Thanksgiving Marketing Strategies & Tips for Online Store 2024

Updated by March 18,2024

Thanksgiving is fast approaching and it's one of the biggest shopping holidays of the year. For many online retailers, the Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday period presents a significant sales opportunity. To help you take advantage of the Thanksgiving shopping boom, this guide will provide marketing strategies and tips to boost your online store's performance during this key season. Let’s find out all about Thanksgiving marketing 2024 now!

In this part, let’s cover marketing strategies like content, email, social media, influencer, online ads,...

1. Content Marketing

The content should educate readers but also subtly promote your business as a source for Thanksgiving décor, gifts, or anything else they may need. Engaging content is key to driving recognition and sales ahead of the holidays. Let’s try some tips below to implement content marketing:

Blog posts and articles with Thanksgiving tips and ideas

You can try to create blog posts with Thanksgiving recipe ideas, décor tips, entertaining suggestions, and more. Be sure to include links back to relevant products in your store. Besides, publishing articles about the history and tradition of Thanksgiving is also a good idea, just try to share fun facts people may not know.

Additionally, write posts about gift ideas for friends and family during Thanksgiving. In these posts, recommend items available in your store.

Social media content focused on gratitude and thanksgiving

• Develop graphics, images, and videos focused on gratitude and things people are thankful for. Encourage sharing on social channels.
• Post daily prompts in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving for followers to respond with what they're grateful for that day.
• Create Instagram Stories or Facebook Live videos giving followers a behind-the-scenes look at your preparations for the holiday season in your store.
• Promote your blog posts and articles about Thanksgiving across social media to drive more traffic back to your site.
• Share inspirational quotes about gratitude, family, and the Thanksgiving spirit to engage followers.

2. Email Marketing

Email marketing is an incredibly important tool for Thanksgiving promotions. Frequent, on-brand emails will keep your store top of mind during this busy holiday period. Here are some tips for effective email marketing strategies:

Thanksgiving-themed email campaigns

Send creative emails leading up to Thanksgiving with recipes, activities for families, gratitude prompts, etc. Make sure to highlight products related to the theme. Also, you can develop visually appealing emails using images and colors that evoke warmth, harvest tones, and feelings of gratitude.

Promotional offers and discounts for Thanksgiving

• Run exclusive discount codes through email only. Time them to expire just before Thanksgiving for a sense of urgency.
• Promote flash sales, limited-time bundles, or free shipping offers that leverage the season.
• Consider early bird discounts for orders placed before a certain date to help early shoppers save.
• Offer discounts on gift cards or entire brand categories like home goods that are common gifts.

3. Social Media Marketing

Social is key for connecting with followers through fun, interactive experiences related to Thanksgiving traditions. Combined with promotions and influencer partnerships, it can significantly boost your store's visibility. Implementing some important things as below to maximize the strategy effectiveness:

Engaging posts and contests

2-3 weeks before Thanksgiving, you can try to run contests/giveaways prompting followers to like/comment/share for a chance to win a prize bundle. You can announce the prizes on the day of Thanksgiving to attract the audience on your channel.

Additionally, create fun, shareable graphics and videos encouraging followers to post about what they're thankful for on Thanksgiving using branded hashtags. Posting engaging questions or fill-in-the-blank style posts is also an effective way to spark conversation in the comments.

User-generated content campaigns related to Thanksgiving

Encouraging customers to generate content for Thanksgiving is also one of the best ideas to promote your brand. Try the following ways:

• Hold a #hastag photo contest with prizes awarded for images that best capture a cozy Thanksgiving setting. Don’t forget to remind the audience to tag your store.
• Launch an Instagram Story sticker campaign where followers use branded stickers to tell what's on their Thanksgiving menu or shopping list.
• Hold a Reel challenge asking followers to animate what their perfect Thanksgiving meal table looks like using branded hashtags.

4. Influencer Marketing

Leveraging influencers will exponentially grow your reach among their Target audiences. Make strategic partnerships that align your brand with Thanksgiving traditions and promote your products through authentic, well-produced content series leading up to the holidays.

Partnering with influencers for Thanksgiving promotions

Reach out to influencers in home, decor, cooking, and lifestyle niches to partner in Thanksgiving initiatives. When working with influencers, besides just booking and paying, you can try to:

• Provide influencers with promotional codes and exclusive discounts to share with their audiences.
• Gift influencers products related to Thanksgiving décor, food, or gifts in exchange for sponsored social posts.

Collaborations on Thanksgiving-related content

Ask influencers to style fall tablescapes using products from your store and take high-quality photos for their feeds. For example, collaborate on a series of recipe videos featuring influencers cooking family-favorite Thanksgiving dishes with tools/accessories from your brand.

5. Paid Advertising

Paid advertising can be a highly effective way to generate sales around Thanksgiving. The right paid promotions can drive significant qualified traffic and sales conversions. Here are some tips:

Google Ads and social media advertising with Thanksgiving keywords

With paid advertising for online stores, Google Ads seems to be the most suitable platform. Launch targeted Google Search and Display ads using keywords like "Thanksgiving decor," "Thanksgiving gifts," etc. When running Google ads, you can stimulate a remarketing campaign to retarget website visitors and past customers who have shown interest in similar products with timed offers.

In addition to Google Ads, run Facebook/Instagram ads promoting featured Thanksgiving collections. Facebook and Instagram ads may cost a bit more than Google Ads because social media ads are often based on reach and impression, not on clicks.

Display ads featuring Thanksgiving-themed products

Testing multiple ad types, placements, headlines, and creative assets allows identifying high-performing combinations. After that, set up your ad display featuring Thanksgiving-themed products in the following ways:

• Create eye-catching banners or between-content unit ads highlighting top Thanksgiving products.
• Develop dynamic remarketing ads inserting products visitors have engaged with previously.
• Leverage video or carousel ads on social media and YouTube to showcase full product lines.

