It is no secret that the marketing world becomes particularly cluttered during the Christmas season, with every business and brand trying to stand out and yield those big holiday season sales.

The competition can seem particularly daunting for small businesses trying to stand out among the crowded sea of competitors. While it will take some meticulous planning and savvy know how it is possible for small businesses to yield success during the very competitive Christmas season.

Here are a few tips. And if you haven’t already, sign up for a listing on our online directory, FindYello.com and stand out from your competitors.

 

1. Focus on the Customer Experience

As the old saying goes, “people may forget what you say and do, but they will never forget how you made them feel”.

All too often the customer experience can be bland, boring or downright awful. An easy way to set your business apart is to offer your customers an exceptional experience.

A few easy ways to do this include:

• Get to know your customers on a first name basis and understand why they have sought you out.
• Do you have a database with your customers’ birthdays or business anniversaries? Send birthday greetings in an email, personalize your social media interaction by sending birthday shout-outs to your best customers.
• Incorporate a short welcome video or a demo video for a particular product or service.
• Create a loyalty program that rewards long-standing customers in small ways from special discounts, birthday specials, etc.

 

2. Be a Targeted Specialist

If you serve everyone, then you serve no one. There is a high demand for businesses that provide laser focus service or products that meet specific customers’ needs.

SEM or search engine marketing target specific groups of customers based on their interests. Streamline and run targeted ads and see where you should focus your energies.

New customers are easier to acquire because you solve a specific problem and the upside is you can charge a bit more for specialized expertise. So instead of being a chef or catering service that cooks for everyone, be the chef that targets vegetarians or vegans.

 

3. Run a Display Campaign

 Having a well-placed banner advertisement on a website is like having a prime real estate on a beachfront property. Also known as display ads, banner ads can work magic when selling online.

The key to any successful banner ad, of course, is to place them in relevant websites. For instance, if you are selling baby formula, you wouldn’t display on a hardware products website.

Also, get creative with your wording and graphics. You only have a few seconds to grab someone’s attention online. Make them count. Here are a few more key factors to remember when running a display campaign:

• Positioning – Where your ad is positioned on a website is very important to the likelihood of it being seen, much less remembered. The most appealing position for most display ads is the top of the page, as most individuals’ eyes tend to be drawn to the top of a page first.

 

• Effective Call to Action – You’ve got an individual’s attention with your catchy, colourful and prime positioned display ad. It’s now time to tell them what action you want them to take. Whether it’s to click a link to download something, sign up for something, etc., this must be communicated as clearly and concisely as possible in your ad. It also helps to create a sense of urgency with your call to action to increase one’s desire to click. For example, saying that promotion will only last for 24 hours.

 

• Quality Landing Page – Once someone clicks on your display ad and responds to your call to action, they should be directed to a quality-landing page. This means ensuring that the page is simple and easy to navigate, fully functional, quick to load and not too cluttered.

 

4. Run a Social Media Christmas Promotion

A strategic social media campaign is always an effective way to increase sales and the Christmas season is always a prime opportunity.

As with display campaigns, ensuring that your social media promotion includes a clear and effective call to action, as well as a quality landing page, if you are drawing individuals away from the social media platform, is essential.

Other factors to remember for a successful Christmas social media promotion include:

• Make Your Pages Merry – Just like most brick and mortar stores decorate for the season, so should you for your social media pages. Having a catchy and festive page, just like a well-decorated store, helps put followers in the holiday spirit and increase their willingness to participate in your holiday-themed promotion.

 

• Share the Joy of Christmas – Never forget that one of the main purposes of social media is to be, well social. So along with your giveaway and promotion, be sure to throw in generic holiday-themed content that will engage your followers. For example, are you a restaurant, share tips for preparing the best Christmas turkey, a design company, share tips for the best DIY holiday-themed decorations, etc.

 

• Create a Digital Holiday Gift Guide – Individuals are always looking for suggestions for presents. Create a digital holiday gift guide of your products and services and promote using your social media.

 

• Say Thank You – In the spirit of the holidays, create a Christmas themed thank you card for anyone who participates in your social media promotion or even just as a thank you to your followers for their support throughout the year.

 

5. Rebrand for The Season

We already discussed redecorating your social media pages to reflect the season and the same rules applies for all of your online presence, including your website. There are other ways to rebrand specifically for the season, while of course staying true to your brand vision. A few tips include:

• Offer New Festive Products and Services – Offer special limited holiday-themed editions of specific products, as well as services, such as free gift-wrapping, free next day delivery service for the holidays, etc.

 

• Partner With Other Businesses – Create strategic partnerships with other small businesses, just for the holiday season, to offer special holiday-themed bundles. For example, do you own a nail salon, then partner with a hair salon for a special Christmas bundle with a discount on hair/nail services.

 

• Give Back – Partner with a specific charity and create a Christmas promotion around this partnership that helps raise money and awareness of the cause, as well as increases brand awareness and loyalty for your business.

These are just a few of the many ways your small business can increase business sales this Christmas season.