Marketing your small business over the holidays is the perfect opportunity to reach customers, increase your sales and spread Christmas cheer within your community. Shoppers flock online in the lead-up to Christmas to find great deals on products and services for themselves and their loved ones. Keep reading to find out how you can market your small business effectively over the holidays and get your piece of the pie.
1. Timing is Everything
The holidays are the most wonderful time of the year for small businesses, as everyone is on the lookout for a killer sale on all kinds of products and services. Make sure you’re prepared to stay active on social media. Create a social media calendar well in advance so you can plan ahead. You need time to prepare, create and promote your content for peak purchasing times.
2. Sale, Sale, Sale
The easiest way to boost sales is to cut your prices – it’s a no-brainer. Consumers will often wait for key events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Boxing Day to find the year’s best prices. Decide which products you want to have on sale, how much you want to reduce your prices (E.g. 15%, 30% or 75%) and prepare your marketing material, both in-store and online.
3. Add a Gift
Celebrate the festive season with your customers and sweeten the deal with a bonus gift for purchases over a certain amount (E.g. a coupon or product, depending on how generous you’re feeling). Bonus gifts are a great way to give consumers that extra push and help make them feel special. The buyer can either keep the gift for themselves or re-gift it, which is an added bonus.
4. Run a Holiday Giveaway
Everyone loves a good giveaway, especially during the holidays. Increase your engagement and reach with a Facebook or Instagram giveaway. Entice consumers with the chance to win a free product, service or gift card in the lead-up to Christmas and the New Year. It’s a win-win for you and your customers.
5. Create a Seasonal Google Ad Campaign
The main source of information for holiday shopping offers in Canada is online advertisements. While Instagram and Facebook advertisements are stock standard, consider starting a Google Ads campaign targeting holiday shoppers to increase your brand exposure and sales. Add an incentive such as free shipping, gift-wrapping or a discount. Make sure you include holiday language, highlight your special offer and add a sense of urgency.
6. Share Video Content
While a static image or graphic is great, take it to the next level these holidays with video content. Video content is more engaging and can evoke more emotion, which encourages a purchase. Producing video content doesn’t have to be too expensive or time-consuming. There are a number of online programs out there that can help, such as Promo, which we can vouch for.
7. Decorate Your Storefront
Make sure that your storefront reflects that your small business is in the festive spirit. If you have a physical store, decorate your store window accordingly. When it comes to online decorations, add banners to your website to promote your upcoming sales and create a sense of immediacy for your limited-time sale. Consider introducing festive packaging.
8. Festivise Your Emails
If you use email marketing to share e-newsletters with subscribers, don’t forget to promote your deals, sales and discounts with fun holiday emails. Change the layout of your e-newsletters to have a more festive feel. Entice your customers with an eye-catching email subject line in their inbox for a higher open rate. As always, creating a sense of urgency will help.
Contact the digital marketing experts at Sims Advertising today to help put these strategies into action and increase your sales these holidays!
