Small Business Guide to Successful Holiday Marketing

Although the holidays might still feel a long way off, the fall is the best time to start Holiday planning for small business. Your future self will thank you if you commit time to your business in the fall and get an action plan in place so that you can enjoy your holidays as much as your customers. 

Create a Game Plan to help Holiday planning for small business

make a list, check it twice

Planning holiday promotions well ahead of time ensures that you can formulate a clear game plan for execution. 

A checklist can provide a step by step to follow, and allow you to plan what needs to be done. It can also be a motivation, as it gives you smaller, more easily accomplishable steps to complete. Scheduling your plan on a fall calendar will also help you to stay on track, and be mindful of how much time your customers have for holiday shopping.  

Having a plan will make marketing and social media easier during this time too because you'll be using less brain power for coming up with ideas. The plan is already set and you'll just need to share information about what to be excited for and what to expect coming up.

By starting a game plan early, you will also have the chance to edit, alter, or change your holiday promotions if need be and it gives you plenty of times to create the content you need without the time crunch. 

• what promotions do you want to have
• what content do you need to create (photos, text, products etc)
• when do you want to roll out your new products/sales
• create bundles of products as gift sets

Plant the Seed in your Customer's Mind

do you hear what I hear

Once you know what your plan is - start sharing it! Without giving any spoilers of course, start to tease your holiday promotions as soon as you know what they will be. Talking about your promotions builds excitement, it builds awareness and it places your business in your customer's minds for later. 

If you post your holiday promotion point blank, it's like cold calling your customer. Um who is this? No thank you not interested...

By teasing your audience with information about your holiday promotion you can warm them up to the idea. Paint a scene for them to imagine your product in their lives, then let them marinate in the thought of your products in their lives. By the time the sale comes they may even be anticipating it.

When creating content in the months before the holidays change the language to put products in a gift-giving light. Mention gift certificates without being pushy by giving specific examples of who might receive the final items. 

Set the Scene for the Festivities!

deck the halls

You've put so much work into planning and sharing your holiday promotions, don't let your efforts taper off at the actual place of transaction. If your customers have made it as far as your website than they are curious and your website can guide them through to the checkout.

• welcome them with a custom banner
• create collections for gift giving (for him, for her etc)
• add festive touch to logo (like putting a Santa hat on the logo)
• create a gift guide for your customers to browse

Update your website and product SEO to reflect the seasonal and regional areas that you want to target. A lot of people use search engines to look for gift ideas, so utilizing search terms beyond your regular keywords could be beneficial. 

Need help with Holiday planning for small business? Grow and Behold Digital can help your business get ready for the holiday season, regardless if you need help because you're too busy or if you want to learn how to do it yourself.