I know we just finished up Halloween, however, the shopping season is upon us.  Major retailers are setting up their black Friday campaigns.  Whether you’re a small retailer or a large conglomerate, it’s time to put into action your online marketing plan for this holiday season now.

You shouldn’t use the same coupon week after week because it will turn people off.  I won’t buy something this week if I know that there’s going to be another 20% off everything coupon next week.  Have something really on sale.  You won’t get everyone buying it, but I suspect you’ll get better conversions since it will be more meaningful and it will capture the customers attention.

Last season, people were worried about their jobs and the looming recession.  Well guess what, many more of us are out of work, and are counting pennies.  What this means to you is that you’ve got two types of customers.

The first are those who are looking for deep discounts and will buy and store the presents.  In fact, they’ve been buying presents since last Christmas.  They are patient and will wait until the exact right price for the exact present comes along.  For these people, again, the highly targeted discount is very useful.  Amazon has their daily deals, and they often sell out.  So if you have multiple products, have one as a fire sale and see how well it converts.

If it doesn’t, perhaps most of your clients are the second type.  They have a limited budget and are waiting until the last minute to get the fire sale prices.  In fact, they may be more than likely to go into stores and try to negotiate better prices.  For these people, you need to give them a good reason to buy online.  Perhaps free shipping will be their tipping point.

Know your customers and know that it’s a tough market out there.  So get your holiday emails out there so you’re the one they want to buy from.