The holidays are fast approaching, and it’s a great time to think about your small business marketing strategy! Even if you don’t sell seasonal items, offering special deals can help bring more shoppers through the door and turn them into loyal customers. So here are five strategies to help you take advantage of special dates and occasions:
Create a Gift Guide
Use your blog to create a curated gift guide for your followers. Recommend products or merchandise you love to your customers, and include your own products as well! By creating this type of content and posting it on your business website, you’ll be able to add affiliate marketing to your financial strategy. Work with other businesses and solopreneurs you trust to do some cross-promotion. Come up with a clever concept for a gift guide targeted to a specific audience, and take good-quality pictures of the products you’re advertising. Adding descriptions with specific keywords will also help you attract people searching for particular items on the internet.
Offer Special Rewards and Promotions
Make use of your mailing list and send your loyal customers a happy holidays message along with special offers or discounts on products or services. Craft a personalized message with a holiday theme – you can even turn your regular company logo into different colors to celebrate the holidays and festivities you’re promoting – and include an easy call to action, such as a button that will lead directly to your website, a “buy now” option, or a chance to enter a special drawing. Other holiday promotions can include a free gift with purchase, free gift-wrapping, free shipping, last-minute shopping deals, buy-one-get-one-free deals, and gift sets.
Decorate Your Store
If you have a storefront, celebrate the holidays and add cutouts, decorations, and other colorful items to your boutique: go all pink and red for Valentine’s Day, turn red and green for Christmas, opt for pastels when Easter comes around, etc. Adding whimsical visual elements to your brick-and-mortar space will make it more attractive to passersby, and they’ll be more likely to step in and make a purchase. If your store is entirely virtual, think about changing the look of your website to match the holiday season and to prominently feature your special deals and attract visitors by advertising your business using those themes and colors on your social media pages and channels.
Promote Your Products on Social Media
Social media marketing can be a very effective, low-cost tool for small businesses to promote their seasonal items. But the tricky part is to get you noticed as you compete with many other companies vying for consumers’ money. And you need to be constantly present and offer fresh content to keep your brand top of mind. So if you have a great idea for a meme that will attract potential customers’ attention, a tool like this can help generate creative, humorous, and memorable content and lead to increased sales. Resize your meme and use it on all your social media channels and platforms to optimize your reach, and don’t forget to include your company logo!
Film a Holiday Video
As you strive to promote products or offerings specially designed for the holidays, think about making a video where you’re unveiling a new item, showcasing it, or providing instructions for use. A high-quality video posted on online platforms will put your small business in a great light. Make it go viral with relatable or funny content, catchy music, and elements that appeal to your target audience. Don’t forget to create an eye-catching thumbnail to increase your chances of being reshared!
Make the holidays work for your small business by creating special content for your website and your social media channels. Increase customer retention with special promotions, and bring in new followers with irresistible offers!
A multiple-award recipient for excellence in academic, entrepreneurship, and international education, arnoldheller.org is on a mission to foster friendship and trade between sister cities by facilitating joint projects and people-to-people exchanges.
Image via Pixabay
