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Holiday promotions are a surefire way to attract new customers, whether you’re in retail or you run another type of business. But when every company is trying to grab a piece of the holiday pie, you can’t just wait for new customers to find you. You need to develop a plan.
As consumers kick off their holiday shopping earlier this year, it’s important to kick your promotion plan into gear at the same time.
Here are six holiday promotion ideas to help you attract new clients and show appreciation for your regulars.
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1. Target the need
Your first task is to figure out where the need will be.
Do you own a clothing store? Think of all the comfortable holiday pajamas shoppers will crave this year as stay-at-home orders continue. Are you a photographer? Target all those families scrambling for a last-minute holiday card picture with a socially distant photo shoot.
Targeting promotions toward a specific use case will go much farther than a more general holiday promotion.
2. Target your audience
Think about who is more likely to need your services these days: a business, or individual clients?
If you’re trying to sell more plants at your nursery, you may want to offer corporate discounts and delivery for potted plants. If you’re trying to get new salon customers, it probably makes more sense to direct your marketing toward individual clients who haven’t been able to get a haircut for months.
You may even consider running different holiday promotions for both businesses and individual clients, depending on what you sell.
3. Spread the cheer
Don’t just decorate your store window. Make sure to spice up your website, email marketing campaigns, social media accounts, and mailers with thematic designs to let your clients know about your holiday promotions.
As some shoppers cut back on going to physical stores, posting your holiday promotions everywhere you sell will help you effectively get the word out.
4. Make yourself giftable
Break out that ribbon. Your gift baskets and gift cards should look good enough to put under a tree or stuff into a stocking. This is even more crucial this year since people won’t be able to have as many in-person holiday celebrations. Festive-looking gifts will help make virtual celebrations feel more like a typical holiday.
(For inspiration, check out the super-creative designs some local businesses made using gift cards from Square).
5. Bring people together (virtually)
Togetherness, even when we’re apart, is a big theme this year. Think about how you can bring local businesses and clients together in a safe way. You may choose to donate to charitable organizations, like a toy drive or food bank, and invite your clients to participate.
Or you could talk to adjacent businesses and see if they would be interested in hosting a socially distant outdoor sidewalk sale.
6. Give first
If it makes sense for your business, think of ways you can give to your customers. This could be in the form of little extras when they purchase a service, small toys or treats for customers with kids, or raffle-style giveaways.
The holiday season is a time when many businesses roll out promotions and sales, so customers are used to basing their shopping choices on special deals. This year, starting early and getting creative with your holiday promotions will get people’s attention exactly when they’re ready to buy.
*Image by Stephen Depolo on Flickr
