Christmas is a busy and often stressful time for most of us. It also offers plenty of opportunities for booming sales. Here's how to make sure you will make the most of it while bringing joy to your customers instead of adding unnecessary holiday noise.
10 non-obvious Christmas marketing tips for small businesses
1. Make sure to use seasonal keywords and hashtags
Take advantage of extra traffic to your website and socials. Create a Christmas-themed blog, gift guide or a collection on your website. People are more likely to add "Christmas" as a search term during this time.
2. Check your Google and social ad budgets
Pre-Christmas is an expensive time to advertise, on digital and elsewhere. You might even want to turn off your ads if you're not selling a gifting product or experience. Or consider using the target ROAS strategy for your Google ads to avoid excessive spend.
3. Insert some yuletide into your Google and Meta ad copy
If you run ads during the festive period, include Christmassy keywords in your ad copy. You can use generic keywords like "Christmas gifts near me" or more specific ones like "Secret Santa gift ideas for under £10". Check out Google's guide for seasonal targeting, or speak to your digital agency to ensure they're on it!
For Meta ads, keywords are a little less critical, but people are in a holiday mood, so why not give them what they like?
4. Update your website, email signature and socials for the holidays
Make sure your website is up-to-date with holiday promotions, delivery times, opening hours, festive logos and other messaging. You don't need John Lewis-level budgets to create a festive feel for your brand. Snowflakes, a festive banner or a Santa hat on a logo can be enough. Design an email footer for December wishing your customers happy holidays.
5. Add some Christmas magic to your store or restaurant
If you run a brick-and-mortar shop or a restaurant, don't be a Grinch! Dress your place with fairy lights, add beautiful centrepieces, and maybe even bring in a tree if there is space!
6. Don't forget your email marketing
But make it worth it for your customer. Everyone's inboxes are blowing up, so do not add to unnecessary digital waste unless you've got something valuable to say.
Show your customers how much you value them. Send them a thank-you note, reward them with a special discount, or even hold a special event for your regulars. This is a surefire way of building loyalty with your customers and saying thank you for their support.
7. Offer additional value
Take the stress out of Christmas by offering free postage, gift wrapping, last-minute digital gift cards, late-night shopping or gift baskets or bundles. Or why not write a helpful gift guide or a checklist for hosting a perfect Christmas lunch?
8. Have fun on social media
Forget sales messaging on social and focus on spreading joy and goodwill! Run a competition, share behind-the-scenes content about your team's prepping orders, or collaborate with influencers.
9. Prepare for January
Plot your January strategy into your Christmas marketing activity. January can be challenging for small businesses that can't compete with the super sales and 241 offers run by chain shops and restaurants.
Everyone is skint, and half the population has gone sober, so you'll need to work extra hard to bring them in. Can you plant the seed during the run-up to Christmas? Offer come-back in January vouchers for your December customers. Remember to put together January party packages for those who can't have their party in December, like hospitality workers.
10. Don't forget the practical info
Post practical info on your website, like Christmas opening times or last order cut-off dates. Share them on your social media and Google Business Profile too.
When should I start marketing for Christmas?
You want to start early rather than late! Christmas shopping tends to begin mid-November, so ensure you're ready by then.
If you are a restarant or a hospitality business offering Christmas parties, you will want to have your packages ready by the end of August.
Did you leave it late? All is not lost! Get in touch, and let's put together a last-minute Christmas promotion plan for you.
Need help with marketing your small business?
Do you need help marketing your small business? I have loved working with Brighton stores, restaurants and hospitality businesses, such as Curry Leaf Cafe, Circles Store and Brighton i360.
You can book me for a short one-day, high-intensity session to solve a specific challenge, for example, figuring out who your target audience should be, finding your brand’s unique positioning or running a December campaign to increase January business.
,
You can also “subscribe” to my services. Together, we will create a marketing plan for your business. My role may include managing your social media, Facebook ads, email marketing and optimising your website for better Google ranking. We will meet on a regular basis to tweak your strategy and execution.
Or drop me an email - let's chat!
Comments