6 Holiday Sales and Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

When the majority of your annual sales are earned in November and December, there’s no such thing as planning too soon. Here are sales and marketing tips you’ll want to start working on now to ensure a profitable holiday season for your business.

The last couple of days before Christmas might be the biggest shopping days of the year after Black Friday through CyberMonday. But that doesn’t mean you should wait until a few days before Christmas to start marketing your wares to the public. On the contrary, savvy business owners start planning for the holiday rush as early as the summer, and with good reason. According the National Retail Federation, holiday sales (that is, those occurring in November and December) account for 19% of retailers’ annual sales.

Here are six holiday marketing steps you can take now to improve your sales figures down the line:

1. Improve your email marketing

If you want to improve your sales figures for the holidays, it’s a good idea to boost your email marketing efforts now. Summer and fall are good times to market your services to loyal customers, while reminding those you haven’t seen in awhile to buy from you again. In the months leading up to Christmas, you should study your newsletter conversion rates to determine what types of messages generate the best response. Additionally, you should monitor your social media pages to see what your customers are discussing and determine what the hottest products are going to be for the holiday season.

2. Talk to your neighbors

Christmas is a time for people to come together, and that includes local shop owners. In fact, many small businesses collaborate with neighboring shops to create fun holiday shopping events for the local community. Work with your fellow merchants to plan an event that celebrates the season, while encouraging residents to shop locally instead of hitting the department stores. For example, you could arrange for a tree-lighting ceremony, a visit from Santa, or a street-wide raffle event. And, of course, every store should feature holiday decorations and offer plenty of treats and sweets for the kids to enjoy while their parents shop. 

3. Create a giveaway

Giving away branded gifts prior to the holidays is a great way to prepare for the coming season while reminding customers of upcoming sales. When choosing your giveaway items, try to brainstorm products that your customers will want to keep in their homes for the long haul. While everyone loves candy, most people will opt to eat this gift or throw it away within a few days. On the other hand, branded magnets, ornaments, coffee mugs, and notepads tend to linger a little longer in the home. Print up a batch of gifts featuring your business name and the dates of important events, like parties or holiday sales, and boost the number of shoppers in your store. You can also give away branded holiday items to shoppers who sign up for your newsletter or purchase goods on your e-commerce site.

4. Get mobile friendly

It’s no secret that shoppers are increasingly using mobile devices to compare and purchase products online. For this reason, small businesses need to ensure their websites are mobile friendly before the start of the holiday season. Along with making sure product and shopping cart pages can be viewed easily on phone screens, owners should consider factors like load speed, button size and placement, and image resolution. New customers are likely to check out your website before visiting your shop, and you want to ensure you make the best possible first impression. 

5. Work on your website

Just as it’s important to ensure your website is mobile friendly, you should make certain it has the right kind of content to attract holiday shoppers. As the holidays approach, it’s a good idea to add seasonal content such as blogs, photos, and gift guides. For best results, optimize your Christmas content for the search engines by including holiday and gift-giving keywords in the text, title tags, and meta descriptions. Having a strong website is especially important in light of the news that more people are shopping online than in brick-and-mortar stores during the holidays.

6. Look to your team

Even the most thorough holiday sales planning will likely be for naught if you can’t get your team onboard. Understanding that November and December are busy sales months, small businesses need to work hard to prep their staffs. In addition to making sure their inventories are sufficient, businesses should spend time training their staffs and assessing work schedules. If you don’t think your workers will be able to cover the impending rush, you might want to consider hiring seasonal employees. It’s a good idea to secure your holiday workforce early before the best employees find positions with your competition. Additionally, hiring early gives you more time to train your staff in areas like customer service, inventory management, and order placement.

With a lot of preparation, and a little seasonal good will, you can ensure this holiday season will be your business’s most profitable to date.

Need more help? See our Holiday Marketing Resources page!

Disclaimer: The content on this page is for informational purposes only, and does not constitute legal, tax, or accounting advice. If you have specific questions about any of these topics, seek the counsel of a licensed professional.

Get started image

Ready to get started?

Get the expert support you need

Related Articles

Home Business Marketing Tips

by Team ZenBusiness, on February 08, 2024

6 Ways to Get Customers to Opt-In to Mobile Marketing

by Team ZenBusiness, on November 28, 2023

For Better Sales Copy Take a Tip from Zig Ziglar

by Team ZenBusiness, on November 28, 2023

NeuroMarketing – Top 7 Insights to Unlocking Your Customer’s Brain for Instant Sales

by Team ZenBusiness, on March 26, 2024

Neil Billock: The Future Growth Of Marketing Lies In Emerging Markets

by Team ZenBusiness, on March 04, 2024

Public Relations Marketing

by Tim Berry and Doug Wilson, on October 31, 2023

Start Your LLC Today