ARK Blog
How to Make the Holidays Work for Your Small Business
Get ready, the holidays are coming fast and furious! As a small business, you’ll want to make the most of this time of year. Effective holiday marketing can often help move the needle to grow your company in the right direction. Rest assure, we are not recommending you binge watch Hallmark movies while wearing your favorite ugly Christmas sweater, but we do have some pretty simple recommendations for a successful season that will make your jolly good belly chuckle with delight.
Have a Plan
Getting a head start on your holiday marketing plans is always a good idea. After all, you start to see fall merchandise in July/August now (Crazy, I know!). The sooner you can develop a plan of action, the better. Make note of the major holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas but don’t forget about the other big retail events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. When developing your plan, you’ll want to take this opportunity to get creative with your brand. Plan a good mix of content that will appeal to your target customer during the times you want to reach them the most. For instance, if you’re a restaurant owner, be thinking of some festive specials you can add to your menu like a pumpkin spice tart for Halloween/Thanksgiving or eggnog for Christmas. Organize all your great ideas in a way that works best for you and then share them with your team.
Get Social
Once you have a plan in place, consider increasing your activity on your social channels. Sprinkle in some incentives while encouraging your audience to share your content during these peak times. Consider creating videos and seasonal graphics to share. This can be a fun way to engage your audience and even thank them for being loyal followers. It’s also a good time to promote coupons or run sales to take advantage of all the after-Thanksgiving shopping madness that tends to ensue after a full day of gluttony.
Offer Fun Incentives
Many companies not only run sales for the holidays, but they also come up with other incentives like a free gift with purchase or BOGO offers. Starbucks always does a great job of this with their iconic red cups and their creative offers such as buy a latte and get one free to share with a friend. It harnesses the greater meaning of the holidays and makes the gift of giving that much sweeter. Also, don’t be afraid to look to competitors for ideas and ways you can get ahead this holiday season. You better believe they will be playing their best hand at the holiday game, too!
Decorate
If you have a brick-and-mortar store front, use this as an opportunity to spruce up your digs with seasonal decor. Carry over holiday marketing graphics into signage and promotional materials. Have fun with the copy like the ever-popular Halloween phrase everyone tends to use, “Come in for Spooktacular Savings.” Watch, now you’ll see “Spooktacular” everywhere ? You’re welcome. The idea is to make customers feel at home and like you’re celebrating with them. Also, don’t forget to use this time to push limited-time offers for merchandise and/or services. And just because you don’t have a store front, doesn’t mean that you can’t trick out your website with Holiday specific content. So, make like a nutcracker and get crack-a-lackin!
We hope we’ve given you some helpful tips and tricks to conquer the madness that is the holidays. Check back soon for more useful tips on how to leverage your small business in a big world of competition. If you need help managing certain aspects of your small business or you’d like to know more about the services ARK has to offer, email us or comment below! Also, follow us on Facebook and Instagram for industry news, inspiration, and helpful tidbits for finding small business success.
Sincerely,
