$1 trillion

The predicted amount Americans will spend during the holidays this year. Hint: that’s the highest it’s ever been. 

Source TheSkimm (You can sign up free through my referral link here.) 

 

No matter when you’re reading this you should be prepping for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas…whatever holiday is upcoming should be treated as a built-in promotional opportunity. 

 

As a business owner, how are you planning to compete in the marketplace against the noise of large, corporate companies? 

If you’ve completed a Branding + Positioning Strategy with us then you know who your target audience is, how to speak to them and where to interact with them. 

The unique position you have as an entrepreneur, small business owner or the town’s only boutique is the attention to detail, the local supplier, the sense of community, the benefit of supporting a family vs. a large corporation.

You may offer homemade ornaments, goodies baked from scratch or customized clothing. 

Maybe it’s a  service you offer. Landscaping companies who hang Christmas lights or do cleanup. A cleaning service prepping for the guest’s family visit. A decorator ready to deck the halls for any office party or set a table for a home gathering. 

 

 

Ho-Ho-Hold On….Even if you weren’t planning on incorporating holiday marketing in your strategy, you need to. Too busy or overwhelmed? We are here to help.

 

 

What you offer is just as unique as how you market it. How you market your product or service needs to match the effort you put into your work. Otherwise, how will it get into the lives of those who need it? 

I have put together six ideas to bring joy to your holiday marketing strategy (and to your customers.)

1. ADVENT CALENDAR. Most manageable is a 12 Days of Christmas Advent Calendar. Each day, at the same time, publish a photo or video with an offer that’s good for the next 24 hours. You may also choose to do a full 24 days and you can enter whoever answers a fun holiday trivia question correctly to win one big prize. Other ideas could be the instant winner, the refer-a-friend tag or a discount on a future purchase. 

How do you transfer this idea outside of Christmas? The 13 days leading up to Halloween are a great way to publish content your audience can expect and look forward to. Incorporate something of value, like a giveaway or engagement prompt, to make sure they keep coming back.

Our Promotional Calendar Service is ideal for clients who realize strategy produces results! 

 

2. E-COMMERCE. E-Commerce sales take the lead in all orders and more than 20 percent of those sales take place during the holiday season. more than half of the sales traffic is done via mobile. Is your site optimized for mobile screens? Another great idea is to ‘decorate’ the platforms your customers will see. Think of the Coca-Cola polar bears and Santa. Incorporate a new cover photo, cover video, profile photo, and effects to your platforms. Do you have an up-to-date website? We can help. 

Another great option is a seasonal, month or holiday relevant video. Can the leaves fall and be raked up to reveal your logo over Thanksgiving in November? Can a spider weave your business name in a web in October for Halloween? Will the football be kicked and crack the screen to reveal your company over the Superbowl? That’s a great mini-commercial for a window company, or a platter of food your business makes being cleared out with your logo on the bottom of the plate.

Create a short video, animated logo or a series of blocked pictures to create an aesthetic look on your Instagram. Start with these ideas or ask us for help. 

 

3. #HASHTAG. Market research can lead you to find the most frequently used hashtags for search engine optimization (SEO). #WishList2018 can be added to your feature items or #HolidayCheers for your wine, beer or spirits. The more creative for your special offers, the more buzz. You can also turn famous songs, stories or rhymes to fit your business’s theme. Have fun with it!

An easy way to research hashtags is to search one on Instagram and click around to  see the block others are using. Here’s a how-to guide on hashtags. 

 

4. Packages. Make it simple. Make it easy. Creating gift boxes, packages (or another creative name) is a great way to group similar items at a few different price ranges for your customers. If they can order a basket for an outdoors-man, a teenage girl or a newborn it’s a one stop shop. Showing these off as Gift Guides For… allows people to imagine who they could gift the package to. Bonus points if you include gift wrapping in the price!

What else can you add seasonally and how would it be different than what you offer year-round? Adding in Halloween candy, seasonal colors, glitter or confetti, a relevant thank you note…the possibilities are endless. 

Interrupting to ANNOUNCE Our First Launch!

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5. North Poll. Conducting polls about Christmas cookie shapes, favorite songs, least favorite movies, holiday drinks, decor styles, etc. gets interaction from your customers. By including your shop’s tag or website on the image, every time the image is shared it’s circulating to new audiences and people will look you up from the original source. 

Obviously insert anything in front of Christmas. ___cookie, favorite ___songs, etc. 

 

6. Santa’s Cause. Tis the Season to give back. At the beginning of the month announce a cause near and dear to your company’s heart. If you have a brick and mortar you can hold a warm clothing or toy drive. Enlist your employees and their families to ring bells for the Salvation Army. A portion of your sales can go toward an organization or you can accept Christmas donations (trees, wreaths, decorations, etc.) to give to those in need. I recently saw a story of a family unable to EVER have decorations or a tree because of their financial priorities. A simple Facebook post by a family friend gave them a beautiful Christmas and no Christmas decorations or trees were tossed in the trash. 

 

Looking for more ideas? We’ve been waiting to share more. Just ask!

I would love to hear your ideas in the comments. If you found this helpful or entertaining please share it with your friends and business tribes. Tag @marinslocalcollab on Instagram or #LocalCollaborative so I can see what you come up with! 

 

Cheers!

Marin 

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Do you or someone you know need a hand during the holiday rush? Reach out!