It's no secret that the holiday shopping season can have a significant impact on a business's annual revenue. With so much dependent on driving sales during such a short window of time, marketers know they need to take a creative, multifaceted approach to the holiday shopping season.
However, doing so is often easier said than done. Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday celebrations are barely a month apart; it's a crowded time, and small business marketers are faced with the challenge of standing out in an already crowded field. Developing an effective holiday marketing strategy can be particularly stressful.
Small Businesses and the Holidays
Recent Yahoo Small Business research finds that a majority of consumers (75%) want to shop at and support small businesses, and familiarity with a retailer is the top factor influencing whether they choose to shop small (38% of respondents). Having multiple touchpoints through consistent marketing and promotion across different channels—before, during, and even after the holidays—ensures smaller retailers remain top-of-mind for current and future customers.
Pulling from my experience working with small businesses and supporting my own family business, I recommend small businesses prioritize four areas if they are to have a lasting impact through the holiday season and into the next year.
1. Prepare in advance of the season
Ideally, you'll want to ensure any e-commerce upgrades and site redesigns are completed prior to the busy season.
Moreover, email lists and content can be queued up and ready to go so you can fire up the holiday marketing machine, including social media content, which can also be prepped before the holiday chaos ensues.
Content that highlights promotions, events, and new items can be prepared advance; final tweaks can always be made later to keep the content timely in the moment.
2. Use Black Friday and Cyber Monday data to plan promotions for the rest of the holiday shopping season
Consumers are in search of a great deal this time of year. Look for trending items and trending searches, and use that data to run flash sales, time-based promotions, and more in the runup to Christmas, Hanukkah, etc. and the New Year.
In addition, consider whether you can cross-sell items with excessive inventory together with any trending items.
3. Optimize website and in-store activations
As more and more consumers opt to do their shopping online, having a website that looks good and is easy to use is crucial. Outdated and inefficient websites and payment options were also identified as a major gripe by shoppers in the Yahoo study. Marketers should ensure promotions are easy to find on the website and that they can handle the influx of orders on the back end.
However, don't forget about in-store promotions in the process. Consumers still value the human touch, especially when buying from smaller retailers. Some customers even prefer brick-and-mortar shopping; ensuring an engaging in-store experience is therefore key.
