Why it's Time to Gear Up for Your Holiday Sale Now
Yes, we just entered fall, but it is not too early to plan for your business’ holiday season. Planning on a Black Friday or Cyber Monday sale or maybe even an end-of-the-year sale? Start now and be prepared so your sales get noticed!
Why Have a Holiday Sale?
There are so many great reasons to have a sale centered around the holiday season:
It’s the season of gratitude, so it may be the best time to connect with new or existing customers to show them appreciation.
It’s a great time to reduce the price of items to phase out or perhaps introduce new ones.
Festive times call for more spending. Last year alone, online e-commerce sales exceeded $260 billion.
What is a Holiday Marketing Strategy?
Holiday marketing planning involves creating compelling promotional campaigns that align with the holiday spirit, aiming to capture attention, generate sales, and enhance brand visibility. Your strategy should leverage the increased consumer spending during the holiday period to engage potential customers, foster brand loyalty, and ultimately drive business growth. By customizing their messaging and offerings to match the season, businesses can tap into the collective mood and excitement while standing out in this competitive market.
Timing is Everything
The best marketing takes time, so hopefully, you already have some ideas in mind. Late summer or early fall is the time to reach out to your digital marketing team or consultant and start creating content, whether that is a digital ads, videos, custom photography, or other items. This should give you enough time to research, hone in on your target audience, and create something that truly stands out.
By early November, it’s time to start releasing that content. You may be having a Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday sale so schedule your releases accordingly. If everything is done correctly, your sales should run like clockwork.
How Do You Prepare?
Preparation goes a long way when creating a great marketing campaign. It’s fairly obvious when a company gives thought to the process and those that just throw something up haphazardly. Potential customers will take note.
Research your historical data. How did you do last year? What can be improved?
Research trends. Use Google Analytics or paid tools to find out what’s trending. Try to find out what your competitors may do.
Identify your target audience. Who is your best customer? Are you interested in finding a new type of customer?
The Steps
Now that you have done the research and have a clear picture of what you want to highlight, it’s time to create the content and set yourself up for success.
Ensure your ads, videos, images, or whatever you release are professional. The message should be clear so the target market will engage more readily. While you will probably add a holiday flair, the overall branding should reflect your own so that current customers can recognize and connect with you.
Set up an easy buying process. Have as many different payment processes as possible to encourage any type of buyer. Consider credit/debit cards, PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or COD.
Adjust your website to include the new marketing campaign. You do not need to make major changes; just add a few festive touches, a new section on the home page, or update your product page.
Consider adding one or more separate landing pages for holiday promotions. This gives you more place to add holiday-specific SEO while giving Google more pages to crawl. You could have one or more of the following:
Black Friday page
Cyber Monday page
Holiday products
Separate page for men, women, or children
Have a gift card option. Give your customers the option to buy gift cards for family, friends, co-workers, etc.
Consider a loyalty program. Reward your frequent buyers with incentives to keep them coming back.
Get the Word Out
Set up an email campaign. If you don’t already have an email list, set up a subscribe feature on your website and start collecting email addresses as soon as possible. Go through your previous customers and add their information. Once you have a list started, consider the following:
Announce a “Mark Your Calendars” date to build anticipation. This is especially good for one-day events like Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
Give a code or other way to let email customers know they are getting an email-subscriber-only discount.
Send out holiday cards to customers.
Send out a reminder before the sale ends.
Keep all correspondence professionally created, engaging, and cohesive. You will be competing with a large amount of other businesses, so now is the time to ensure that you stand out.
Set up social media advertising channels. Talk to your marketing professional about the best ways to get the word out.
Are you using social media to your advantage? Are your business pages branded correctly?
Are you set up for a successful organic campaign or will you add paid ads to your arsenal?
Consider other marketing channels.
Update your Google Business with your ad
Consider placing ads in your local paper or online publications
Research local publications and send out a press release
Visit online or in-person networking groups
Learn More
Not every business owner has the time or expertise to set up and run a holiday marketing campaign. But this is what I do all day, every day!
Please contact Charlotte’s Web Designs, LLC for help with any of these steps. I’ve worked with over 100 small businesses and have a perfect 5-star rating for several reasons: over 35 years of technology and marketing experience, customer service, reliability, and unparalleled results. I understand how busy you are and, even more importantly, how to ensure your online presence reflects the care and expertise you put into your own business. Schedule a free consultation below, and let’s get started!
