If you’re anything like us, between summer holidays and end-of-year accounts, it’s easy for November to creep up on you and suddenly you find your festive marketing strategy is a bit lacking.
The fact is, any holiday season marketing can be some of the most rewarding and fun of the year. It’s a chance to connect with your clients at a time of year where everyone’s feeling a bit warm and fuzzy and, yes, are more inclined to spend money.
To help you get started, we’ve got five creative holiday season marketing tips (plus a little bonus!).
Create an Irresistible Sale
Of course, the holiday season is a time for family and friends, for good food and warm drinks around the fire, but it’s also a time for spending money. We don’t see anything wrong with that; people want to treat themselves or their loved ones, which is a natural part of Christmas.
So one of the best things you can do at this time of year is to create an irresistible sale, something that gets your customers excited about buying from you. Publicize any limited time offers, for example, free shipping if you have an e-commerce store, and think about creating bundle deals to incentivize buying.
This is a great idea for big purchases in particular; let’s face it, if you get a gift bag with an investment purchase, you’re much more likely to leap. Christmas incentive packages are great for gifts; we also love New Year’s bundles if your product ties in with common New Year’s Resolutions.
Our big recommendation is to start early, to make sure those super-organized people get a chance to benefit from your deals (although not so early that people get tired of Christmas before it even arrives!).
Contact Past & Current Clients
Like we said above, the holiday season is a great time to connect with your client base, so as part of your holiday season marketing, think about getting in touch with your past and current clients, as well as any potential leads you have. Let them know what you’re up to and make sure you stay on their radar.
It doesn’t have to be about pushing yourself on them; sending holiday cards, for example, is a nice gesture at this time of year. Another nice idea is small gifts or discount offers as a way of showing them you appreciate their custom.
The holiday season is a great time to connect with your client base, so as part of your holiday season marketing, think about getting in touch with your past and current clients!Click To TweetRemember, however, that many people will be inundated with holiday cards and gifts from businesses, so try to be creative and show people something different. Note that a lot of people would now prefer an online alternative to a card – it’s more environmentally friendly and spares you the cost and hassle of printing.
Get Social
A big part of your holiday season should be able keeping visible – people have got so much going on at this time of year that they don’t have time to go hunting for you. One fun way of doing this is creating a custom holiday hashtag to use on your social media platforms.
Use your business’s hashtag to share information about your offers, end of year trips and ideas or even team holiday stories. This season is the time for sending positive and emotive messages so don’t be afraid to get a little personal – team members can use the hashtag to share holiday activities or memories, for example.
Expanding your hashtag across all of your social media channels raises brand awareness and creates a cohesive campaign. You want to start a conversation and then gather user-generated content to share. It’s all about bringing people together.
Become a Host with the Most
Speaking of bringing people together, another great marketing tip for this time of year is to host an event for your small business. Your customers are the key to your success and inviting them to a party or gathering is a way for them to forge a deeper connection with you and your business.
This could be an office party, a drinks gathering or even a performance. If you’d rather not host a huge, all-night event (and who has the time for that at Christmas, anyway?), how about holding a series of ‘happy hours’ – short, intimate drinks, maybe mulled wine and cookies, that clients are welcome to drop in to on the evening that suits them.
As well as being a way to celebrate together and to encourage brand loyalty, this is a great opportunity to create social media content. Think about having photo booth props; then you’ll have some cute photos to share with those who couldn’t make it. This can also tie in with your hashtag campaign.
Get in the Spirit!
We all know the holiday spirit is not just about commercialism, so our final tip for your holiday season marketing is to get involved with Giving Tuesday by encouraging your clients to donate their time or to make a cash donation. Demonstrate that this is a cause your company values through your social media messaging or by matching charitable gifts.
People will have more trust in your business when they see that it is committed to social responsibility and helping the community. This is the true meaning of Christmas, after all.
Bonus Tip: Get your Website Ready
Our little extra tip for those of you with e-commerce business or who use a website to sell services: this is the time to make sure your website is ready. You can expect a lot more traffic on it over the holiday season, particularly when these marketing tips start to pay off, so it’s important to make sure everything is up-to-date.
Thinking about updating website policies such as returns, shipping, and terms of purchase policies; and don’t forget to run a test purchase using any coupon codes. Trust us, the last thing you want at this time of year is any website malfunction!
So don’t let your holiday season marketing be another daunting task – use some, or all, of these creative ideas to make it a fun and profitable way to connect with your clients.