While the rest of the world winds down and reflects on the year that has been, business owners are doubling their efforts, working harder than ever before. This is because they realise that the holidays provide a unique opportunity for a rapid increase in revenue.
But increased sales don’t just happen overnight like Santa delivering presents. It takes time, planning, a high work ethic, and a heavy dose of festive cheer.
12 Ways to Increase Holiday Sales
1. Embrace the festive season
Together with your social media pages, your website allows customers to connect with you and your brand while providing a platform for selling your goods and services.
Give your clients an immersive festive experience by customising your website’s landing page and social media sites. Add colour, holiday decorations, and, if possible, festive music so that customers are in the buying mood from the second they arrive at your page.
Adjust the wording of your copy to include some fun holiday tips and motivations. The more festive your business comes across as, the more likely your customers are to include it in their festive fun.
2. Optimise and upgrade
You are bound to have an influx of traffic during this festive period, so you need to make sure that your business will be able to handle it.
Starting with the website:
- Ensure that your site is optimised to handle heavy traffic.
- You should definitely have a mobile-friendly version.
- Your site should be simple to navigate and easy to purchase from.
- Upgrade your product photos and videos, and other media on your site.
Then, take a look at your social media pages and see where you can make helpful adjustments. The changes you make should make it easier for your clients to connect with your brand and obtain your product or service.
Make sure that all your technology is up-to-date, including your payment options. You can start by checking out how iK Tap on Phone is an easy way to make and receive payments!
3. Holiday-themed marketing campaigns
If you want to boost your sales during the festive season, then you’ll need to adjust your marketing strategy accordingly. Decide how you will reframe emails and other marketing tools, and then run with it like Rudolph on a sugar rush.
Try reaching more people by creating a holiday-themed lead magnet. Now is the best time to reach new customers who you otherwise wouldn’t have were it not for the festive algorithms.
So, even for the social media content that you put out, make sure there’s a touch of festive fun in every frame.
4. Promotions and giveaways
As much as we love to treat ourselves and our loved ones during the holidays, it’s always a thrill when we can ball on a budget. Promote the items that you’ve struggled to sell throughout the year and offer reduced prices. Have two-for-one specials, buy-now-pay-later, and include a free item with certain purchases.
Offer free samples wherever you’re able to and place your products on coupon sites. Partner with other businesses and use their products to run giveaways, with them using yours for the same purpose.
5. Reward loyalty
There is a reason that your business has survived until now, even amidst the global economic unrest: your dedicated followers and repeat customers. Show your appreciation by offering them exclusive discounts and items, and remember to thank them for their dedication to your cause.
Start a rewards programme that ensures that your customers will always get a little more than they bargained for.
6. Entice first-time buyers
While your loyal customers have carried you this far, it’s new clients that will carry your business into the new year and beyond. Create an enticing advert for your products specifically aimed at generating new sales.
At this point, you can also make a point of further targeting your niche market. Those that missed your initial campaigns may be more receptive as they loosen up for December.
If you can create a big enough wow factor, even existing customers might be persuaded to buy from you again.
7. Unveil your top-seller
There may be a product or service that you offer that stands out above all your other inventory. This is a great opportunity to place it on a pedestal and allow it to do what it has always done for you: generate a ton of money.
Place your special product at the front of every advert and make it visible in your email campaigns. The beautiful thing about a top-seller is that you won’t even have to discount it for it to sell. It’s already as popular as a first-team rugby captain and is bound to gain followers as more people start noticing it.
8. Partner with micro-influencers
As you strive to make your brand more visible during this period, it would be wise to seek help from those whose very business is to be seen. While you and your small business may not be able to afford the services of Bonang Matheba and the like, there are smaller influencers whose presence could be just as effective.
People often believe that mega-influencers are only in it for the money. They’ll notice the products that they are promoting but won’t really engage with them. The influencer has already made their money, so what’s the point, right?
With micro-influencers, their followers are more in tune with them as people. They have shared beliefs and as a result, are more invested in their personal journey. So, when a micro-influencer promotes a product, their fan base is more likely to purchase it because trust has already been established. And as we all know, trust is the foundation for making a sale.
9. Build hype
One thing that most consumers fall victim to is a clever, captivating, hype-building marketing campaign - one that has a product selling out before it’s even hit the shelves!
Generate hype around your business and products by:
- Having promotions that only last for a certain time period.
- Launching or relaunching a product at the peak of the holidays.
- Placing a visible countdown of upcoming promotions on all your platforms.
10. Upsell and cross-sell
This season is a time when most of us will make our most impulsive purchases of the year. There’s just something different in the air, and when you step out for bread and milk you may come back home with a trolley full of gifts and a basket overflowing with sweets.
Take advantage of this basic human condition and promote complementary products next to each other. You can also highlight your more expensive offerings, with their less-expensive counterparts a little less visible.
11. Extended service offerings
You want your customers to buy as much as possible therefore you need to make it as easy and convenient as possible for them to do so. Start with extending your operating hours so that clients can still purchase from you, even in the soft glow of moonlight.
Add temporary changes to your shipping policy that offers discounts and even free deliveries, where possible. And be accessible to your customers; make it easy for them to contact you and engage with your content.
Customer service is always in the limelight during peak seasons, so make sure your clients have nothing to complain about and can only praise your efforts.
12. Review and improve
In our final piece of advice for how you can boost your sales this festive season, we encourage you to take a look back and reflect.
Take everything that has worked for the past year and do it all over again. Assess what almost worked and see how you can bring it up to standard. Whatever didn’t work can be thrown in the trash, making space for you to innovate once more.
Claim Your Festive Rewards
At the very centre of the holidays is a drive toward community. We travel far to see loved ones and welcome home those we haven’t seen in years. If you can place yourself at the centre of that community by making yourself visible and catering for your customers, then you will ensure a productive year-end for your business. One that will provide a foundation for incredible success in 2023 and beyond!
