Beyond Black Friday: Look to Shopper Intent for Holiday Season Success

In today39s world consumers are constantly signaling their intentions to us through a variety of digital channelsamp160 By tapping into their digital behavior we can uncover consumer needs expectations and even brand perceptionsamp160 This is why at Performics we see search as a behavioral insights machine every single touchpoint leads us to learn more about the consumerResearch from the Intent Lab a partnership between Performics and Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism Media and Integrated Marketing Communications shows us how consumers signal where they are in the purchase spectrum based on queries signaling intentamp160 And especially during critical marketing days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday understanding consumer intent is key to unlocking relevance and standing out in the crowded marketplace amp160Spending during the long Black Friday weekend rose a whopping 40 according to the National Retail Federation and SAP reports the conversion rate on Black Friday alone grew globally by 126amp160compared to 2017Adobe Analytics reports that 79 billionamp160was spent online by theamp160end of Cyber Monday anamp160increase of 193 year over yearamp160making it the largest online shopping day of all time in the US and beating last year39s 66 billion recordAnd it didn39t stop thereamp160 Early data on quotGiving Tuesdayquot shows that consumers continued to shop online in strong numbers following Cyber Monday according to Adobe which expects online spending for the day to be roughly 29 billion 26 higher than last yearBut the season isn39t over and the digital realm affords us an opportunity to tweak plans before it39s too lateamp160 Coresight research estimates that US ecommerce holiday sales will grow 16 thanks in part to a longer shopping season that gives everyone more time to both browse and buy making sure there39s still time to leverage consumer intent this holiday seasonMap Your Digital Presence Strategy Based on Consumer DemandYou will be hearing a lot of guidelines and methods for marketers to achieve their goals during the holiday seasonamp160 The reality is there isn39t a onesizefitsall model in today39s digital worldamp160 The only North Star that you should be following is the intent signals from consumersamp160 Leverage digital behavior like search to uncover the core needs and mindsets of consumers during the holiday seasonamp160 Instead of trying to be present across everything focus your attention and budget on areas where consumer demand is actually presentLeverage the Intent Signals for Your BrandBeyond understanding consumer demand identifying the intent signals toward your brand is criticalamp160 Based on historical holiday search data brands can map the highest brand association from a consumer perspective toward categories products and even dealsamp160 Don39t force new brand associations during key holiday events instead leverage your existing strengthsAs always there are top categories during this season with the highest consumer demand like consumer electronics toys and household goods The key question is which one do you already have a strong association withamp160 If you have been cosearched with electronics the most or if you received the most traffic from electronics terms last year during the holidays that means you need to be prepared from a search and landing page perspective to win those consumers amp160Focus on Consumer ExperienceEven top retailers in the marketplace sometimes fail in consumer experience during holiday events like Black Fridayamp160 If you skim through social media platforms on big sales events like Black Friday or Cyber Monday the majority of the comments and posts towards brands would be about their crashing app or websiteamp160 That39s not the brand impression anyone wants to leaveConsumers have very high expectations from brands especially when they have limited time to go through multiple websites and deals before making a purchase during holiday shopping they expect the fastest and most convenient experienceamp160 Once again this year only brands that follow through consumer intent from search all the way to conversion with topnotch user experience will make the breakthrough in the marketplacePhoto by Ed MartinClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Beyond Black Friday: Look to Shopper Intent for Holiday Season Success

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Beyond Black Friday: Look to Shopper Intent for Holiday Season Success

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