3 Holiday Marketing Tricks You Can Use Year-Round
By Andrew Patricio
December 24, 2014
Small Business & Entrepreneurship
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By the Small Business Content Developers at BizLaunch.com
The winter holiday season brings retailers and small businesses out of the woodwork. Even those that don’t normally do much in the way of marketing seem to amp up their efforts during the Christmas holidays. And their efforts pay off—many businesses see their largest number of sales in the fourth quarter. But that doesn’t have to be the case. With a little clever marketing, you can use some of these tactics during the rest of the year.
1. Heavy Sales
Judging by the number of sales flyers, email campaigns and social media tweets about discounts, the Christmas season is chock full of deep discounts and super sales. But offering targeted sales throughout the year can be a great technique to use, especially if you’d like to even out sales throughout the entire year. Consider which products you’d like to sell more of, and build promotions around them. Also think about different seasons and holidays—even minor ones—when planning your sales. Share your sales through social channels, as well as advertise them in the store and via email.
2. Get Charitable
During Christmas, many businesses team up with a charity and match donations from customers, or simply give money to a cause. The charities certainly appreciate all the attention, but what about the rest of the year? By connecting with charities in, say, April, you bring them much-needed resources, introduce your customers to the charity and bring a little goodwill PR to your brand. Pick a charity that is special to you or that lends itself well to your business. For example, if you own a clothing store, you could accept donations of used jeans and donate them to a local women’s shelter. Issue a press release on the event you’re a part of to get a little more buzz and feet in the door.
3. Use Christmas Itself
Just because it’s not December doesn’t mean it can’t be Christmas. We’ve all heard of “Christmas in July” sales; now’s your chance to plan your own off-season holiday to generate customer excitement. Frame your marketing campaign around the idea of shopping for gifts early, before the crowds flock to stores at the end of the year. Sell any Christmas merchandise you might have gathering dust in the stock room, and feature your favorite new products.
Don’t let December be the only time you put extra effort into your marketing. By using these tactics, you can boost sales when people aren’t necessarily shopping for holiday gifts and you can continue to brand your business so that people keep coming back.
The winter holiday season brings retailers and small businesses out of the woodwork. Even those that don’t normally do much in the way of marketing seem to amp up their efforts during the Christmas holidays. And their efforts pay off—many businesses see their largest number of sales in the fourth quarter. But that doesn’t have to be the case. With a little clever marketing, you can use some of these tactics during the rest of the year.
1. Heavy Sales
Judging by the number of sales flyers, email campaigns and social media tweets about discounts, the Christmas season is chock full of deep discounts and super sales. But offering targeted sales throughout the year can be a great technique to use, especially if you’d like to even out sales throughout the entire year. Consider which products you’d like to sell more of, and build promotions around them. Also think about different seasons and holidays—even minor ones—when planning your sales. Share your sales through social channels, as well as advertise them in the store and via email.
2. Get Charitable
During Christmas, many businesses team up with a charity and match donations from customers, or simply give money to a cause. The charities certainly appreciate all the attention, but what about the rest of the year? By connecting with charities in, say, April, you bring them much-needed resources, introduce your customers to the charity and bring a little goodwill PR to your brand. Pick a charity that is special to you or that lends itself well to your business. For example, if you own a clothing store, you could accept donations of used jeans and donate them to a local women’s shelter. Issue a press release on the event you’re a part of to get a little more buzz and feet in the door.
3. Use Christmas Itself
Just because it’s not December doesn’t mean it can’t be Christmas. We’ve all heard of “Christmas in July” sales; now’s your chance to plan your own off-season holiday to generate customer excitement. Frame your marketing campaign around the idea of shopping for gifts early, before the crowds flock to stores at the end of the year. Sell any Christmas merchandise you might have gathering dust in the stock room, and feature your favorite new products.
Don’t let December be the only time you put extra effort into your marketing. By using these tactics, you can boost sales when people aren’t necessarily shopping for holiday gifts and you can continue to brand your business so that people keep coming back.