Holiday marketing strategies designed to turn heads and boost your business
The holiday season is quickly approaching! During this time of year, many small business owners are gearing up for a flurry of new customers, increased sales, and high demand. This special season offers a significant opportunity to boost sales, but too often entrepreneurs are overwhelmed and may not be fully prepared for end-of-year activity.
To make the most of the holiday season, you can develop engaging marketing strategies that connect to customers, drive interest in your product or service, and stand out from other businesses.
Create a Holiday-Specific Content Calendar for Your Website and Social Media
Your online presence is often the first point of contact for customers. Decorate your website and social media profiles with festive, holiday-themed imagery, and consider adding features such as a countdown to major shopping days. Make sure your website is mobile-responsive to cater to the increasing number of shoppers using their phones to browse and purchase.
| While having a website and social media presence is a best practice year-round, creating a special sense of urgency can drive shoppers to complete their purchase and convert leads to customers. Discounts, special incentives, and the creation of time-sensitive opportunities can distinguish your holiday promotions from daily operations. | -1.png?width=280&height=158&name=Untitled%20design%20(5)-1.png)
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While having a website and social media presence is a best practice year-round, creating a special sense of urgency can drive shoppers to complete their purchase and convert leads to customers. Discounts, special incentives, and the creation of time-sensitive opportunities can distinguish your holiday promotions from daily operations.
Does daily social media management seem daunting? Here is an example of a content calendar to help you plan out ideas. You can also take advantage of social media scheduling tools like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or Later.
Optimize your Digital Presence for SEO
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Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial during the holidays and can help nearby leads learn about your small business. To ensure your business is easily discoverable by local customers, optimize your website for local keywords and update your Google Business Profile with accurate holiday hours, special promotions, and any COVID precautions your business is taking. |
You’d be surprised how hard it can be to find addresses, parking information, and other key details that make a customer willing to travel to your storefront.
Engage in Email Marketing
| Leverage your email list to keep customers informed about your holiday promotions, new arrivals, and special events. Use creative, holiday-themed email templates, and consider segmenting your email list to send personalized recommendations based on customers' preferences and previous purchases. |  |
Don’t have an email list? Start with friends and family, and ask your social media followers to share their email addresses with you to gain access to special content. If you have an appropriate product or service, bringing your goods to farmer’s markets, networking events and tip clubs, chamber or small business organization meetings, and neighborhood events can help grow your list — just make sure to bring a sign-up sheet!
Need help building email marketing campaigns? Tools like Mailchimp and Constant Contact can help you build cohesive campaigns and see what messaging is most effective for your business.
Host Virtual Events and Workshops
With the rise of remote work and online shopping, virtual events and workshops can be a great way to engage with your audience. Host webinars, product demonstrations, or how-to sessions that are both informative and entertaining — by seeing your products or services in action, you can better connect prospective customers to you and what you do! Promoting these events through your website and social media, or even hosting them there, can create special engagement opportunities that distinguish you from others in the space. Many social media platforms now offer live streaming, allowing your future customers to see and hear directly from you.
Support Charitable Causes
| Demonstrate your business' commitment to social responsibility by supporting charitable causes or community initiatives. This not only fosters goodwill but also resonates with customers who want to make a difference during the holiday season. |  |
Which charities have the strongest reputations? Visit Charity Navigator, Candid, or other nonprofit watchdog sites to assess the nonprofits in your community.
Don’t Forget About What Happens After the Season Ends!
After the holiday season, collect feedback from your customers to evaluate what worked and what didn't. Take a look at engagement on your social channels and review email click rates and open rates to better understand what was effective for you! Use this valuable input to refine your marketing strategies for next year.