The festive season is upon us, and for small business owners, that means it’s time to shake things up and make the most of the busiest time of the year.
We all know that no matter how good your products or services are, it won’t matter unless you get it out there in front of consumers. This is the magic of marketing and why every business needs to make concerted efforts to spread the word, engage and ultimately, convert consumers into customers.
The last month of the year is known for massive spikes in foot traffic and trading, of course. But it all boils down to marketing. These 7 tips will help you knock it out the park and have a super successful festive season!
7 Ways to Ace Your Holiday Marketing Efforts
1. Make it Easy
In the spirit of the festive season, everyone’s under tons of pressure to make their holiday events perfect and memorable. During this time, people tend to look for easy solutions that’ll help them save on time, money and stress!
With so much going on in December, most businesses fail to tap into this market of offering a little something extra than their usual products and services. For example, you could put together gift sets and discounted package deals.
2. Give Back to Your Community
December is definitely the most wholesome month of the year, with the focus being on family and other social gatherings. People are a lot more charitable and are more likely to give to the less fortunate than usual.
If you open up your pockets (and hearts) to those who may not have the means to have a special holiday season, you’ll be recognised for your generosity and people will be more likely to support your business.
3. Plan for Increased Demand
Being the busiest month, you can expect inventory to fly off the shelves and you may need to increase the amount of stock you have on hand if you want to be able to trade throughout the month without disruption.
This means you will need to set aside extra cash for more stock as well as some more storage space if you won’t be able to fit everything on the shelves.
If you run an ecommerce business, remember that increased traffic could put pressure on your website and, potentially, crash it. Make sure that your website is optimised to handle the excess traffic.
4. PrioritiseCustomer Service
Think of December as the finale you’ve been waiting for the whole year. It’s now time to put on your best show because all eyes are on your business. With more customers coming in and out of your store, things can get a bit tricky and put you and your staff under pressure. You’ll need to make sure that everyone who represents your business is patient, kind and always helpful. You also need to plan ahead and ensure that you have enough hands to help you through this time.
Going the extra mile will set you apart from other stores and, more importantly, make you memorable. That’s how you build customer loyalty and keep them coming back.
Learn more about how and why you should build strong customer relationships!
5. Go Digital
If you’re exploring the world of digital marketing, make sure you take full advantage of paid advertising and email marketing this festive season. These tools will give you more exposure and help you target your ideal customers.
Want to learn more about how email marketing? Check out this Email Marketing Survival Guide for everything you need to know!
6. Seamless Checkout Experiences for Ecommerce
If you have an ecommerce store, offering a seamless checkout experience is the key to getting your customers over the finish line and finalising transactions. If they encounter issues while attempting to check out, it’s likely that they’ll abandon their cart and head on over to another provider.
It’s essential that you have a reliable payment gateway to facilitate payments fast and easy. If you’re still setting up your ecommerce store, check out iK Pay Gateway!
7. Get Social
If your business isn’t on social media, you’re missing out on some major marketing wins! Social media is the place to be if you want to build brand awareness and connect with your audience. Nowadays, pretty much everyone from the tannie down the street to that teenager playing soccer with his friends is on social media.
So, it’s best to leverage platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to build hype around your products or services from a couple of weeks before the holidays. This is the ideal time to put your business out there because most people start shopping for the holidays in early December and are already thinking about where they should be shopping.
Ke Dezemba, Boss!
Small business owners, it’s your time to shine. Remember, a successful holiday season will set the tone for an incredible year ahead, so give it your best shot!
Want to learn more about how to manage your money this December? Have a look at these 8 money management tips!
