2. The holiday season is quickly
approaching – an exciting time for B2B
and B2C companies alike. Consumers
shop for gadgets and gifts, while
businesses buy new products and wrap up
budgets for the following year. All
companies need to think about how to
make lovable marketing that will earn
them business in this high volume, high
stakes season.
This SlideShare will dive into important
stats from the past couple of seasons to
help you take advantage of the top
marketing trends that successful
businesses are using.
Happy Holidays!

3. The 2013
State of Online
Holiday Shopping

4. The number of online
shoppers is expected
to grow from
167 million in 2012
to 192 million in 2016
SOURCE: FORRESTER RESEARCH

5. 47%
of consumers
say that the
internet is their
favorite
shopping
destination
SOURCE: DELOITTE

6. 49%
of marketers have created and launched a
holiday campaign before Halloween this year
SOURCE: STEELHOUSE

7. In 2012,
129 million
consumers shopped
online on Cyber Monday
SOURCE: EXPERIAN

8. 3 in 5 retailers dedicated
Over 20%
of their total 2012 online
marketing budgets to
holiday efforts
SOURCE: SHOP.ORG

9. 34%
of shoppers plan to
shop online and
in-store equally
this holiday season
SOURCE: THOMSON REUTERS

10. SOURCE: IPSOS MEDIACT/GOOGLE

11. Takeaway:
Shoppers are going online at an increasing rate to find the
right products and services for them. All the while, businesses
are taking advantage of this growing trend by increasing
budgets for Q4 and making holiday marketing a priority.
Take advantage of this important time of year and consider
increasing your marketing focus during the holiday months.
But what’s the best way to attract new business during the
holidays? Learn what channels and tools other marketers
are using in the next sections.

12. Mobile & Search

13. This year,
66%
of tablet owners will use their
tablets to make holiday
purchases
SOURCE:
SHOP.ORG

14. 76%
of smartphone owners will use
their devices to research &
make holiday purchases
SOURCE: NATIONAL GOOGLE 2013 HOLIDAY SHOPPING INTENTIONS STUDY

15. SOURCE: IPSOS MEDIACT/GOOGLE

16. 74%
of shoppers
search online to get ideas
for their holiday wish lists
SOURCE: CATALOG SPREE

17. 82%
of retailers are making
investments in mobile
technology this holiday
season
SOURCE: INTERNET RETAILER

18. 84%
of marketers
use
mobile-optimized
websites
SOURCE: EXPERIAN

19. SOURCE: SHOP.ORG

20. 77%
of retailers are enhancing
the search capabilities of
their website this season
SOURCE: INTERNET RETAILE

21. Over 25%
of retailers will make significant
use of smartphone & tablet
paid search campaigns
SOURCE: SHOP.ORG

22. 55%
of retailers are using
search marketing
to persuade
customers to
snatch up
in-store deals
SOURCE: SHOP.ORG

23. Takeaway:
Be prepared to have all of your web content just as
accessible on a tablet or iPhone as it is on a computer. How
do your emails look on a smart phone? Can people access
your coupons via their iPads? Are email buttons clickable and
web content easy to find?
Don’t miss out on an opportunity to gain new customers
because they couldn’t consume your marketing while on-thego! Mobile content consumption is growing rapidly, and being
unprepared could cause your marketing to take a big hit.

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25. Email

26. 49%
of all emails are
opened and read on a
mobile device
SOURCE: YESMAIL INTERACTIVE

27. 1/3
yet …
of top ecommerce
brand emails linked to
a non-mobile optimized
landing page
SOURCE: YESMAIL INTERACTIVE

28. 80%
of online
shoppers and
71%
of in-store
shoppers say email
offers influence them to buy
SOURCE: YESMAIL INTERACTIVE

29. 55%
of brands use email as their #1
holiday marketing channel
SOURCE: ACCENTURE

30. 44%
of shoppers learned
about the best Cyber
Monday deals
through retailers’
emails in 2012
SOURCE: BIZRATE INSIGHTS

31. 74%
of holiday retailers are using
email to get customers to
cash in on deals
SOURCE: SHOP.ORG

32. 56%
of businesses plan to increase their
investment in email marketing this year
SOURCE: SEARCH ENGINE PEOPLE

33. 93%
of those marketers
plan to increase or maintain
the same level of email investment
SOURCE: EXPERIAN

34. Takeaway:
Email is a powerful tool to offer your potential customers
valuable information and offers directly. In fact, consumers
have grown to expect it! Use email to send enjoyable holiday
content, product coupons, or last minute special deals to your
network.
But don’t abuse the technology – be smart about what you
send. Making marketing people love is crucial year-round, but
especially important during the holidays.

