The average person buys 14 gifts in the lead-up to Christmas, and 73% of people will shop somewhere new (be it online or in real life). Do you know what this means? It can be a freakin’ gold mine for e-commerce websites and online stores. I know you want some of the cash, so here’s how to ace your digital marketing and find new customers.

1. Create an awesome Search Engine Marketing (SEM) campaign.

People are going to be searching for all kinds of crap during December. “What do I buy my creepy uncle?”, “What do women want?” and “Is Santa real?”. Make sure you stay on top of your keywords if you want to stay on top of the search results. “Gift Ideas” or “Presents” is the obvious choice, along with anything “Festive” or “Christmas” related. You NEED to be on the first page of Google if you want any chance at selling your product – the only way to do this is to be amazing at Google Adwords. Sound boring? It is. Get an agency to do it for you.

2. Up your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) game with content marketing

Sprinkle a butt-load of festive words on your website pages or, better still, write blogs about your products and how they are the “perfect gift idea”. Remember, people are not buying gifts for themselves: Christmas shopping is a whole other beast. We’re tasked with buying for people we’re biologically forced to love, or that awkward guy in the office with the inexplicable musky scent and penchant for open-mouth chewing. The point is: you need to help out these gift-buyers as much as you can because they have no fucking idea what they’re doing and need to be convinced to buy your product and then go on living their best life.

3. Who run the world? Girls.

Beyonce was right. She is not only extremely talented and beautiful but a beacon of wisdom. Women give birth, do most of the child-rearing and the Christmas shopping — thanklessly buying on behalf of Santa and other family members. So women are your target buyer, even if they are not your target market. Keep this in mind when choosing your messaging, and be sure to frame the purchase as a gift.

4. Size may not matter but packages do.

If you really want to sell something, package it up with something complimentary to give yourself that competitive edge. Any value-add will put you a cut above your competitors, and make people more likely to buy. It also means the person receiving the gift will have more than one present and you’ll go at the top of their list of people to kill people to be nice to. So if you’re selling a beach towel, throw in a canvas beach bag. Selling nail polish? Throw in a bonus nail file. Everyone loves free shit!

5. Optimise for mobile.

Half of all online shopping happens on a smartphone. If your website is not optimised for mobile, you may as well cancel Christmas (boo!). Be clever about driving people through paid social media campaigns on Facebook and Instagram and directing them straight into the jaws of the online shopping cart.

6. Show me the money.

We’ll let you in on a little secret: Organic social media is a waste of time if your goal is to sell something. This is especially true at Christmas time – you’re selling to the person buying the product who is then going to give it to somebody else. You’re not marketing directly to the end user of this product. The person buying the product has probably never heard of you, and probably doesn’t follow any of your social channels (and has no desire to). You’ve got to come up with a killer Christmas-selling campaign then throw some money behind it. Be creative, back yourself and you will get a return on investment. Facebook business manager is relatively easy to use and you’ll be able to set up ads and target specific demographics on Instagram and Facebook.

7. Send emails like they’re going out of fashion.

MailChimp is free and super easy to use. Its drag-and-drop templates are awesome for creating emails people will actually open. Include heaps of pictures and the “Shop Now” button and make sure it links to your website. The best way to get people to open the email in the first place is an exclusive offer, discount, or package deal (as I mentioned earlier) – include this in your subject line with an attention-grabbing emoji.

8. World domination.

If you want to maximise sales then make sure your product is accessible to as many people as possible. This means including global shipping and currency conversion integrated into your website. Keep this in mind when targeting locations in your social campaigns: It’s a waste of everybody’s time and money if you’re selling to people who can’t even get your product shipped to their location.

9. Make a promo video.

Video is your best friend when it comes to online marketing. There are so many reasons you should be using video to promote your brand. Essentially, all you need to know is that video is the most effective way to reach people, and the statistics back this up. Explain the benefits of your product = what problem does it solve? Why would someone want it? What makes it unique? Better still, what makes it a GREAT GIFT?!

OK, so what are you waiting for? Grab life by the (rum) balls and take advantage of mass consumerism, exploit a religious holiday, and cash in on people’s desire to one-up each other under the Christmas tree.

9 Ways To Get Your Product At The Top Of Everyones Xmas List