11 Christmas Marketing
Ideas for Small Businesses
It has been a tough few months for many businesses and customers. To create a festive atmosphere, it is important to add some Christmas flair to your business and marketing strategy. With one month to go before Christmas, there is still time to make your business “Sparkle.” See 11 ideas below.
1) Add Christmas Flair to your Branding
Update your branding with festive flair. Change your logo and adjust your social media profile to incorporate elements associated with Christmas and use it throughout the season, both online and in any printed media. You can also add Christmas flair to your social media header. Use a single image for the entire season or regularly update it to reflect any promotional offers you have running.
2) Share Holiday Themed Updates
The general rule for content marketing – be it blog posts or social media posts – is that 80% of your content should add value to your customers lives, and only 20% should be about promoting your business, services or products. You can bend this rule over the holiday season but don’t just post promotional updates. Ensure regular posts add value while having more seasonal appeal: restaurants can share their chef’s favourite holiday-related recipe, beauty salons can post tips on how to extend the benefits of any treatments they offer when their clients are too busy to schedule an appointment, and gyms can share advice on how to stay fit and healthy while on holiday.
3) Reward your Social Media Fans
Depending on your audience, you may find that your followers on social media are your most engaged customers and your best brand ambassadors. Why not thank them by having offers exclusive to social media platforms? Offer print-at-home coupons that are promoted exclusively on social media.
4) Publish Helpful Holiday Themed Videos
Christmas time is the ideal time to post short, relevant videos that help your customers – without being overly promotional. For example, identify items in your inventory that, due to their size or shape, could be difficult to wrap, and then film demonstrations on how to gift wrap them with ease. Try to keep videos less than sixty seconds for Instagram and Twitter.
5) Get Creative with Email Subject Lines
The subject line of your marketing email messages should always stand out and encourage your subscribers to open the message. But over the holiday season you need to put in an even greater effort to effectively compete.
Examples include
• We’re feeling very merry. Get 50 percent off your order.
• Up to 50% bonus — ’tis better to give AND receive!
• Merry — We got you a !
• The BEST gift: 20% OFF anything (TODAY ONLY!)
• Ring In The New Year – Plus: 12 Days of Christmas Gifting Starts Now
6) Host a Local Charity Drive
As a business, you are probably giving something to your customers in the form of discounts, special offers and other incentives and rewards. How about giving back to your local community too? Identify a cause or local charity whose values and mission align with your own, and with those of your primary audience; then meet with them to identify ways in which you could help them. You could host a food drive, donate a percentage of all sales during a specific period to them (and ask your customers to try match this), or even organise a toy or clothing drive. Be tactful about including brand awareness. The goal is to show that you support local initiatives and to get your customers involved.
7) Join Dorces with another Small Business
Find a business whose products or services complement your own. The idea is for these complementary businesses to offer bundled deals which effectively promote each other, and encourage customers to support both. By way of example, hair salons and nail salons can offer gift bundles over Christmas which include treatments at both establishments.
8) Organise a Christmas Themed Contest
Get your customer’s into the Christmas spirit with a contest. Make it fun, creative and even humorous. All entries (pictures, videos, text) should be posted on your social media channel.
9) Be more Personal with Printed Holiday Cards
While digital Christmas cards are becoming increasingly more popular, customers still feel special when they receive physical cards in the mail. Get back to the basics by posting cards through the postal service. Include a personalised message where you can. Also include a small gift such as a coupon for 30% off of a specific item at your business.
10) Always have Gift Cards Available
Help your customers – and your business – out by ensuring you have gift cards available for purchase.
11) Don’t forget the Holiday Décor/Atmosphere
Incorporate Christmas flair into your business. This includes decorations but also little services like offering gift wrapping or a glass of cider to customers.
Adapted by Shellecia Brooks-Johnson from the Appinstitute.com – Christ Meier
