The holidays are here! The holiday season is the best time to spend time with your family, reconnect with old friends and learn marketing tips. November, December, and January are prime opportunities to grow your customer base and engage with one-time buyers to convert them to loyal clients.
Most people venture into different websites during the holiday season to find the perfect gifts for their loved ones. This reason is why your company needs to prepare and create a marketing plan that is welcoming to the new arrivals on your webpage. In this article, you will learn some marketing tips that will help you maximize your sales during this wonderful season.
Marketing Tip #1: Prepare your Social Media
Social media is a great way to connect with potential consumers and loyal customers. You can answer any doubts that come to their minds and can convince prospects to buy your product. This tip is not a secret, but "decorating" your social media pages can help bring the holidays to your online presence. Here are a few examples divided by social media platforms on making your profile fit for December.
Facebook
Cover Image
Profile Picture
General Posts
Targeted Posts
Twitter
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Profile Picture
General Posts
Holiday Links
Instagram
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Profile Picture
Holiday Pictures
Pinterest
Profile Picture
Holiday Boards
Linkedin
Cover Image
Profile Picture
Holiday Post Sharing
These are just a few ideas of what you can change to make your profile more appealing. The point behind "decorating" your profile is to make customers feel at home when buying your products or services. Just be careful when posting any of this material. Make sure it goes along with your company values and target audience.
Marketing Tip #2: Start an Email Campaign
There is no better way to connect with your clients than sending an email filled with the best holiday wishes and a few deals. Email campaigns are one of the most effective tools at your disposal. According to a study from Shopify, email marketing is the number one source of conversions.
The first step to creating a successful email campaign is deciding what the objective is. From there, you can extend to what your subject will be, what to include and not include in your message, and which are the best deals to offer through the campaign. Try to be direct and get to the point of the email quickly. Moreover, make sure there aren't any broken links, that the format goes in harmony with your message, and that the email has the right colors for the holidays. The most often used colors are red, green, and gold.
Marketing Tip #3: Develop a Special Holiday Product/Deal
If your business bases itself in retail, you can create a product that goes with the holiday season. Ranging from Christmas Cookies to new flavors and decals to your products, having a special holiday item can guarantee sales in this part of the year.
If your business is service-oriented, try offering deals and discounts to your clients related to the holiday season. For example, a holiday deal where clients get free trials if they subscribe to your newsletter or a 2 for one when offering software.
There are plenty of options you can choose from when creating a holiday deal. In addition, you can also create holiday bundles. These bundles will be filled with your latest products and can include a special gift for your customers. Just make sure to keep your budget tight. You don't want to overspend; otherwise, January will be a little rough.
Marketing Tip #4: Offer Holiday Services
This tip is more oriented to brick-and-mortar businesses. Shopping can be stressful to customers too. There are a lot of lines, and getting the particular product doesn't always go their way. By offering holiday services, like gift wrapping, or the possibility to reserve a few products will make their shopping much more accessible.
Plus, if you offer wrapping services, customers who use them will also become "walking advertisements" for your company. Whoever receives the gift might also ask where the product was bought and will most likely visit your online or physical store.
If you are not on the physical side of the business, you can offer holiday-themed gift cards or coupons for the services you offer.
Marketing Tip #5: Collaborate with others
We all know that there is more value in giving than receiving. So, why not take a chance with a few business partners? Partnering with other businesses gives you the possibility to create cross-business discounts, distribute coupons of your products and create a bond between your business partners and your company.
The best plan of action is to partner with companies that offer complementary products or services to what you offer. For example, if you run a grocery store, you can partner with your local farmer's market to provide organic products that will bring walkers to your store.
If you have an online business, this recommendation might be a little trickier. You will have to explore different options for your business to complement another and work a marketing plan between each marketing team. For example, if you offer a bookkeeping business, you can pair up with a bookkeeping software business to attract consumers' attention.
The Holiday Season
The holidays are an excellent time for businesses. But it takes more than just putting up a few decorations to reap the benefits. You will need to put some thought into your campaigns for this festive season, too. A marketing campaign is one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal to make your business thrive. With the tips mentioned above, you will create an atmosphere that will attract new consumers and establish loyalty from your regular customers. Make sure to maintain the budget in check and that every strategy you use is directed to your buyer persona.
Moreover, the holiday season is perfect for engaging with customers and making them know that your products and services are available all year long.