative campaign. Learn more here.
Download the 2017 Holiday Planner for access to campaign examples and ideas, the rest of the monthly checklists, tips, a printable calendar, and more.
