Father’s Day Marketing Advice from ShipStation Customers
Father’s Day is just around the corner. If you want to get your share of the estimated $15.5 billion consumers plan to spend on Father’s Day, there’s still time.
Two of our customers, Genius Pack and The Bearded Bastard, were generous enough to share some of their Father’s Day marketing tips. Here’s what they had to say.
Email Marketing
“For our Father’s Day marketing efforts, email marketing is critical,” says Alfred Chehebar, Founder and CEO of New York City-based luggage company, Genius Pack.
Luggage is not usually a repeat purchase. But 24% of Genius Pack’s 80,000 email subscribers come back to buy extra items. Those items may be accessories, more luggage, or gifts.
Chehebar says he is very happy with MailChimp for his email marketing campaigns. “It allows us to segment in granular detail, including UTM tracking parameters for each link clicked. We can review and measure performance in Google Analytics.”
Best practices for Father’s Day marketing emails, according to Chehebar, include the following:
- Personalizing and segmenting emails based on demographics (such as gender)
- Putting product suggestions inside the email message instead of creating a link
The latter technique makes the information one step closer to customers.
Austin, TX-based The Bearded Bastard will also be using email marketing for its Father’s Day marketing efforts. “We have several emails that will be sent out to our email list of around 15,000 people,” says Casey McKenna, Marketing Manager.
Gift Boxes
The Bearded Bastard offers a variety of different gift boxes, such as Woodsman Experience and Morocco Experience. But the retailer also sells a dedicated Father’s Day gift box, shown below. And the team wants to make sure it gets the promotion it deserves.
“We are taking Father’s Day more seriously than we’ve ever taken it,” says McKenna. “In years past, Father’s Day has always directly coincided with our summer product releases and kind of lived in the shadow of those releases. This year we have adjusted our release schedule to give our new Father’s Day gift box a great chance at success.”
Gift boxes are a great addition to your Father’s Day marketing efforts. Sometimes shoppers just don’t know what to get their dads. Gift boxes make it easier for them to give thoughtful presents.
Social Media
During the weeks leading up to Father’s Day, The Bearded Bastard plans to post on its Instagram and Facebook 3-5 times per week. With 20,000 and 25,000 followers, respectively, these posts should help build anticipation for the brand’s Father’s Day promotions.
The company has been uploading Father’s Day-themed photos and videos since the beginning of May …
… and plans to continue right up to Father’s Day.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Both The Bearded Bastard and Genius Pack will take advantage of pay-per-click advertising. The Bearded Bastard will be running Facebook ads that target customers who’ve bought Father’s Day gifts in prior years, as well as lookalike audiences. And Genius Pack will be running Google AdWords, Facebook advertising, and Instagram advertising campaigns to appeal to Father’s Day gift buyers.
“Our ads will include product suggestions for Father’s Day, sometimes with a unique discount code for purchase,” says Chehebar. The Genius Pack marketing team continually tweaks its Father’s Day and other ad campaigns. Its strategy includes testing different creative and ad content. The team also adjusts how it targets specific interests, ages, and locations.
Gift Guides
Each year Genius Pack includes a Father’s Day Gift Guide on its website. Gift guides are a great way for ecommerce brands to promote their merchandise without being overtly salesy. Check out Genius Pack’s Father’s Day Gift Guide:
The guide features seven items, each targeting a different type of dad. For example, the Dad Who Travels Often, the Concrete Jungle Dad, and the Tech Dad with All the Devices.
Next Steps
Using email marketing, new product launches, social media, pay-per-click advertising, and gift guides like other successful ShipStation customers will help increase your Father’s Day sales. Get started today!