We are almost to the Holiday season. Many people have already started making their Christmas lists and started shopping for others. I know I already have my list and am searching for the perfect gifts for everyone on my list. So what does this mean for your small business? It’s time to make the most out of this holiday shopping season! You need a holiday marketing plan, and I’m here to give you a few marketing tips to help get you started, to make your holiday season merry and bright (and hopefully full of sales!).

The holiday season is a critical money-making time for many independent businesses and if your small business marketing strategies are strong they can go a long way. What’s more, it’s a prime opportunity to grow your customer base and turn one-time buyers into frequent patrons who will return to your business even after the holidays are over.

So what exactly is a marketing plan?

It can be tough to stand out from the millions of other businesses pushing holiday products and sales, especially if your end-of-year budget is dwindling. This is why you need to have a marketing plan in place.

Your holiday marketing plan outlines the strategy that you will implement to generate leads and reach your target clients. When starting your holiday marketing plan, it has to answer the question, ‘what are your goals?’ for leads, sales, followers, engagement, website visits, video views. Your marketing plan does not have to be too complex, but it does need to be actionable and measurable.

 

Why you need to get started NOW.

There is no better time like the present, am I right?! So let’s turn off our procrastination train and turn on our productive mode. Since Black Friday month is officially here, it’s time to get those marketing campaigns out the door.

The sooner you get started with your holiday marketing plan, the sooner your ideal client/ customer will start seeing your content. In addition, people are eager to get their holiday shopping done, so make sure you are planting the seeds of how your products make amazing gifts now so that when they are ready to buy, they will remember you.

Before you get your marketing plans out the door, let’s make sure everything is fully prepped and ready for launch.

So Where Do You Start?

The first step to this whole marketing plan and holiday shopping success is creating a buyer persona.

A buyer persona is like creating an online dating profile of who your ideal customer/ client is. They are the person that buys something from you and really buys into what you are selling. When creating your buyer persona, you create the what and why behind the products and services you are selling.

Follow these simple steps when creating your buyer persona.

1. Research your audience.
2. Narrow down the details.
3. Create multiple personas.
4. Title and organize your personas.
5. Create marketing plans for each persona.

Buyer personas empower you to take on new markets, new buyer types, and new opportunities. The more you build your buyer persona and know your audience, you will be able to create the correct content because now you are in their head.

Social Media Tips

Social media is probably one of your most powerful tools this holiday shopping season.

Why?

Because people love social media, this means you have to take advantage and meet your customers where they are spending a lot of their time.

When it comes to social media, you don’t have to go over the top when creating your graphics. You can create simple graphics using pre-made templates on systems like Canva. Utilize your brand colors and create graphics that would appeal to your ideal customer. You can even keep it simple by using your own product photos on your social media feed.

Batch your content and schedule them to post consistently. Use systems like Later to schedule out your social media posts so that you aren’t having to manually post each day.

Make sure your social media is up to date. For example, for Instagram, make sure your bio has the most current information and that all links are working properly.

Engage with your ideal customers. It’s great for you to be posting consistently, but now it is time to interact and build a relationship with your ideal client/ customer. For Instagram, come up with a list of hashtags that you would find your dream client posting in. For example, if your ideal client is a working mom, you would interact on posts that use hashtags like #busymomlife #workingmom #mompreneur, and so on. Make meaningful comments on their posts and show up consistently in liking their posts, so they know you aren’t just some random person and that you are trying to build up a rapport with them.

Email Marketing Tips

Whether you already send out regular newsletters or want to start, there is no better time than the holiday shopping season. (Contact me if you need help with your newsletters). Having an email opt-in is also a great way to stay in contact with people who visit your site but may not initially make a purchase.

When it comes to email marketing, here are a few tips to consider when writing your next holiday-focused email.

Level up your subject lines. People are getting TONS of emails this time of year. So what sets your email from the rest- your subject line! Hook your email subscribers in with interesting, actional, and unique headlines. If you use a generic headline like ‘holiday sale,’ people are less likely to open their email from you.

Hit inboxes at the right time. When it comes to sending out emails, it is all about the timing. If you have been using an email system for a while, go back and check your analytics of what time people are opening up your emails. Then you can start scheduling your holiday marketing emails at those times.

Optimize your content. Make the most out of your emails. With how many emails people get each day, your email needs to be compelling, get to the point, and include a call to action.

Another tip is to make sure your preview or send a test email to yourself to make sure everything in the email looks ok on multiple devices and that links are working properly. There’s no faster way to lose a sale than to have a broken link!

Copywriting Marketing Tips

Copywriting ties in with social media and email marketing because you can write all you want, but you are less likely to get the sale you want if you don’t do it enticingly.

When writing any sort of copy for your holiday marketing or any marketing, ask yourself these questions.

• What problem am I solving?
• Do I have a call to action?
• Am I using actionable words?
• Am I using appealing headlines?
• Have I implemented SEO keywords?
• Do I know how to speak to my ideal audience?
• Have I checked my content for grammatical and spelling errors?

Only after you answer and resolve those questions is your content ready to be scheduled and published.

 

Make this the best Holiday Shopping Season yet!

I get it. There is a lot that goes into making the most out of this holiday season. My best advice to you is to get started. Even if you focus on one of these areas, it is better than letting this holiday season go by without even trying to up your sales.

If you feel overwhelmed or don’t have the time to market your business, schedule a call with me. I specialize in social media, newsletters, and copywriting. I can help you strategize and create content this holiday season and for many seasons after that!

Grab your free marketing metric worksheet to track your holiday market success.

P.S. make sure you follow me on Instagram to stay up to date on the latest small business tips!