With total holiday sales expected to exceed $1 trillion, there’s never been a better time than now for your small business to aggressively connect with customers (both new and existing).

The opportunity for increased sales is there for the taking. However, without the right strategy in place, the holiday season could quickly pass you by.

Here are three holiday promo ideas any small business can use to boost sales:

1. Run a Holiday Themed Email Marketing Campaign

There are many ways of doing this, all of which deserve your attention. Here are some ideas to consider:

• Use a subject line associated with the holidays, such as “Open this Email to Get 15% Off Your Order this Christmas”
• Alter the color scheme to match the holidays, such as red and green for Christmas
• Share a list of best selling holiday items, as it gives readers an idea of what other people are buying

If you’re already using email marketing to drive traffic and sales, it’s easy enough to incorporate a holiday promo. All it takes is a bit of creativity.

2. Give Something Away

There’s a lot of competition for sales during the holiday season. It’s your job to do something that piques the interest of your audience, and there’s no better way of doing so than by giving something away for free.

Here are some examples:

• Free shipping on all orders, regardless of the amount
• Free gift wrap for all orders, regardless of the item
• Free gift if a purchase is made by a certain date, such as one week before Christmas

You get the point. If you give something away for free, you can expect to excite your audience.

3. Use Video to Your Advantage

With 81% of businesses using video as a marketing tool, you should probably be doing the same. If you’re not, it’s easy to get left behind by the competition.

During the holidays, it’s important to take your video marketing game to the next level. Here are some things to experiment with:

• Create a video wishing your audience a happy holiday season
• Share a video via email and social media that provides a special offer
• Hold a video contest in which the best submission receives a gift card, cash prize, or a product/service from your company

The holiday season is one of the best times of the year to get creative with video marketing. Give it a try and you may be surprised at what you find.

For more insights on marketing strategy that actually works for small business, subscribe to the FreshLime Newsletter here. Connect with Jay Bean, Founder of FreshLime and Small Business Marketing Expert on LinkedIn and Twitter. And last of all, if any of these tips have helped you or if you have anything to add please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!