6. SMS and Mobile Marketing

SMS directly delivers timely, personalized deals to customers’ phones. And optimizing your mobile experience can attract new app users.

Thanksgiving greetings and special offers through SMS

Store owners can base on the clients data they have to send SMS messages on Thanksgiving Day wishing customers a happy holiday and including an exclusive one-day code for x% off. Leveraging SMS to spread the word about flash sales happening throughout the weekend leading up to and after Thanksgiving is also noted when implementing SMS and mobile marketing for Thanksgiving.

Mobile app promotions for Thanksgiving

The convenience of mobile shopping upgrades the Thanksgiving experience for customers and boosts sales for retailers. So, try to:

• Launch app-only discounts and coupon codes available for a limited time over the Thanksgiving weekend.
• Promote mobile-first shopping experiences like ordering items to pick up in-store to avoid shipping delays.
• Incentivize app downloads/usage with loyalty rewards only redeemable between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.

Creative Assets and Design

It's important for online stores to have strong creative assets and design for their Thanksgiving marketing efforts. Visuals tell powerful brand stories that help drive engagement on social media, capture open and click-through rates in emails, and inspire customers browsing the website.

Things like professionally shot product photos, graphic templates, banners, and stylized vignettes showcase an aesthetic holiday collection in an immersive way. They embody the brand's themes of gratitude, family, and home for the season.

Creative assets also maintain consistency across all marketing touchpoints so the brand voice is recognizable. With optimized visuals, retailers can test different creative elements to see what resonates most and lifts sales. Creative Thanksgiving promotions capture more attention in this busy period, driving consideration of the online store and its products.

Here are some tips to bring creative assets and design for your online stores during Thanksgiving:

• Design elements with Thanksgiving themes: Create banners, logos, and email templates featuring fall colors, leaves, pumpkins, and oranges/browns to match the mood.
• Thanksgiving-specific product packaging or labels: Produce gift tags, sticker seals or woven wicker-style labels with warm touches for seasonal SKUs. Also, package delicate kitchen items or decor in cartoon-printed kraft bags tied with twine.
• Thanksgiving graphics and imagery for social media and website: Update social media and website product pages with imagery of our items incorporated in real Thanksgiving settings.

Website and Landing Page Optimization

Website and landing page optimization is important for online stores during Thanksgiving events. The holiday season brings a large spike in traffic to retail sites, so stores need their digital properties running seamlessly.

Optimized pages will load faster on mobile and desktop to provide an excellent user experience as more shoppers browse. Pages should feature prominent promotions and new collections through optimized imagery, layouts, and calls to action.

Some noted tips that you should consider when optimizing the website and landing page for Thanksgiving online stores:

• Creating dedicated Thanksgiving landing pages: Develop landing pages focusing on specific collections like home decor, gifts, recipes etc. Don’t forget to feature limited-time deals and countdown timers to create urgency.
• Ensuring mobile responsiveness and fast loading times: Implement a responsive design so content is easily navigable on mobile.
• Implementing easy navigation for Thanksgiving-related products: Use navigation bars and internal links to guide customers within the Thanksgiving product pages easily.

Promotion and Sales

Promotions and sales are crucial for online stores during Thanksgiving events for both attracting new customers and encouraging repeat purchases from existing customers. The holiday season brings a surge of shopping, so strategic deals help retailers capture more revenue by standing out from competitors.

Promotions like limited-time discounts, bundles, and gift card deals give shoppers incentives to buy gifts and supplies for Thanksgiving at lower prices. With the right creative promotions, online stores can take advantage of increased shopping volumes and capture new customers who may return for Black Friday and beyond.

Note down some tips below to create effective promotion and sales for both customers and your side:

• Special Thanksgiving sales events and discounts: Offer sitewide % discounts with codes on select dates and highlight new deals daily with flash sales on different product categories
• Bundled product offers: Create gift sets bundles tied to Thanksgiving like "Hostess Gift Bag" and suggest recipe-inspired cookware sets at a discounted price
• Limited-time promotions tied to Thanksgiving: Promote appetizer board bundles expiring at Thanksgiving or offer loyalty points or free shipping on orders over $X

Thanksgiving-themed Content Calendar

A thoughtful calendar establishes consistency, saves team bandwidth long-term and helps measure and improve content marketing ROI over the Thanksgiving period. So, why do you need a Thanksgiving-themed content calendar?

• It helps create a cohesive, coordinated marketing strategy around the holiday season. With many businesses ramping up campaigns, a calendar ensures you stay on track.
• Predictable, regularly scheduled posts increase follower engagement over time. People come to expect and look forward to your content.
• Analytics show posting on specific days/times performs best. A calendar ensures you capitalize on these Prime engagement windows.

Some tips for an effective Thanksgiving content calendar:

• Detailed schedule for Thanksgiving-related content distribution: The content calendar should include a detailed schedule for distributing all Thanksgiving-related content across platforms throughout the month. This involves mapping out a plan for visual assets like photos, videos, and graphics showing off products or themes of gratitude and harvest.
• Key dates and times for promotions and posts: The calendar should also block out optimal dates and times for both promotional posts and regular curated content. Key slots for boosted posts or ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram should be reserved twice weekly.

Conclusion

Thanksgiving is an important season for online retailers to drive sales and capture new customers. By implementing the comprehensive strategies for Thanksgiving marketing 2024, you can maximize visibility and revenue during this busy period.

With the right mix of creative, tech optimization, marketing promotions, and thoughtful scheduling, your online store can reap the rewards of increased consumer shopping during Thanksgiving. Use these strategies and tips to effectively capture new customers and increase revenue this year and beyond. Discover more online business strategies on DSers Blog.