A new year, a new beginning. The Lunar New Year is the first key marketing holiday after January 1st every year. To maintain strong sales, merchants can apply the Marketing Funnel concept to plan holiday promotions more systematically.

Stage 1: Awareness

After Christmas, many merchants have already begun preparing for Lunar New Year activities. Brands can use social media, search engine marketing (SEM), and word-of-mouth marketing to launch festive tips and countdown offers with Lunar New Year elements, attracting potential customers at the earliest possible opportunity. Physical stores can also start decorating for the Lunar New Year to enhance the festive atmosphere.

Stage 2: Interest

In the 2 to 3 weeks before the Lunar New Year, merchants can launch more targeted marketing content with product upselling, such as "New Year Gift Recommendations," "Top 10 Selected New Year Gift Boxes," "Top 5 Hotel New Year Snack Boxes," and so on to attract potential customers to read and forward to their social circles. In addition to social media posts, merchants can use eDM newsletters and SMS to promote. If merchants do not prefer product hard-selling, they can organize Lunar-New Year-themed workshops, one-day store manager events, and free giveaway activities to attract customers to visit the store.

Stage 3: Desire

Deadline fighter genes are in Hongkongers' veins–—consumers' purchasing desire is generally the strongest about a week before the Lunar New Year. Merchants can launch limited-time offers, surprise gift bags, and other exclusive offers to create a sense of scarcity, making customers feel the Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) and pushing sales to new heights! In digital marketing, marketers can closely monitor the effectiveness of ads and quickly adjust materials or budgets based on results to ensure the most effective ad versions get the most exposure.

Stage 4: Action

Marketing doesn't stop when customers complete a purchase. After customers have bought the goods, merchants can use customer data such as email addresses or phone numbers to send "Thank you for your purchase," "Repurchase discount," "Post-purchase feedback," and other re-targeting messages further to build customer loyalty and turn them into long-term customers. Besides re-targeting, merchants should also carefully analyze the effectiveness of all activities during the Lunar New Year period and summarize the most effective marketing strategies for their brand, continuously improving the details of future activities to enhance conversion rates over the long term.

The above 4 stages complement each other. Although similar, distinguishing each stage's main goals and KPIs allows merchants to more systematically set up campaign details. Before the New Year holiday, "sow seeds," and after the holiday, merchants can effectively reap the results while accumulating long-term brand assets and user word-of-mouth. By adopting a comprehensive funnel strategy, holiday marketing is no longer just a "short-term sprint," but an opportunity for long-term brand growth and sustainable success.