‘Tis the season of celebrations and joyous gift giving and business owners are leveraging these feelings to put their brands on focal point for all shoppers.
Find out how you too, can come up with successful holiday marketing campaigns that will effectively stimulate prospects to do business with you…
Identify Objectives in Marketing Your Business During Holiday Season?
Think about what you want to accomplish this year. Do you want to get…
- more awareness
- more customers
- new customers
- more sales per customer
- higher spend per customer
- more loyalty (or to bring back former customers)
- lower costs/spending
- or a combination of these?
When you know your goal/s for this year, you can then start marking the key dates for the best time to promote your business.
If you’re not sure when to start the holiday season for your business, check last year’s records for reference.
Related reading: Ways to Market Your Business Online During Holidays
Top Things to Consider
Before implementing these holiday marketing ideas, it’s best to consider factors such as budget and staff.
- Plan and budget in advance – Managing your inventory effectively is crucial during this season. You need to ask yourself
- Are my suppliers reliable and available?
- Do I need to pre-order? (Remember, it’s better to order too much than running out)
- Do I have backup suppliers on call for ‘must have’ products/services?
Always check when your orders will arrive. Don’t worry if you have more than enough stocks if you can sell it after the holidays.
For example, if you are running a retail shop, these are the top things you need to consider…
- Ordering
- Processing
- Delivery
- Payment
- Customer service (in-store or online)
These are the common bottlenecks of a business operation. And it may get worse during the holiday season. Isolate the problem areas and take action to improve efficiency.
- Hire extra staff for busy periods – Now that you have set your objectives and budget plan ahead, consider employing extra assistants to keep up with expected demand. You can get them by:
- Putting up a ‘We’re hiring!’ sign in your store
- Sharing a post via social media
- Asking friends, family and your employees for referrals
- Announcing it on your website
- Or contacting recruitment agencies
Related reading: What a Virtual Assistant Can Do During Holidays
8 Different Holiday Marketing Strategies
- Promote your products early
Starting early is the real deal. Don’t wait until after October to start planning for the promotional campaign. At this time, people are already talking about holiday shopping so that means they already expect more deals around the corner.
Use the calendar that you have set up and build audience anticipation by spreading messages about your products and services. Then, make a list of regular and potential customers to target with your various promos, discounts and add-ons.
- Create a personalized campaign
As you welcome more people by spreading awareness, take the next step and invite them to physically insert themselves into your ad.
With a customized campaign, OfficeMax drew 193 million visits with their “Elf Yourself” social media post. Click To Tweet
- Offer discounts and deals to stay competitive
Perks such as buy one get one, free shipping and guaranteed-before-Christmas delivery dates can draw in more customers! Just make sure you are being realistic about these timelines (order-process-delivery).
One of the business marketing ideas for holiday is adding a countdown feature to your website (see #5) or app letting customers know the drop-dead dates for delivery by Dec. 25. Keep your packaging and shipping supplies in stock to help get orders out on time.
- Engage by hosting social media contests
If your small business has a social media presence, let your audience know that your product or service is up for grabs! With a few rules, a hashtag and incentive such as a prize or discount on your offerings can excite your visitors and draw them into your business.
- Upgrade your website and make sure it is up-to-date
This is also a great time to enhance your website design. Add some holiday features and functionality such as a countdown timer for order cut-offs. Make sure your content is also accurate and up-to-date. Include important information like your store opening and closing hours over the holidays.Your #website is your biggest store. It never closes and your customers can buy your product 24/7. Click To Tweet
- Attract new or existing customers
The best holiday marketing campaigns always include getting referrals. If you provide excellent service and nurture your customer base, they’ll keep returning to your store and will be happy to recommend you to others.
You can attract more people by giving:
- Discounts
- Free samples
- Vouchers
- Freebies
- Seasonal giveaways
- Limited coupon codes
- Other incentives
- Get published
Aim to update your company blog at least three times a week and reach out to local media outlets offering yourself as a source in your area of expertise.
Holiday gift ideas, age-appropriate crafts, recipes, getaways, and hosting/housekeeping tips are always popular this time of year.
- Reward customer loyalty
Looking after your existing customers is often just as important as bringing in new ones.
There are plenty of marketing trends during holidays and it’s possible to attract customers all season long. For example, you can reward your most loyal customers with ‘members only’ gifts to keep them coming back for more. Segment marketing campaigns to send customized messages, rewards points, discounts and offers to frequent customers.
Make your customers happy by managing their expectations. If your customer service or chat support is only available during certain periods, let people know. And because your full-time employees are already planning their respective vacations, you may not have the bandwidth to do all of these during the season.
In this case, the smart move is to hire virtual assistant services to handle customer inquiries and website maintenance.
A virtual assistant (VA) can be a cost-effective solution to your business needs and processes during the holiday season.
TOP 5 AREAS Where Business Owners Use Virtual Assistants:
- Virtual customer support – Phone, chat, email
- Digital marketing / Social media marketing
- Web design tech assistance/maintenance
- Search Engine Optimization
- Blog management
The VA tasks can range from basic admin to technical such as the following:
- Customer service – handle phone/email inquiries / chat suport
- Telemarketing/prospecting – offer your customers promos, free shipping, discounts for the Holidays
- Create flyers, product demos, and online brochures
- Promote these across your social media pages
- Up the quality of the images you use online
- Add new features to your website
- Make sure your website is mobile-friendly – test different screens and devices
…and more depending on your needs.
Virtual Assistant Talent is one of the leading providers of virtual assistant services. CALL US at 1-866-596-9041 to learn more.
We would love to hear if these tips worked for you! If you have questions or any Business Outsourcing related success stories, please leave a comment below.
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