Small business in the service space often state that their least busy time of year is during the holidays. So what does that mean for your marketing efforts? Will they fall short with your potential customers as you battle for holiday shopping dollars? Follow some of these tips and tricks for holiday marketing success for the next 3 months!
- Create a holiday-themed logo for your business – Google is the best example of this and they do it all year long. Why not get in the holiday spirit early by decking out your brand for Halloween, Thanksgiving and then Christmas? For as little as $5 you can get an illustrator to ramp up your look and win you fans and followers along the way.
- Small treats to drop off along your route – Take advantage of the bite-size candy surplus at the stores and carry around small treat bags with Halloween or fall-themed candy with a little card that has your info. The best thing I ever did when I was in B2B sales in a local territory was start a donut run every week to my hot prospects. What cost me $10 a week turned into hundreds of dollars in profit because in their minds I was thoughtful to bring breakfast every Friday. Amongst all your competition, you can’t go wrong with leaving a little chocolate behind.
- Send something besides a Christmas card – Send a Halloween card with a picture, or a “thankful for great customers” card for Thanksgiving. Or a New Year’s card looking forward to a bright future. Tie it into your brand messaging and get them out before the stack of cards ends up on your customers desk and fades into the background with other Christmas card-givers.
- Give back! – Boost your social following by doing a give-back campaign. Choose a charity that is especially active during the holidays and offer to donate something per “like”, “follow”, “share” etc. Toys4Tots is a great one, and chances are your local community has some that will be launching within the next month.
- Get ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday – Service-oriented businesses don’t think they have something to offer for the most popular shopping days of the year but think again! Wallets are loose and attitudes are already primed to spend spend spend! Let customers book that day and then offer to redeem when they are ready to book.
Have other ideas for holiday promotions to help small businesses? Share them by commenting here! You can also connect with me through email, or on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram. Let’s master this marketing for the holidays together!