The holiday season and the weeks that follow the dawn of the new year are important times for small businesses. When you’re operating a small company – whether you offer goods, services, or something else entirely – it’s ideal to capitalize on these heavy buying times. However, knowing how to tap into the local and global markets and reach your target audience can be difficult, especially during the chaos of the holiday season!
From Christmas, Hanukkah, and other winter holidays to the post-season sales that lead right up to Valentine’s day, your ticket to bigger sales ad better business is to harness the power of social media for your promotional needs. You don’t have to be an eCommerce business to utilize social media to your advantage. Read on to see how every business – no matter how small – can put social media holiday season promotions to work for them, this winter and beyond.
Types of Holiday Season Promotions to Consider
Why do holiday season promotions work? Because business expertise dictates that to keep a sale from looking like a desperate attempt to unload merchandise you can’t move, you need a reason for it. The great thing is, your customers don’t need an extremely logical reason. It could be Groundhog Day, and they’ll still be glad to see a seasonal sale!
At no time during the year are people more in the mood to shop sales than at the holidays. Americans have built entire holidays around these sales, declaring the day after Thanksgiving as “Black Friday”. If you want to be part of that action, capitalize on the holiday momentum by offering sales and discounts during this time.
Some great ideas for holiday promotions include:
- Bundle sales – When customers are shopping for holiday gifts, it pays to offer bundles premade for them to buy for gift sets. It saves them time and makes you money!
- Two-for-one deals – Who doesn’t love checking two items off their gift list in a single purchase? How much you discount the items offered in the pair is up to you.
- Inventory renewal sale – It’s okay to be honest with your customers and let them know that your current stock won’t be available much longer. Give them incentive to buy it by letting them know in no uncertain terms that it’s time for it to go!
- Buy-one-get-one or free gift promotions – Customers love getting free stuff. It really doesn’t matter what you’re offering. As long as they perceive the free item with purchase as being an added value, they’re more willing to pick up the item at full price.
- Coupons – As the fervor surrounding cultural phenomena like “Extreme Couponing” will prove, consumers love to use coupons. Offering a coupon can be one easy way to get more customers in the door this holiday season.
- Capitalize on the FOMO – FOMO, or “fear of missing out” is responsible for driving many sales in the world of retail. Use this subtle sales pressure to your advantage to encourage consumers to buy now, before the deal or product is gone.
- Mystery coupons or discounts – Only by browsing your site or showing up to your store can consumers cash in on these discounts, driving the foot traffic of your shop through the roof with the promise of savings.
Where You Go Matters: How and Where to Post Your Holiday Season Promotions
The deals mentioned above are great – but knowing where to promote these deals via social media can make all the difference in how well they are received.
Here are some tips about where to post your promotions for maximum impact:
- Social networks – These sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, were designed for direct social interaction and networking. Social networks are often heavy on community and local features and advertise based on user interests. This makes sharing promotions for your local business a great fit for these platforms.
- Media sharing sites and applications – Instagram, Snapchat, and other applications are used to share media between hundreds of millions of users every day. Although the reach of these sites is worldwide, advertising local deals and specials is also more than possible here. Many local businesses use these accounts to keep consumers in the loop of what’s going on and offer deals that only viewers of their stories or accounts can access.
- Forums and discussion threads – Quora, Reddit, and other sites offer users the chance to dialogue about topics that range from the strange to the mundane. When you have a product or service that caters to a specific interest, answers a product need that is being discussed, or might be popular within a specific community or group, advertising here is a good bet. Many of these sites have local features as well, making them perfect for small businesses.
- Bookmarking sites – Sites like Pinterest are a place where people can save links and photos of their favorite things. What could be better than offering tantalizing images of your sales products and specials for consumers to curate into their pinboards, complete with information on where to buy. Tap into the travel bug here too, as would-be wanderers may pin your business’s promotions as inspiration to journey to your city for a sale.
- Blogs and content creation sites – WordPress, Tumblr, and other sites are well-known for offering bloggers of all levels of experience the chance to share their thoughts and discover and share content. Advertising here is a great choice for brands that are looking to tap into audiences within certain communities or who share specific interests. Since blogs are organized by these topics and interests, advertising is easy – and effective.
Still not sure which kinds of holiday season promotions will work best for your business? Contact the industry experts at 4 Step Studio. We have the knowledge and experience to help you harness the power of social media to promote your business, regardless of size and style. Let us help you put together a promotion that will have your customers knowing on your door all through the coming year!
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4 Step Studio is an online marketing agency that specializes in website design and redesign, SEO, social media and more. Our team of experts focuses on helping small business get found online, while educating them on what will make them successful in the digital world. To learn more about what we can do for you, visit our website at www.4StepStudio.com
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