The holidays are among the busiest times of the entire year for small businesses. Small business owners are already feeling overwhelmed about all they must do to prepare for December. Most small business owners understand that holiday marketing can help them generate significantly higher rates of revenue. Many owners worry that a holiday marketing campaign would take up too many resources. Fortunately, numerous holiday marketing strategies for small businesses don't require much time or money to execute, but they can still boost your sales figures substantially.
Develop Your Holiday Theme
Most businesses and organizations have developed a brand image, which conveys a message or demeanor about the company with just a glance. During the holidays, it's essential to take that same idea and convert it into a holiday message. Your business's holiday message will become the focal point of your holiday marketing campaign, so carefully consider what themes you want to use to align your campaign.
Some small businesses, for example, create a theme around giving or quality time with family during this time of year. There is plenty of room for creativity, but whichever message you choose should encompass the values your company relies on all year. Once you have your message, it's time to work on organizing the details of your campaign to make it run smoothly. Holiday marketing only runs for a couple of months out of the year, so that any significant hiccups can put a massive dent in your sales potential.
Narrow Down Your Campaign Goals
Many small business owners feel enthusiastic about their holiday marketing campaigns, leading them to want to capitalize on every possible front. Larger corporations may have the time, employees, and money to achieve numerous holiday sales goals, but most small businesses do not. As such, small businesses should focus on one or two specific goals they want to accomplish throughout the holiday season.
Some excellent holiday marketing goals may include increasing brand awareness, generating leads, hitting a certain number of sales, or forming a partnership with a local charity that will last well beyond the holiday season. When it comes to creating goals, it's helpful to follow the SMART goal framework.
SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. Avoid setting goals that are too general, such as "engaging more on social media." If that is what you want to do, you could turn that general goal into a SMART one by saying, "I want to be more engaged on social media by posting three times per week on our social media channels and replying to at least two customer comments each day from now until January 5."
Cater To Your Target Audience
Along with setting too many goals during the holiday season, many small business owners also get carried away with how many people they target with their marketing campaign. Major retailers have the resources to send out pamphlets, use social media ads, and send email campaigns to millions of people. Small businesses have to be much more strategic in their approach.
Instead of casting a wide net and trying to advertise to everyone, cater your marketing campaign to your specific target audience. Think about who is most likely to be interested in what you have to offer. Which types of people shop at your store the most already? Target the demographic of visitors with your holiday advertising campaign.
Promote Your Holiday Items
Many businesses launch a successful marketing campaign is to create exclusive holiday items only offered during the holiday season. People love collecting seasonal items, whether they are holiday-themed scented candles, dog treats, or clothing items. Sometimes holiday packaging or gift-wrapping services are enough to get customers excited about visiting your store and getting gifts for their loved ones from you.
Holiday promotions are another effective tool that your organization can use to get more feet in your store or visitors to your website. To get previous customers back to your shop, sending coupons in the mail or through an email marketing campaign can provide enough of a nudge to get them to take another look at your inventory. Engaging with fans on your social media page can also build a sense of brand loyalty, and you might even have some customers encourage their friends to shop with you as a result.
Overwhelmed by the Holiday Fever? Talk to a Media Partner!
Sometimes it's not enough to know how to make a holiday marketing campaign; often, small businesses like yours need help with execution too. Whether you have ideas about what you want your campaign to look like, or you have no idea where to begin, enlisting the help of a media partner may be just what you need to have the best holiday season yet.
