Is December one of the busiest times for your business?

We would be very surprised if it isn’t! Christmas is one of the most hectic times for any business. Building up to the day, sales rapidly increase, along with online activity to promote product offers, sales and creating festive spirit on social media. It is also a peak time for competition among other retailers. It is a prime time for marketing your brand on social media.

In previous years do you think you have made the most out of gaining new customers and extra sales at Christmas time by marketing? Are you unsure how you could do this? Read on to get a better understanding for Christmas 2018…

To begin with you need to have clear goals of what you want to achieve, such as one or more of the following:

• Increasing engagement
• Boosting sales
• Selling more gift cards
• Building up loyal customers
• Increasing new customers to your brand

Once you have set your goals, you can then plan how you are going to market your brand. Here are a few ways:

• Plan your holiday displays such as your window and instore displays, your price signs including sale items and your opening and closing signs/posters. All these displays should follow a Christmas theme. This will assure customers that you value Christmas time with them and that you care about how your brand appears.
• Ensure your website is Christmas themed, such as your hero landing page and any banner at the top of your web page. Also, any Christmas products that you have to offer on your website, make sure that they are clearly displayed in a section on your website, separating seasonal and non-seasonal items. Emphasise that your business is the destination to shop, or your service is the best one to use.
• Add Christmas flair to your social media, such as altering your logo and social media profile pictures, so they are associated with Christmas. Another common way is to recreate your Twitter and Facebook cover photos. This is one of the first things that people will see when visiting your social media pictures.
• For social media posts, a general rule is that 80% of your content should be about adding value to your customers lives and only 20% of content should be about promoting your business. However, Christmas is a prime time when everyone can over self-promote and share festive updates on social media. For example, if you’re part of a restaurant then it might be an idea to post your favourite festive recipes. Another way is that gyms could share tips and information on how to keep fit and healthy over the festive period. It is a perfect time to over self-promote as you’re making it easier for customers to make a decision and you’re helping them by offering lots of information. So, it benefits both parties.
• Do extra posts on social media to get your followers into the festive spirit, such as posting polls on Christmas topics “What is the best part about Christmas dinner?”. This should increase brand awareness as your company name will be seen regularly and will be entertaining your audience.
• If you have the opportunity, then try and work with local businesses and charities to raise holiday spirits. It could be beneficial to work with a business that complements your company, for example a design studio like ourselves could collaborate with a print company.
• Create a festive hashtag for twitter and Instagram that is unique, so your followers can engage with your posts. Remember to not only make it festive and fun but also relevant to your company.
• Hold a competition for your followers to participate in. This can be done by involving products that you offer, such as the prize. A common way is by encouraging your followers to like and comment on your posts and to follow you before they can enter the competition. This will increase your followers and brand awareness.
• Show off your holiday spirit with social media, show everyone the Christmas decorations in your office/shop or wherever you are based. Also upload media of any Christmas events that you attend throughout the build up. Anything that you can show about Christmas whether related to your business or not show it off! It is the main event of the year, everyone loves this time of the year so build up as much of a festive buzz as you can.