35. The Anatomy of a
Five-Star Email
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36. Social
Media

37. 64%
of shoppers
have bought a
product because of
something they’ve
seen on Twitter
SOURCE: CMO.COM

38. 30%
of Twitter users tweet about holiday
shopping before October
SOURCE: CMO.COM

39. 64.8%
of consumers
will turn to
social media sites
to find the perfect gift
SOURCE: CROWDTAP

40. 24.8%
of consumers trust peer
recommendations on
Facebook and Twitter
when deciding to
purchase a holiday gift
SHOP.ORG
That’s more than banner
ads, magazine ads, TV
commercials combined
SOURCE: CROWDTAP

41. On Pinterest,
revenue per visit
is up by
150%
SOURCE: CMO.COM

42. 67%
of consumers would be likely to share
a digital coupon on Facebook during
the holidays
63.4%
would be likely to share a link to a
holiday contest
SOURCE: CROWDTAP

43. 49%
of marketers plan to include social
sharing tools & buttons from their
website (up from 36% in 2012)
SOURCE: EXPERIAN

44. 53.9%
of shoppers will use social media
while shopping in-store, and
38.4%
will tweet about promotional
offers, deals, and finds
SOURCE: CROWDTAP

45. SOURCES: CMO.COM AND GOOGLE 2013 HOLIDAY SHOPPER INTENTIONS STUDY

46. Takeaway:
People and businesses are using social tools for product
suggestions and reviews, both from their friends and from the
vendors themselves. That means you need to share your best
content on social, as well as have your content easy to share
by others.
Also, consider how you can use social channels to collect
and promote reviews and ratings from your best customers.
Finally, have a visual product? You never know, Pinterest may
become your best performing channel!

47. 250 Holiday
Stock Photos
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49. 39%
of shoppers hear about
the best holiday deals by
visiting a company’s
website directly
SOURCE: MONETATE

50. 41%
of consumers visited a retailer’s
site directly to learn more about
Cyber Monday deals in 2012
SOURCE: BIZRATE INSIGHTS

51. 92%
of holiday shoppers will
go online to research
and/or purchase gifts
this season
SOURCE: CMO.COM

52. 39%
of marketers
plan to incorporate
ratings & reviews into
their customers’ holiday
shopping experience
SOURCE: EXPERIAN

53. Compared to 2012,
consumers are
viewing an average of
35%
more pages on
retail websites
SOURCE: INTERNET RETAILER

54. SOURCE: SHOP.ORG

55. RCE: INTERNET RETAILER & EXPERIAN

56. Nearly 40%
of retailers will use free shipping
offers on their website to entice
customers to shop online this
holiday season
SOURCE: STEELHOUSE

57. yet, less than
1/2
of retailers will use
homepage messaging
to get the word
out about
in-store offers
SOURCE: SHOP.ORG

58. But for the 2012
season, marketers used
fewer site-wide promotions
in favor of
Personalized
Discounts
SOURCE: SHOP.ORG

59. Online holiday sales will reach
$82 billion
in 2013, up 15%
over 2012
SOURCE: NATIONAL RETAIL FOUNDATION

60. Takeaway:
Don’t forget the value of a true-blue, user-friendly website. Use your
homepage to promote your best performing marketing materials, whether
it be coupons, a specific CTA, or a piece of content. Use that real estate to
your advantage.
Another key piece of your website is, of course, your blog! Are you
creating blog content that tees up the promotion of your products and
services? You should!
And of course, just like we mentioned before, make sure you have a
mobile version of your websites so your best customers can research your
products from anywhere.

61. 5 Blog Post
Templates
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62. Checklist:
Mobile & Search
q Make sure your website is mobile-optimized
q Check that your emails are easy to read and buttons are
clickable on a mobile phone
q Consider creating a mobile app to support your marketing
q Check that your product pages come up in search, or optimize
those pages if they don’t
Plan ahead with the
On-Page SEO
Template:
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63. Checklist:
Email
q Plan your holiday email calendar
q Decide what offers you will send via email, like coupons or
special deals
q Make sure your emails link to an optimized, mobile-friendly
page on your website
q Have a plan and tool in place to measure your emails
effectiveness
Craft the perfect email
with the Anatomy of a
Five-Star Email:
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64. Checklist:
Social
q Share your best content throughout your social accounts
q Have a plan to monitor social engagement while taking any
holiday vacation
q Showcase customer reviews via social channels
q Consider experimenting with product visuals on Pinterest
q Make sure all your content and product info is easy to share
Use visuals on social
media with 250
Holiday Stock Photos:
Free Download

65. Checklist:
Website & Blog
q Use some of your homepage real-estate to promote your best
offers and CTAs
q Keep visitors up-to-date with deals on your website
q Use your blog to write great content that tees up product
promotion
q Work with guest bloggers for third party reviews
Create remarkable
content with 5 Blog
Post Templates:
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66. Happy Holidays!
from your friends at