Here, we look at how you can take your marketing efforts from concept to conversions.
Define your proposition
To get the ball rolling, consider how your offering might be useful at this time of year: could it make a great gift, be handy on a trip away, or help achieve a New Year’s resolution? This can help you craft the right messaging for your value proposition.
Know your customers
Do your research on the target market you’re trying to reach, so you can understand the best way to show them how your business could meet their needs. Consider where your customers are—whether they’re on certain social media platforms, walking past your store, searching online or reading your email newsletters—and be ready to meet them there with your message.
Design your material
If you need help with making your marketing material look the part, consider hiring a professional or finding design software with free design templates. Whether you’ve outsourced or are doing it yourself, make sure your holiday designs and content are aligned to your brand, and triple check everything before you send, print or publish.
Spread the word
When your collateral is ready, it’s time to get your offers out there. Consider the different means of communication, like email, printed flyers, social media ads or a combination of things, and make a call on how you’ll distribute it. If you need some inspiration, pay attention to how other businesses reach out to you.
Monitor your performance
Keep track of how many offers are redeemed or how your sales perform once your holiday marketing goes live. This will give you a good benchmark for next year and help you identify what worked or didn’t work so well. Things like tracking codes on your digital communications can help you analyse your campaigns.
Check out these festive marketing ideas to help you get started:
- Create holiday-themed content for your social media accounts to build your business brand online. If you’re running a café, for example, share your favourite holiday recipe or other fun content to drive engagement
- Reach out to existing and previous customers with a holiday greeting or thank you email. If you can stretch your budget, include a voucher to use at your store before Christmas
- Invite loyal customers (with a plus-one) to an invite-only shopping event where you offer a discount for purchases made that day. This can help expand your customer base as well as boost sales
- Create a holiday-themed promotion with a different offer each day leading up to Christmas. Market it through email, in-store or on your website to stay front of mind with your customers
- Offer free or thoughtful extras with purchases, like gift wrapping or shipping discounts for large orders
- Don’t forget Boxing Day. Even after the many online sales events and Christmas itself, customers still love a post-holidays bargain. Consider bundle offers, or with-purchase offers to clear your remaining stock or secure future appointments for your services
