Hey, the truth is that people will still shop this season, regardless of economic conditions.
Why not take advantage of it and position your company to profit?
The holidays are here!
You are probably already thinking about all of your holiday marketing strategies, but what about now?
There is never a bad time to start planning for the season ahead. If you want to make sure that your customers will be back in the future and keep coming back year after year, then you need not wait until December 25th to start planning.
Here are some tips you can adhere to:
Early planning:
The festive season is a great time to market your business, but it is important to start planning early. The best way to ensure this successful campaign is by planning. Planning will help you be prepared and ensure consistency throughout the year. You will also be able to build up goodwill terms with customers by providing them with relevant information about your products or services at the right time of year.
Focus on the holidays, not just Christmas:
The holidays are a great opportunity to make money, but they can be a challenge to the market. If you are looking for new customers and old ones alike, it is important not just to focus on Christmas but on all of the other holidays that people have during that time of the year.
There are several ways you can use your business during these festive months these include:
Focus on holiday sales instead of just Christmas. For example: if your store is open 24/7 of 365 days a year, then why not take advantage of its opening hours when people are not expecting it?
You could offer discounts or free samples for those who come in during these times and tell them about how much money they will save by buying from your store instead. Thus, this is one advantage of growing your marketing strategy, maintaining customers, and gaining more income in addition.
Plan a contest
Give a prize to your customers. The best time to give away a gift is during the holidays, so why not take advantage of this opportunity?
For example,
Use social media to promote the contest. If you have a large following number of people on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram and want to get more people involved in your contest consider holding an ongoing competition where users can enter by posting pictures of themselves with your product or service (or even just wearing something from one of their stores), then vote for their favorite post as part of the competition.
Make sure you have a plan in place for how you will pick winners and deliver prizes. Everyone must know what they need to do if they win hence whether it be picking up some new lingerie or receiving free tickets to an event. There should be vivid communication so that everyone understands what happens when someone wins.
Offer loyalty perks to your customers:
Now that you have gotten your customers’ attention, it is time to keep them engaged. Loyalty perks are an excellent way of doing just that. They can include free shipping, discounts on future purchases, or even the chance to win free product samples.
You can implement loyalty perks in many ways, these include:
Offer a one-time discount on all future orders.
Provide a free month’s membership with no obligation after purchase.
Give away something special like a gift card or voucher code for Ghc100 off your next purchase (or whatever value feels appropriate).
Look at the competition:
You should also look at your competitors’ marketing strategies. What are they doing right, and how can you learn from them? Look at their pricing, products, and services. Are they using social media to reach out to consumers?
Is there a website that tells visitors everything they need to know about the business?
Does it have an attractive design or content that invites people back again and again (and ideally brings in more money)?
All these should be in check, hence it builds up your brand and reputation of your services.
Make the most of your inventory:
Do not advertise products that are not in stock!
Stock up on popular items.
Stock up on items that sell well at this time of the year.
Stock up on items that are useful as gifts, or for entertaining purposes (for example, you can use a tall vase to display your favorite flowers).
And if you want your customers to buy more things from your store then make sure they are also buying something useful for the home or any environment they found themselves in.
With this in mind, you should also make sure that you have a bunch of items in stock that are useful as gifts, or for entertaining purposes (for example, you can use a tall vase to display your favorite flowers).
Utilize social media:
Social media is a great way to reach new customers, but be careful not to spam your followers. If you are using social media as an advertising platform, make sure that you have a clear message and strategy in place before posting anything.
Also, do not forget about engaging with your existing customers on social media platforms.
Social media allows you to engage with them on a personal level. An opportunity many businesses overlook when they focus solely on their product or service offers.
You can use this time together as an opportunity for education and promotion of what you do best by helping others achieve their goals through fitness and nutrition (or whatever area interests them).
Utilize Influencers:
It’s a good time of the year to leverage influencers with the following and audience that can help drive sales of your products and services. Ensure you get the right ones online.
This can be hugely successful if done right, here are some quick benefits if you consider using an influencer.
The reasons you might choose to use influencers will likely vary depending on your industry and what kind of reach you are looking for. However, some reasons you might want to engage influencers include:
– Reach a wider audience than you could ever dream of alone
Influencers can help you connect with a much larger audience than you would be able to achieve on your own. Their large social media followings and trust networks mean that they are able to spread your message quickly and easily to a wide range of people.
– Build credibility and trust with potential customers
Once potential customers have seen and heard from influential figures in your field, they are more likely to trust your products or services. This builds credibility and strengthens the brand relationship, leading to higher sales down the line.
– Increase efficiency and improve workflow
Working with an influencer can save you time and effort in terms of creating content, optimizing it for social media, developing strategy, etc. They can also help you target specific audiences and drive traffic back to your website or products.
– Enhance customer retention rates
By engaging influencers early in the buying cycle, you can help nurture relationships with customers that are likely to be loyal and keep them coming back again and again. This means less work for you in terms of acquiring new customers – which is always a top priority!
In conclusion, not, it is never too early to set your festive season marketing plan in motion.
Start by thinking about how you want to use the holidays and their associated marketing strategies.
If you want to plan a marketing strategy for the festive season, think of what it is that makes the season special. For example, it might be the same thing that makes your customers want to spend on one item or another during this time of year. It is also important that you keep in mind any specific requirements your business might have when it comes to marketing campaigns such as seasonal promotions and giveaways.
However, Communication Time, strategic advertising, and pricing of products or services offered should be the hallmark of gaining and sustaining your business. With this approach, you would have a flourishing business.
Bernard is an Author, Speaker, Lecturer, and Corporate Trainer. Africa’s foremost authority on Personal Branding and Digital Book Publishing. He hosts the number one ranked Career & Business Podcast. Bernard is a brand strategist at BKC consulting and runs the monthly Branding & Publishing Masterclass. visit www.BKC.name
