Holiday marketing isn’t anything new; but it isn’t easy for small business to incorporate the marketing strategies suited for the holidays. Often a lack of budget makes it difficult to offer generous promotions for customers or good donations for charities.
But it doesn’t need to be so. It isn’t difficult for a small business to get into the holiday spirit, even if it has to work on a small budget. It won’t be an impediment if you know how to work with what you have.
Here are a few tips and tricks that can let you do holiday marketing your way.
Get Into The Holiday Mood
Holidays are all about good times. Your place of business needs to reflect the good times. Decorate your place of business in festive colors. This can work well for retail businesses, gift shops, eateries and many others.
If your business relies on online activities, dress up your email with a festive theme. Post pictures of celebrations on your social media profiles. And don’t forget, it’s a place for conversation, not for monologue. Safety-Steps.co.uk, a leading UK based supplier of safety steps, always send promotional emails to its subscribers and prospective customers to make them aware of festive offers.
Ask your social media fans and followers to share anything and everything related to the holidays. It doesn’t need to be linked to your business. It will boost the festive fervor of your site and attract people to your business.
Give people something special for the holidays. A product of the month such as a scrumptious chocolate cake with a snowflake decoration from your patisserie or a beautiful star pendant from your line of jewelry designs.
Select something that people are sure to like and that resonates with the festive spirit. Make sure you promote the product of the month across all your marketing channels to give it the best opportunity to capture markets.
Show Your Customers You Care
Give your loyal customers something to smile about. A sneak preview of a new product, free shipping on anything bought during the holidays, a small discount on any item connected to the celebrations can all be useful ideas.
You can also offer promotional deals only for your social media fans. You don’t need to break your bank to come up with offers that retain your existing customers and urge them to repeat purchase and increase sales during the holidays.
Another great idea is to plan an ‘open house’. Welcome people to your place of business, greet them with a smile, offer them a bowl of punch and let them check out your new range of products or your new festive menu.
Want to know an easy way to boost sales during the holidays? Offer gift certificates of different denominations for customers. Gift exchange is nothing new during the holidays. And gift certificates can be ideal alternatives to other options.
When a customer gifts such a certificate to another, it promotes your business automatically. And in most cases, when the recipient uses the certificate to buy from your business, they spend more than the designated amount. And it boosts sales.
Spread The Holiday Cheer
Don’t let competition mar the holiday spirit. Instead, focus on how you can get involved with corresponding businesses and come up with a winning combo. KFC and Pepsi show you the way to do this right.
Your first task is to identify the businesses you may collaborate with. Once you get out there, you will be surprised to see how many small businesses are trying really hard to use holiday marketing work for them.
Create a winning combination with a business you can partner with. For example, a gift shop and café can easily back each other up with discounts that work across the businesses. Just make sure you get every little detail worked out before you begin.
Losing sight of your community isn’t going to do any good to your business. After all, holidays are the time for community and charity. Don’t fret; you needn’t make large donations to make your mark in the community.
There are far simpler ways to contribute to charitable causes. Let the choir practice carols in your place of business after your work hours are over. Volunteer to wait for the people at the home for the elderly in your locality.
Incorporate the holiday vibe with the right strategies to make it work for your business.