70% Of Marketers Struggle To Retain Customers Post Festive Season: Webengage

WebEngage has rolled out the 'The State of Festive Marketing Report 2024' highlighting how brands engage consumers through innovative pre-festive campaigns, interactive festive promotions, and thoughtful post-festive follow-ups. However, many marketers struggle with customer retention once the celebrations end, facing challenges like customer drop-off and intense competition. The report reveals that 70 per cent of marketers struggle to retain customers post-festive season. Hence, it provides actionable insights and effective strategies to navigate these hurdles, ensuring meaningful connections established during the festive season thrive long after the celebrations. 

Ankur Gattani, chief growth officer at WebEngage states, “The festive season offers brands a unique opportunity to acquire new customers and bring back many inactive users. However, you want to squeeze everything you can from the lifetime value of customers acquired and re-activated. Our strategy includes pre-festive planning, segmented messaging and treatment during the festivities and meaningful post-festive follow-ups and dashboarding of insights. Our report highlights how brands can leverage emerging trends and data-driven strategies to enhance their seasonal marketing efforts. With the right channels and personalised engagement, brands can substantially boost marketing ROI from the festive boom. 

The findings in this report stem from consulting over 250 renowned industry insiders and shoppers who live and breathe festive marketing. Here are some key insights from the report: 

• Attraction Factors: Prices, new launches, and user experience were identified as the primary factors that make festive campaigns most appealing to consumers. Brands that offer attractive pricing and exciting new products are more likely to capture consumer interest and drive engagement during the festive season. 

  
  
   

• Sector Engagement: The brands that most utilise festive marketing campaigns are primarily from the E-commerce/D2C, EdTech, and BFSI sectors. These industries have effectively utilised festive marketing strategies to engage with their target audiences, showcasing their products and services in a festive context. 

• Omnichannel Marketing: An impressive 98 per cent of brands engage users on online channels, with nearly 45 per cent employing omnichannel marketing to target both offline and online users. This highlights the importance of integrating multiple channels for a cohesive customer experience. Brands that successfully merge online and offline strategies can enhance their reach and customer engagement. 

• Planning Timeline: The State of Festive Marketing Report 2024 indicates that brands start planning their campaigns 3-6 months in advance; however, 54 per cent of brands initiate their pre-festive campaigns only within 30 days leading up to the launch. Brands from diverse sectors including E-commerce, BFSI, Travel & Hospitality, Media & Entertainment, or Healthcare—begin their preparations well in advance, especially E-commerce & D2C, which accounts for 41.2 per cent of the brands that dabble in festive marketing. This insight suggests that advanced planning is crucial for maximising impact, but many brands may not be leveraging this advantage effectively. 
• Sales Duration Strategy: During the festive season, brands need to carefully consider their sales duration. Campaigns lasting less than 7 days are often more effective for multi-product platforms. This shorter window can create urgency and drive quicker purchase decisions among consumers. 
• User Interaction: Understanding how users interact with festive marketing campaigns is essential for improving engagement. The report explores user behaviours, preferences, and feedback to provide brands with valuable insights into what resonates with their audience, allowing them to tailor future campaigns for greater impact. 

While festive seasons present significant opportunities, brands often encounter challenges in maintaining customer engagement post-festivities. Common issues include customer drop-off, increased competition, and the rising cost of sustained promotions. However, these hurdles can be mitigated with the right strategies. One key recommendation is for brands to space out their sales throughout the year, leaving substantial gaps between promotions. Overloading consumers with back-to-back flash sales can lead to promotion fatigue, reducing the urgency and effectiveness of future campaigns.