Today’s not just a day to give thanks for your family and friends—it’s a time to give thanks to your customers for supporting you throughout your years of operation. And what's a better time to show your gratitute than during the holidays?
With so much going on, your business may feel lost amongst the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. It might seem tempting to set your sights on 2015—but there's over a month to go before we ring in the New Year.
We’re here to show you some quick inbound marketing tips to improve your strategy while taking advantage of the spirit of the season.
Get Social
I know it can be hard to dedicate the necessary time required toward your social media strategy, but if there was ever a time to beef up your presence, it’s now. The trick is to make it more fun and engaging if you want people to… well, engage.
Give them incentives to buy from you during the holidays. Whether that means connecting on a personal level through charities and community support, or providing offers that get them excited, like free gift cards after so many purchases, etc. This time of year, consumers are flooding to social media to find the hottest deals—and if you’re not on social media, you’re missing out on a chance to increase your revenue.
Plan It Ahead
Make sure you focus your holiday marketing strategy on timing too. There are a lot of major holidays in a small amount of time, with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years coming at rapid fire. You want to be sure you don’t linger too long in getting the word out, as you don’t want a strategy that’s DOA.
Focus on your target audience, and ask yourself when is the best time to get their attention? For instance, it’s well known that most female shoppers are looking for gifts well before Christmas, yet most male shoppers wait until the last minute (I can personally attest to these statistics). Kind of a “Dads vs. Moms” thing going on out there around Christmas. To take advantage of this, you could send out emails to remind your male shoppers not to wait too long (because you know they will), or incentivize your female audience with early-bird deals on your hottest items.
Give Them A Reason To “Act Now”
It’s the holidays. So in most cases, you won’t have to twist anyone’s arm to get them to make some kind of purchase. You need to make sure you have offers and incentives ready in advance. The more you can throw at your audience during the holidays, the more opportunities you’ll have to convert these sales.
You may be thinking, it’s already Thanksgiving, how can I change this around? Well you have a month until Christmas, which means there’s plenty of time to take advantage of the holidays. Create an offer that’s only good for a limited time, or persuades customers to make a purchase first before they get your discount, gift card, free item, etc.
Change It Up
Still scrapped for time? Here’s an idea to help you out. Take one of your older, more productive marketing offers. Try to choose one that’s both exciting for customers, and doesn’t require a lot of planning. Now, twist it into a holiday deal worth bragging about.
Change up the way it’s written, and add some holiday flair to it. Again, make sure it’s both something your customers would jump for, and something that persuades them to act, like a hard end date. Now, all that’s left to do is pump that out over your social media channels, and spread the word to your current clientele. If you touch your customers and connect with them in an authentic way, you’ll see the reward for your hard work. And remember, holiday shopping doesn’t stop with Christmas. Keep your campaign going as long as the number it’s producing are still strong.
We Hope You Have A Happy, Healthy, Holiday Season
Hopefully, these marketing tips can help make your holidays a little brighter (and pockets a little heavier).
From our family to yours, we want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, and we hope the rest of your holidays are full of wonder, joy, and happy times.