Holiday-minded marketers everywhere want to know: what’s the quickest way to build a meaningful, lasting relationship with your customers?

Considering your brand has the option of in-store shopping experiences for the first time in what feels like forever, the biggest gains for the least amount of extra work look to be driving traffic back through your doors in Q4. After all, what better way is there to give your loyal buyers the full brand experience?

The world is growing more digital by the day—making in-person interactions and in-store shopping experiences even more potentially impressionable than they were pre-COVID. Especially if you do these five things to boost customer engagement across every channel:

Feature favorite stores and location-specific info

This year, COVID-19 is still a serious consideration for your shoppers. So, make your holiday marketing approach flexible—that way, you’re able to adjust messaging at a moment’s notice to prevent leaving any potential buyers feeling left out in the cold. Tear down traditional boundaries by integrating your ecommerce and in-store environments into a seamless brick-and-click experience that delivers driving maps, directions, location-specific imagery, operating hours, and more for everyone’s favorite store location directly from your emails.

If you have the first-party data available, you can take personalization to another level and add even more value to your in-store shopping experiences by creating unique promotions, hosting exclusive in-store shopping experiences, and offering special services like Buy Online, Pickup In-Store (BOPIS), curbside pickup, and free gift wrapping to enhance every shopper’s season.

Creative VIP in-store shopping experiences for every loyal customer

Your best customers are obviously your most loyal ones—and that goes double during the holiday season. So, what better (or easier) way is there to build loyalty, brand affinity, and bigger in-store crowds this year than by treating these customers like VIPs?

Invite your VIP customers to enjoy seasonal events, exclusive shopping hours, or in-store only deals. Email invites to these in-store shopping experiences can even include “Add to Calendar” buttons and customized maps to make sure every recipient engages with your message and attends your extra special holiday promotions. Especially if you give gifts for select customers or sales over a specific dollar amount.

Add mystery (and more fun) to your holiday promotions 

Now more than ever, retail consumers trust brands that align with their personal values, behaviors, and lifestyles. So, rather than pushing holiday-themed product recommendations or generic sales email campaigns, this year it’s time to take a different—and likely more profitable—approach.

The only thing your customers love more than a good deal is a surprise. But it’s the season of giving, so give your email subscribers exactly what they want by delivering a mystery or click-to-reveal offer that inspires excitement and drives more in-store traffic through the digital equivalent of a gift unwrapping experience. Coupons can be electronically delivered—allowing these special discounts to follow online shoppers around until they’re redeemed at the counter.

Save your new products for in-store reveals

For most retailers, the holidays are your peak promotional period every year. Especially for the brands who have the courage to do something new in Q4 by launching new products and revealing them in-store.

Embedded email videos highlighting new arrivals, complementary product recommendations, unboxing moments, and full-blown product demos all give customers an enticing tease of what’s to come. Making an invite to test or try your latest launch out during the in-store shopping experience irresistible for every recipient.

Encourage customer check-ins and social posts with in-store shopping experiences

Have a loyalty program or special social media campaign to promote this holiday season? Encourage your customers to check in on their mobile app when entering your store or ask an employee at checkout—and reward this engaged behavior with extra loyalty points or gifts.

By doing so, you not only increase your chances of driving more shoppers through your in-store experience; you also have the ability to segment highly engaged buyers, track purchases, and even present points accumulated or dollars spent until earning their next reward to make future promotions that much more effective.