Marketing Tips for your Business during the Holidays

Consumers consider the Holiday season to be the months of November and December, but for businesses, the holidays start sooner. Whether you are a small business owner or a supportive team member, the holiday season has already begun. This year, consumers will begin their holiday shopping before Halloween, due to production and shipping issues they have experienced throughout the pandemic.

Here are several ways you can advertise your small business for this upcoming holiday season:

Update your Social Media Profiles and Storefronts

Adjust your social media by increasing your post frequency by getting creative with content for the holiday season. Holiday marketing can be the easiest and most fun content for the whole year. One outlet that can be useful is Canvas. Advertise your new products, discounts, and promotions through all mediums, even the radio to reach your target demographic. Updating your storefront can bring joy to the holidays and help cheer up consumers, too! Decorating your storefront can also appeal to new consumers who may be walking by and notice your creative spin. 

Create a Gift Guide

It’s all about convenience when consumers are shopping. Creating gift guides for them to easily shop for their loved ones can be a great way to provide this. Make it easily accessible for them to find your guides by posting those to social media, your website and even having handouts when they come into your store.

Offer Promotions and Incentives

Taking a part in the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, in addition to Small Business Saturday, can potentially reach earlier holiday shoppers. Creating incentives like free shipping or a promotion can motivate your consumers to spend more. Another thing to consider is adjusting your return policy for holiday shopping. Most sales have a 30-day return policy; however, with consumers starting holiday shopping in October, you want to give them more flexibility on returning items that don’t meet their needs and wants, which in return will encourage them to make those early holiday purchase decisions.

Holiday Emails

For your consumers, send out frequent emails throughout the holiday season. Send out reminders about exclusive holiday products, discounts, events, store updates, and email out your gift guides for easy and quick access to your customers. If you do not have an email system for your consumers, you can posts on social media or reach out to your local Chamber to send out an email blast to the community. All of these mediums is a good way to keep consumers informed about important shopping safety measure you will be taking during the busy season.

Partner with Local Businesses, Civic Organizations or Charities

Creating a partnership with other professionals in the community is a great way to increase brand awareness. Host holiday events or partner up with another business for social media engagement. For example, you can host live giveaways to encourage your audience to participate and broadcast it with another business. Also, consumers are wanting to give back to the community and even during the holiday season. Partnering with local charities can create the opportunities for consumers to give back. There is an appreciation consumers have for businesses that share similar values, by creating a way for them to give back and donate to a cause through your business can encourage them to spend more on your products and services.

For consumers, supporting small businesses is so important this holiday season, not only keeping the revenue close to home, but because the holiday season is usually the biggest time for retailers. When the past few years have been unpredictable, it is helpful for businesses to see the holidays as a time of relief and to recoup some of their losses. When preparing for your holiday shopping, consider shopping at local businesses and spreading the words to others of the great deals you may have noticed that the business implemented from this article!