Holiday Marketing Wish List for Businesses

Imagine this: The holidays are less than a month away.

You’re a business owner looking to sell as much as possible. Unfortunately, it is now crunch time and maybe you aren’t selling as much as you would like. Don’t worry – you are in luck! We have compiled research and have made for you the Holiday Marketing Wish List!

1. Emphasize your deals… create urgency!

Personally, I cannot keep track of how often I am converted by the phrases “Act Now”, “Limited Time Offer”, or “This Weekend Only”. What happens if I don’t act on this offer and the deal goes away? What if there is never a deal as good as this one again?!

Those are exactly the thoughts you want to invoke on your audience.

For example, if you are a restaurant trying to attract business around the holidays, try advertising certain deals for parties of six or more or even dinner specials that are “only around for the holidays!” You could even try a themed dessert, incorporating eggnog or candy canes!

How about if you are a local clothing store? Try hosting a “weekend only” sale to clear out your last season’s stock or even a “buy three for the price of two” deal?

2. Know which platforms work best for you

You will often see pictures of branded content on social media, which includes clothing and food. There are so many different platforms that could become useful for you, including:

Instagram: People want a behind-the-scenes look at your business. What new products are coming out and what are the sales? I guarantee that you have potential business just waiting to be captivated!

Pinterest: This platform shares eye-catching visuals and a lot of how-to’s/life hacks. Your business, if it is a restaurant, could share recipes or products on Pinterest. As a result, your audience might “pin” these items to a “board”, for later viewing. That way, they can easily be reminded of your brand.

Snapchat: This is similar to Instagram in that you provide a behind-the-scenes look at your business, but the difference is that the image/video cannot be viewed forever (this ties into the urgency section above). Since people are fully focused on your posts when they know that they are only available for a limited time, you could try sharing a 10% off code this way! Not only is the discount a trigger, but the limited time offer really promotes the audience to shop more… or in my case, impulsively.

There are plenty of other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Google Plus that can be used to advertise as well. A really amazing ad on Youtube is from the company “Freshpet”. You can watch it below and be the judge of it!

3. Sell online if possible

From ecommerce to advertising, having an online presence is of the utmost importance. With the help of Facebook for Business and Google Adwords, you are able to promote your business as well as the various deals that you have to offer!

Oh – by the way – over half of online sales are via Smartphones so make sure that your website is compatible with those devices!

4. Utilize your online influencers

There are some pretty influential people on the internet, and that includes your audience. A good experience is great, but a bad experience is something that you want to avoid. This is because people are swayed very strongly by the opinions of others. It is important to know that since the boom of social media…

• 90% of consumers believe an online review is more important than getting input from a salesperson
• 92% of consumers trust recommendations from others, even from people they don’t know; they just share an interest in the same branded content

A few bad reviews here or there might not seem detrimental at first, but just think of all of the people who read those reviews and do not convert because of it. Need some damage control? Reply to the bad reviews whenever possible and try to resolve the conflict. At the very least, your potential customers will see that you are present and are willing to resolve issues if any arise! Which brings us to our next point…

5. Make it personal

Like we have said before, you have to relate to your audience! Nobody likes talking to a robot, so really use your personality! Interact with your audience and share stories of your own staff members. Try featuring your staff members and have them quote their most memorable holiday memory! That will be sure to gain traction!

6. Target properly!

If you aren’t familiar with targeting, I will give you a little breakdown. On Facebook, if you have an ad about women’s apparel, you probably don’t want to be targeting men. Choose to target women of a specific age range that the clothing itself fits, along with particular interests that include “clothing” or “fashion”.

Another great idea would be targeting expats – those who are traveling or living abroad and are away from their families. They are ideal to target for online shopping as they can send gifts to their loved ones at the click of a mouse!

Be careful, though. If you are too specific, your ad might not be seen by anyone. Balance is key! This is something that you could talk to your social media strategist about!

Final Thoughts

The reality of it is, you have to know the tricks of the trade as well as learn by experience. It is not as simple as creating one post here or there… it takes a lot of incubating and optimizing to see what gets your audience to tick. Some investments have to be made to see a return, but we promise it will be worth it in the end.

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Source: WeRSM