Hello, October. Where did you come from? Just yesterday we were enjoying the summer sun rain and warm weather. Now it’s all about the pumpkin spice, which means the holidays are right around the corner!
When you are a solopreneur, you know better than to slack off during the holiday season. For many small businesses, it’s the time of year for sales to shine. With the right marketing strategy under your belt, you can take advantage of the season to grow your business and end the year strong!
Here are a few ways you can get your business ready for the holiday season.
Make Your Website Sparkle
Spruce up your website to make it ready for business. It’s the perfect time to upgrade your site, introduce new options (if this was the plan for a while,) and leave your competitors green with envy! Depending on whether you use your website as a marketing tool or an e-commerce website, there are a few elements to think about:
Website as a marketing tool:
- Be informative: Your site should include critical aspects like your store’s hours, address, store phone number and a map or navigation (to the store)
- Make sure your website is mobile-friendly: Consider adding a “click-to-call button” so that the customers can quickly call your business from their smartphones
- Update your local search information: That way when customers are doing their initial search, your information is correctly listed.
If you run an e-commerce site:
- Update your security software
- Make security credentials visible on all pages of your website
- Test your checkout process to make sure it works correctly and is customer-friendly
- Layout shipping costs and deadlines at the top of your home page
- Make customer service contact information visible
- Double-check your search function
- Do load testing to make sure your website won’t crash if it experiences heavy traffic
Invest in a Stellar Customer Service
Excellent customer service and convenience are vital to making holiday sales. So, don’t wait for the holiday season to start to hire new employees. Instead, make these hires early enough so you can train them in your procedures and policies. Give all of your employee’s pre-holiday training to have them ready for the season. Don’t forget to educate them about any return policies, too!
Plan Your Promotions
A solid marketing plan during the holiday season is half the job done. On that note, develop a detailed marketing plan covering the period until January 1st.
Think along the lines of:
- Deals and discounts
- Your marketing budget
- Ways to reach out to customers and prospects (e.g., social media, email, direct mail, traditional advertising, etc.)
- Loyalty programs and rewards
- The type of daily marketing to adopt
Polish Your Social Reputation
Social media has become the primary source of information for virtually everything; your business included. Be on your ‘A’ game during the holiday season so you can check any negative comments or bad reviews, and respond quickly. Make your social media presence exciting and better than the competition. 😉
Follow these steps and enjoy a very happy new year! Start getting your business ready for the holidays today to build a fruitful tomorrow.
Want a top-notch marketing plan for 2019? Reach out to us to get started!
