First, Gather Your Data

Before you can find any insights, you need to collect your performance data. The specific information you gather will depend on the channels you used for your Thanksgiving campaigns. Your goal is to get a complete picture of your marketing efforts.

Website and E-commerce Analytics

Your website is the central hub for your digital marketing. Start by digging into your analytics platform, like Google Analytics. Focus on the time period of your campaign, from the moment it launched until it ended.

Look for key metrics such as:

• Website Traffic: Did you see a spike in visitors? Where did they come from? Check your acquisition reports to see if traffic came from your email campaigns, social media posts, or paid ads.
• Conversion Rate: This is a big one. Out of all your visitors, how many completed a desired action? This could be making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or downloading a guide. A high conversion rate means your campaign message and your website experience are working well together.
• Average Order Value (AOV): How much did the average customer spend? If you ran a “buy one, get one” or free shipping offer, did it encourage customers to add more to their carts?
• Bounce Rate: This shows the percentage of visitors who landed on a page and left without taking any action. A high bounce rate on a campaign landing page might suggest a mismatch between your ad copy and the page content.

Email Marketing Metrics

If you used email to promote your Thanksgiving offers, your email service provider has all the data you need.

Important email metrics include:

• Open Rate: What percentage of subscribers opened your email? This tells you how effective your subject line was. Did a subject line with an emoji perform better than one without?
• Click Through Rate (CTR): Of those who opened the email, how many clicked a link? A strong CTR indicates your email content and call to action were compelling.
• Unsubscribe Rate: It’s normal to see a few unsubscribes during a heavy promotion period. However, a high rate could signal that your offers weren’t relevant to that segment of your audience.

Social Media Engagement

Check the native analytics on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok.

Look at these indicators:

• Reach and Impressions: How many unique users saw your posts, and how many times were your posts displayed?
• Engagement Rate: This includes likes, comments, shares, and saves. High engagement means your content resonated with your audience. Which posts got the most comments or shares? Was it a video, a user generated content feature, or a simple graphic?
• Link Clicks: If your goal was to drive traffic to your site, how many people clicked the link in your bio or your posts?

Paid Advertising Performance

For platforms like Google Ads or Meta Ads, your dashboard is a treasure trove of information.

Focus on:

• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): For every dollar you spent on ads, how much revenue did you generate? This is the ultimate measure of profitability.
• Cost Per Click (CPC): How much did you pay for each click? Understanding your CPC helps you budget for future campaigns.
• Click Through Rate (CTR): Similar to email, this shows how compelling your ad creative and copy were.

Turning Data into Actionable Lessons

Data is just a collection of numbers until you give it meaning. The real value comes from analyzing these metrics to understand the story behind them.

What Resonated with Your Audience?

Look at your top performing content across all channels. Was it a heartfelt Thanksgiving message, a behind the scenes look at your team, or a straightforward discount? For example, a small bakery might find that a video of them preparing their Thanksgiving pies received far more engagement than a simple graphic advertising a 20% off sale. This suggests their audience values authenticity and connection over just a discount.

Compare your successful content with your less successful posts. Do you see any patterns? Perhaps your audience responded better to user generated photos than to your professional product shots. This is a valuable lesson you can apply to your next campaign.

Understand Your Customer’s Journey

Map out the path your customers took. Did they see a Facebook ad, click to your website, browse a few products, and then leave? Maybe they returned a day later after receiving a reminder email and finally made a purchase. Tools like Google Analytics have flow reports that can help you visualize this journey.

Understanding this path helps you identify friction points. If many customers abandoned their carts, perhaps your shipping costs were too high or the checkout process was too complicated. This insight allows you to make specific improvements, like offering a flat rate for shipping or streamlining your checkout form. You can learn more about optimizing your checkout process from resources like Shopify’s blog.

Evaluate Your Offers

Which promotions drove the most sales? Was it the “30% off everything” deal or the “free gift with purchase” offer? Sometimes, a lower discount with an added value item can have a higher perceived value and a better AOV.

Let’s say an online clothing store ran two offers: one was a 25% discount, and the other was a free scarf with any sweater purchase. By analyzing the sales data, they might discover the free scarf offer generated more revenue and a higher AOV, even though the discount was technically smaller. This tells them their customers respond well to value added promotions.

Preparing for Your Next Holiday Campaign

Now that you have your insights, it’s time to use them. Effective preparation is what separates good campaigns from great ones.

Update Your Customer Personas

Your campaign data gives you a fresh look at who your customers are. Did you attract a new demographic? Did a certain segment of your audience engage more than others? A more accurate persona will help you create more targeted and effective marketing messages in the future.

Plan Your Content Calendar

Based on what resonated with your audience, start outlining your content for the next holiday. If videos performed well, plan to create more video content. If your audience loved seeing your team, schedule some behind the scenes posts.

Don’t just plan for the big holidays. Think about smaller events or themes you can build campaigns around throughout the year. Having a content calendar helps you stay organized and consistent.

Segment Your Email List

Your Thanksgiving campaign likely revealed different behaviors among your subscribers. Some may have purchased multiple times, while others only opened your emails without clicking.

Create segments based on this behavior. You can create a “VIP” segment for your most loyal customers and send them exclusive early access offers. For those who didn’t purchase, you could create a re-engagement campaign with a special incentive. Personalized communication is much more effective than sending the same message to everyone.

Set New Goals and Budgets

Use your past performance as a benchmark to set realistic but ambitious goals for your next campaign. If your ROAS was 3:1, aim for 4:1 next time. If your website conversion rate was 2%, see if you can increase it to 3%.

Your data will also help you allocate your budget more effectively. If you found that Instagram ads delivered a much higher return than Google Ads, you might decide to shift more of your ad spend to Instagram for the next holiday season.

Conclusion: Continuous Improvement is Key

Analyzing your holiday campaign performance isn’t just about tallying up sales. It’s about learning, adapting, and growing. The insights you gather from your Thanksgiving campaigns are incredibly valuable for shaping your marketing strategy for Christmas, New Year’s, and all the seasons to come.

By taking the time to review your data, understand your audience’s behavior, and make informed adjustments, you are setting your business up for long term success. The marketing landscape is always changing, and the businesses that thrive are the ones that commit to continuous improvement.

If you need help diving into your data and building a strategy for your next campaign, our team at MoDuet is here to help.