The Early Bird Gets The Worm: Preparing Your Business for the Holidays

There is an incredible feeling that many consumers get to experience when they step into a store or retail establishment a few weeks before the Christmas holiday season or any other holiday for that matter. When Halloween costumes begin to appear in major retail spaces, to many, it signals the start of the holidays. Before they know it, they start seeing store aisles being filled with decorative items; the lights, Christmas trees, ornaments, and everything in between. Witnessing these changes for the upcoming holidays can bring incredible joy, excitement, and anticipation. It’s no wonder that many consider these days to be “the most wonderful time of the year.” From businesses to everyday consumers, the holidays are delightful for various reasons. From a business standpoint, the holidays bring so many opportunities. It is the perfect time to start thinking about the strategies and tactics that you can implement to capture your customers’ attention and gain broader traction.

Do you ever notice how fast the year goes by? By the time you come to this realization, you are going to have to start thinking about starting your holiday marketing campaign. You need to start your holiday marketing campaign a little earlier than usual. We know what you’re thinking; “isn’t it a bit too early to start thinking about holiday marketing campaigns?” Well, we would like to disprove that notion. There are some strong reasons to consider planning early for the holiday season. Did you know that 42 percent of consumers said they’ll start shopping earlier? For starters, shoppers want to avoid crowds as much as possible, especially during these uncertain times. There is a global health crisis that is still affecting much of our everyday lives. What better way to minimize risk than to start holiday shopping a little earlier than usual? Also, you have to consider your competitors. Retail establishments and other varieties of businesses are starting early to avoid oversaturation, and the best way to come out on top is by implementing your holiday marketing campaign before them.

Of course, there are a plethora of other reasons why you should start early, but we are here to help you prepare by giving some quick and simple tactics you can start doing now to get ahead of the game.

Tips to Prepare for the Holiday Season

1. Look Into the Past

One of the most important things to remember when preparing to implement a holiday marketing strategy is to look to the past. Look over past holiday strategies. What worked? Most importantly, what did not work? There are some important lessons and first-hand knowledge you are able to acquire by looking at previous campaigns. You must also consider that perhaps your customer base has changed. This means that your target audiences from previous campaigns are more likely going to be different for this year because of the growth, (or lack thereof), that your business experienced.

2. Prepare Website for Conversions

One of the worst things that could happen is not preparing your website for the inevitable spike of traffic during the holiday season. It’s important to think about user experience and how it is essential towards gaining the conversions you need. Have you analyzed your website? Is it easy to navigate? Can consumers find your products and services quickly? Is the information presented on the website accessible? If not, this can be detrimental to your holiday marketing campaigns. Nothing turns off consumers more than a slow, laggy website that has the potential to crash.

3. Embrace Social Media Purchasing

Social media channels are effective ways to convince consumers about the benefits of your products and services. Through these channels, business leaders can implement a variety of tactics to entice consumers to purchase your services without the need to spam. Paid search such as Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and other platforms that you can utilize to promote your business in social media or other digital platforms can certainly be beneficial if you have time constraints and are looking to obtain conversions promptly.

Holiday Marketing Ideas You Can Implement Today

If you are implementing a comprehensive holiday marketing campaign, we would like to provide you easy to produce tactics that will surely make the impact you need to make this holiday season the best one yet for your business.

Holiday Gift Guide

Sometimes, it could be incredibly overwhelming knowing that they are literally thousands upon thousands of options for holiday gifts. Let your consumers know of the best gifts they can provide to their friends and loved ones by creating a holiday gift guide. Through a well-developed guide, you can provide consumers with the best options, most of all, save them time during this busy holiday season. Time is of the essence and there is so much going on during this period, so make the lives of your customers a little easier with a convenient holiday gift guide.

Giveaways

If you utilize Facebook, Instagram, or any other prominent social media channel, you can utilize these platforms for engaging giveaways. Through a giveaway, you can increase brand awareness, obtain followers and reach the sales goals you will need for a particular holiday season. Set up simple and easy-to-follow rules on your desired channels and set up a time frame regarding deadlines for entry or when the giveaway recipients will be announced and awarded their gifts.

Gift Card Bonuses

Gift cards are some of the best options for consumers because of the versatility that these types of gifts can offer, especially if you add gift card bonuses to the mix. Gift card bonuses are great incentives because they will receive additional funds when they make a gift card purchase for a certain amount. Additional gift card bonuses can go a long way for those consumers who are all about saving the most amount of money during the holiday season.

Gift Packages

When one gift is not enough for consumers, your business can produce gift packages with all types of products that they can purchase for their loved ones. It’s also convenient for customers that would prefer to do their holiday shopping in one location than to go to several other retail establishments with different price points, which can affect consumer’s holiday budgets. Through gift packages, consumers can easily save time and money without compromising on gift quality.

Holiday Preview Sale

As previously mentioned, consumers don’t want to spend ample amounts of time holiday shopping because they know just how hectic it can be. Tensions can be running high and everybody is in a hurry to get everything they need to make their loved ones happy. By providing a holiday preview sale, you inspire your customers to elevate their holiday shopping experience because of the convenience it can bring during one of the most strenuous retail events of the year, oh, and let’s not forget the savings, too!

May Your Holidays be Prosperous

We know that preparing for the holidays as a business owner can add additional stress. Let us remove some of that stress by assisting you in implementing a holiday marketing campaign that best suits the needs of your business here at b.id. Boosting your holiday sales is only a phone call away. Reach out to us today to help you get started.