The holiday season is nothing to fear! With these 6 proper holiday marketing tips your small business shop WILL be overflowing with traffic this season.
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Marketing for the holidays should and can be great fun! Everyone, excluding a couple of Grinches, are already in the spirit to shop, so all you have to do is encourage them to shop with you.
These 6 marketing tactics are what I do every year around this time to get new and returning customers rushing in to purchase from my shop(s). After 12 years as a small business seller, I can confidently say THEY WORK, EVERY TIME!
6 Holiday Marketing Tips That Work Every Time
1. Plan Your Small Business Holiday Marketing in Advance
Once the holiday season makes it way to your doorstep, you’ll realize FAST, how little free time is left. Planning all your graphics, emails, and premade images in advance will put you ahead of the game, as well as diffuse added stress.
I start planning my holiday deals and make all the graphics and emails starting in mid-August!
How can I plan my Small Business Marketing?
- Research – See what other people within your niche are doing or what they did last year to get a feel for what you could be doing. (Make it your own. No copying!)
- Create – Make unique graphics (see below) that are tailored to your brand, and provide a visual to customers.
- Schedule – Once you have everything created and in a “Holiday 2022” folder, you need to decide when things will get posted and where.
Premade Image Examples:
2. Utilize Your Etsy Shop/Other Shops for Small Business Holiday Marketing
Once you find your angle (what makes you stand out this holiday season),
- Put it loud and clear in your shop banner
- Highlight it in your descriptions
- Place an image in your listing photos
You can find your shop banner on your shop page (See Below):
To change your shop banner image click the black “Edit Shop” button on the bottom left of the banner. This is much easier to arrange on a computer vs phone!
If you DO have a social media presence already:
- Automate or Schedule Posts – trust me you will be way too busy during the holidays to post everything yourself.
- Double Check Everything – Try out your coupon codes and links a few times before posting them to avoid any crises.
- Start Posting Early – You could post today! The sooner people know the better.
BOSS TIP: Make sure you set and scheduled a deadline so you don’t forget when each deal ends. This has gotten me into some trouble in the past!
3. Holiday SEO Tips
If there is one most important holiday marketing tips in this article, it’s THIS ONE. Especially if you are creating new listings, you should do your keyword research so it gets found amongst the thousands of other similar listings.
If you are using a best seller and just adding a few holiday images and deals to it – DO NOT CHANGE your SEO. You never want to change anything that is already doing well.
BOSS TIP: Duplicate the listing if you wish to test out other holiday specific keywords.
4. Encourage Your Customers To Share
Encouraging your customers to share what they received and their experience with your business is the easiest hassle free way to provide marketing for your shop.
How can I encourage my customers to share my products?
- Adding inserts to packages with your social media platforms and a message encouraging them to post. I just started doing this now that I have a social media manager on my team – and the customers LOVE it.
- It is illegal for you to ask them to leave a review, however, you can word it differently.
- “Let us know how we did!” is my favorite and it generates results.
How does encouraging customers to post my product market my small business?
- When they post and tag you, more people find out about you.
- Creates credibility to your small business. (Easier to trust they wont be scammed or receive something bogus.)
5. Holiday Pricing Tips
In order to stay competitive with similar sellers, offering different price ranges for your products is a great holiday marketing tips. You can market this on all platforms to help your shop stand out.
Ways to offer different pricing for the Holidays:
- Make Bundles – Offer a couple items sold together for a “special” price they couldn’t get if it wasn’t bundled. This should be a limited time offer to increase customer urgency to buy.
- Spoil Loyal Customers – For the loyal customers you could reach out with special coupons for just them and thank them for their loyalty over the years.
- Compete – Take a look at what similar shops are charging and see if you can beat their prices. If you see them running out of stock, jack up your prices.
- Learn from Last Year – If you noticed a particular item being a best seller last year, market that and boost your price for the high demand.
6. Have Fun
The Holidays should be a time of joy and fun for all. Even you! Here are some fun things I do during the holiday season for my customers that create credibility and small business charm they all love.
- Go LIVE!
- I like to go LIVE on Facebook during the busy holidays to show how busy we are, what we’re making, and answer any questions.
- You can even dress up like elves like me and my team do.
- Add to your inserts
- Maybe throw a candy cane in with your package or some nice aromatic florals to add a nice holiday touch to your wrapping.
- Reach out to influencers/bloggers
- Most of them are happy to market your products for free, and now you have someone to market year round if needed.
This list is short and sweet, and all the holiday marketing tips you need to get started this holiday season for your small business. Good luck, and happy holidays!
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