5 Ways to Promote Your Business this Holiday Season
It’s no secret that this year is unlike any other, and covid-craziness is resulting in people wanting to save more money than usual this holiday season. This is great for families but not so much for business owners who are losing potential customers because of the current financial climate.
Here are five ways to effectively promote your business during a pandemic-ridden holiday season:
- Prepare your website for a holiday surge.
- Your product should be fully stocked (if not overly stocked) at the beginning of the holiday season.
- Send email newsletters to draw in customers.
- Retarget potential customers.
- Use content marketing to ensure your business is staying relevant.
This year’s holiday season has the potential to bring in countless new customers who are doing their holiday shopping online. You must know and understand these five tips if you want to maximize your business’s profits this winter.
1. Prepare your website for a holiday surge.
Online shopping has become increasingly popular – especially this year due to COVID-19 – and it will continue to grow in the coming years. Make sure your business’s website is up to par with consumer’s expectations. Your website should have,
- easy navigation,
- simple layouts,
- educated color and typography choices,
- and a customized logo.
It’s more critical than ever that your website is straightforward and gives your visitors the best experience. Specifically for the 2020 holiday season, we expect to see many people shopping online for the first time. Given the highly contagious virus and threat to older adults, many of these older generational consumers will have no choice but to do their shopping from home.
As a rule, think about your grandparents. Would they be able to easily navigate your website? If not, fix your site. There is absolutely no reason that your website should be complex. And if it is, don’t expect visitors to stick around to figure out how to navigate your site and find what they’re looking for – because guess what, they won’t.
Investing in a well-designed website might be the answer. And the truth is, you can never go wrong with hiring professionals to customize your website for you.
2. Your product should be fully stocked (if not overly stocked) at the beginning of the season.
It’s happened to all of us. We go on a website, find exactly what we’re looking for, anddd…it’s out of stock. Just as it’s disappointing for the customer, the business is losing a sale too.
If you’ve already prepared your website for a holiday surge and have a successfully designed site, you can bet that more people will already be viewing your site – especially during holiday season. In fact, 71% of US adults said they plan to do the bulk of their holiday shopping online this year.
Overprepare for a surge in sales. If you’re out of stock, you’re guaranteed to lose the sales of potential customers because they’ll end up turning to your competitors to buy the product they’re looking for – and that’s not a risk you should be willing to take.
3. Send email newsletters to draw in customers.
It’s oftentimes easy to think that email marketing is a thing of the past, but you could not be more wrong. The average person receives over 100 emails per day. Here’s how to stand out from the other 99:
Write an eye-catching subject line. Without an effective subject line, your newsletter does not stand a chance. Grab the reader’s attention right away. Write in all caps. Include the words coupon, sale, or free shipping. Do whatever it takes to get people to open the email. Here are some examples of effective subject lines:
-
- ENDS TODAY: 40% sweaters and hats
- You’re gonna need to sit down for this
- LAST DAY TO SAVE 50% OFF!
- Order now for FREE shipping in time for the holidays
- Create a sense of urgency. As seen in the examples above, telling readers that it’s the “Last day to save 50% off!” creates a sense of urgency. Include coupons or special deals that expire in 3 days, 24 hours, or even 2 hours. When consumers don’t have time to ponder the pros and cons of buying a product, they’ll often make snap decisions and buy the product right away.
- Customize your own festive holiday design. Only including an eye-catching subject line and sense of urgency is not enough to turn your viewers into customers. We are visual beings. Include pictures of the product you’re pushing and create unique graphics to further intrigue people. Make the newsletter aesthetically pleasing and festive.
- The link to your products should be easily accessible from a mobile device and computer. Readers should be able to click on the picture of a product and it’ll bring them directly to it. The easier it is for customers to find what they’re looking for, the less time they have to overthink the purchase and decide not to buy it.
4. Retarget potential customers.
Retargeting is the process of sending emails or advertisements to someone that visited your website but didn’t complete a purchase. This is an excellent strategy for targeting people that have already shown an interest in your company.
Take this email from Adidas for example. Adidas sent an email to a potential customer that included a photo of the exact shoe they were wanting to buy, but ultimately decided not to. This lures the viewer in and causes them to re-think their decision.
It’s pretty simple – people that are proven to already have an interest in what you’re selling are also more likely to buy it, making retargeting a very cost-effective strategy for businesses.
5. Use content marketing to ensure your business is staying relevant.
Content marketing refers to “the creation and distribution of relevant content to attract a particular target audience.” In basic terms, every email you send or social media content you post does not (and should not) be directly promoting your product.
Create conversation between your business and its customers. During the holiday season, post festive content that’s related to the realm of your business. If you’re selling food, you could post, “Recipes that will blow your family away during Christmas dinner,” or you could even go the extra mile by creating a video showing how to make these recipes.
By doing this, your business will stay on the forefront of conversation and is more likely to create buzz about your products and what you’re offering your customers.
How do I promote my business to new customers?
Social media. Your business should have multiple social platforms: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter – you name it. Start a conversation on your social platforms that could potentially draw new customers in from existing customers. Here’s an idea:
Do a free, holiday giveaway on Instagram. Post a picture of the products you’re giving away, and tell consumers that, to be a potential winner of the giveaway, they need to follow your account, put the photo on their Instagram story and tag 5 friends. This is an excellent way to start gaining followers and create brand awareness during the holiday season.
What are examples of sales promotion techniques?
- Coupons: Coupons are an effective way to generate speedy sales, sell more products and recruit new customers.
- Loyalty Programs: This is designed to encourage repeat customers. Giving special deals to people who are part of your business’s loyalty program increases the likelihood of the customer continually purchasing products from you instead of a competitor.
- BOGO: Buy-one-get-one sales can cause people to buy something they otherwise weren’t planning on purchasing just because of the special bargain deal.
- Samples: Free samples are a small amount of the product your business is hoping to sell. The sample encourages trial and increases brand awareness.