The holidays will soon be here. Are you ready?
With Thanksgiving a few weeks away, I’m sure you have already planned out your holiday marketing strategy, right? NO?
A word of advice … it’s important to put some thought into your holiday marketing plan. It will make the year end on a more positive note. There is a lot of money spent over the holidays; you’ll want to be sure that your customers spend it with you versus your competitors.
Think of ways to connect with your customers emotionally and tap into the spirit of the season. This is the time of year where people are focused on giving thanks, spending time with friends and family. Yes, it’s a chaotic and stressful time. Help your customer de-stress by making their shopping experience a positive one.
- Community Service: Show support to the community by sponsoring a food drive or collecting clothing and toys for needy families. Many of your customers are looking for ways to make the season more meaningful by sharing with those less fortunate.
- Holiday Cards: Let your customers know how much you appreciate their business by sending out a ‘Thanksgiving’ card with a personalized special offer just for them. For example, if Customer A repeatedly purchases a certain product or service, provide them with a coupon for that particular item. Continue to send out cards that may invite them to a special event, sale, discounts or free gift promotion.
- Email: Use email to get customers excited about upcoming deals – be sure to capitalize on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Offer a contest, game or countdown to get more engagement. Send out more often to take advantage of the ‘buying mood’.
- Holiday Landing Pages: Create Holiday Landing pages that you can send customers to from your social media and emails. Be sure to have several different designs and do some split testing to determine the highest converting pages.
- Social Selling: Make sure your social selling plan is well thought out by using holiday specific images, hashtags and special offers. Your customers will be searching for deals. Using the correct hashtags and keywords will help to attract those customers that are primed to spend. It’s perfectly acceptable to offer multiple offers this time of year. Your customers will appreciate it!
- High Sales Days: Take advantage of the highest selling days of the season; have special promotions for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.
- Give a Stellar Buying Experience: By preparing for the shopping frenzy, you can make your customer service stand out from the rest. Carry plenty of stock, hire extra cashiers, offer free gift wrap and have displays with pre-wrapped gifts. Be sure to provide an incentive for your buyers to return by attaching a special discount offer to the receipt.
Share with us on facebook what holiday marketing strategies works for your business.