There’s less than 8 weeks until Christmas and retailers are kicking their holiday marketing strategies into full gear. With Black Friday fast approaching, many consumers have already started shopping. In fact, the bulk of consumers begin purchasing for the holidays on November 1. If retailers wait too long, they could be missing out on some valuable sales opportunities. The key question is, how can you attract customers and drive them to engage with your brand? Here are five key strategies to help your clients drive shoppers to the stores or online to make holiday purchases.

Whether communications are printed or digital, marketers are focused on delivering a more targeted message during this holiday season. They recognize that not all customers are created equal. Marketers don't want to waste profit margins by sending discounts to shoppers who simply seek deals and then move on. They are looking at the lifetime value of a customer, and they want to reward brand-loyal consumers with special offerings ranging from loyalty programs to extra thank-you promotions for the holidays. When dealing with early shoppers, marketers would be well-advised to attract them to stores and entice them to make impulse purchases as the season progresses. Meanwhile, known procrastinators will likely respond better to digital advertising that encourages last-minute shopping, gift card purchases, and overnight shipping.

In the latest edition of the eTail Annual Retail Holiday Readiness Report, 122 retail marketing executives reported that targeting consumers was their top method for luring in customers and boosting sales this holiday season (43%). Another 23% plan to roll out A/B testing to determine customer preferences, and 20% will use consumer data and analytics to improve relevance.