Zoe Ripley, international marketing director at ChannelAdvisor, explains how small businesses can replicate some of the glow created by John Lewis’ latest blockbuster Christmas advert.

It’s officially Christmas! John Lewis has launched its greatly anticipated 2014 Christmas marketing campaign, with a £7 million video featuring Monty, a CGI animated penguin.

For the past few years, John Lewis has become renowned for its creative Christmas adverts, which are famous for tugging at the nation’s heart strings.

The new spot not only demonstrates the power of advertising, but the power of the social and digital marketing initiatives running alongside the advert. For example, last year’s Bear and the Hare received over 10 million views on YouTube.

It’s not just John Lewis who are planning on to maximise on sales during the run up to Christmas. A recent ChannelAdvisor survey revealed that 35% of UK retailers plan to increase their overall digital marketing and advertising budgets as a strategy to increase their Christmas sales.

For those retailers with more modest budgets, here are ChannelAdvisor’s top tips to help boost sales this Christmas:

Get festive with Pinterest – As buyers referred by Pinterest are 10 per cent more likely to follow through with a purchase compared with visitors from any other social networking site, consider setting up your own Pinterest Christmas gift guides.

Break them down by budget, age group and gender. Use some of your marketing budget for a festive photography shoot, showing off your products in a Christmas setting. To help with conversions get on board with product Rich Pins, available through a Pinterest business account.

Delivery updates – The biggest concern for most consumers shopping online for Christmas presents, is making sure products are delivered on time before the big day. Use Facebook and Twitter to give order and delivery updates, for example order today, expect to receive by this date.

Christmas campaigns – The survey revealed that 32% of UK retailers plan to launch new digital marketing initiatives this season, so why not be one of them. Get on board with Google Shopping Campaigns, run your own 12 days of Christmas give away on Twitter, or drive traffic to your webpage by advertising special product promotions through Facebook.