How To Market Your Business During The Holiday Season

The holidays are a time for giving thanks, enjoying time with family and friends, and showing gratitude for all that stands in your life. In other words, the holidays are a perfect time to be more giving than greedy. This is especially true if you own a business or operate in a niche trade that relies on word-of-mouth sales as its main source of revenue. Because let’s face it: no one shops just because they need something, they do it because they know that at some point in the future they’ll be able to buy it from someone else.

The same goes for businesses whose products people use every day during the holiday season. Instead of relying on those same products year after year, why not encourage others to use them instead? After all, it’s much simpler and easier to recommend something than explain why someone should avoid using it. So rather than trying to sell your business’s products every single holiday season like an old-fashioned car salesman; focus on how you can help these customers become loyal advocates instead!

Be Prepared

The best marketing strategy in the world won’t do you any good if your target customers don’t know about it. So the first thing you should do before the holidays begin is to start collecting the names and email addresses of your current customers. Every year, businesses like FedEx and United Airlines conduct surveys to find out which of their products and services their customers would recommend to others.

This information is gold. Because, while you can get a lot of information from survey respondents, you can also ask them to recommend your products but if they didn’t actually buy from you, are you really sure they’ll be able to stand by their choice?

Collecting email addresses is easy enough, but you don’t want to do it just before the holidays. Instead, find a time to conduct this survey during the quiet season of summer when customers are traveling less and are less likely to be in a rush.

Reach Out To Your Current Customers

The best marketing campaigns in the world all boil down to the old “you have to spend money to make money” adage. So, next on your list of things to do before the holidays begin is to start reaching out to your existing customers. Start by finding out which of your products are currently being used by your customers. From there, keep in contact with these customers by sending them seasonal emails and creating Facebook posts that include links to your products. Don’t stop at just creating links either. If your customers are using your products for the holidays, why not send them personalized holiday-themed gift guides?

This can be especially helpful for those selling a variety of products or services like beauty or weight loss products or services. And, it can also be a great way to highlight the unique or useful aspects of your products that no other company’s products have.

Network, Network, Network!

Of all the holiday marketing tips out there, the most surprising is the least surprising: making friends and building relationships through networking is the most critical thing you can do before the holidays begin! Now while this tip may seem obvious, most business owners don’t seem to put much emphasis on networking. After all, when you’re running a business, networking can often feel like a lot of work, especially if you’re just starting out. But networking takes very little effort, and it can yield tremendous results.

In fact, a study published in the Journal of Marketing by researchers at the University of Florida found that companies with more than 200 employees received an ROI of between $1 million and $3 million on networking investments that were between $10 and $50 per employee.

Create Content That Will Convert Readers Into Salespeople

While you can sell your products, services, or any other business offering from your company’s website or other online channels; you can really improve your marketing strategy by using content to build relationships with your current customers. When it comes to marketing strategies, you can think of content as the oil that keeps your relationships burning long after you’ve forgotten about the cold hard cash in your wallet. And, there’s no better way to build relationships with your current customers than by sending them articles and other content that they can enjoy reading.

There are a number of ways you can use content to build your customer relationships. The most common type of content used to build customer relationships is e-books. If you sell products or services that are related to a specific topic, an e-book can be a great way to share helpful information related to your products or services and make your customers look good in the eyes of their peers.

Stay Up To Date On The Latest News In Your Niche

The best marketing campaigns often come with a warning label: don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty with the latest trends and innovations. Now while this tip may sound surprising, it shouldn’t. Because, even though you might find success through an old-school marketing strategy like cold calling or staking out a booth at a trade show, you can always improve your campaign by staying up to date with the latest news and trends in your niche. There are a number of ways you can stay up to date on the latest news and trends in your niche.

The most common way is to read industry publications, comment on industry discussion boards, and follow industry leaders on social media. Sites like Reddit, Social Media Today, and Marketing Land can give you a great overview of what’s popular in your niche and how you can use this information to build relationships with your customers.

Don’t Forget The Bottom Line

The best marketing campaigns don’t promise to sell more products or services than they actually do, they simply promise to give customers what they want. From there, it’s up to these happy customers to spread the word about your business by recommending it to others. And, happy customers are the best kind of customers. They’re more likely to tell others how great your business is than those who were disappointed in what they got.

So, if you really want to get the best holiday marketing strategy for your business, don’t forget about your customers. Give them what they want and encourage them to recommend your products or businesses to those they know. If your customers are happy with what you give them, they’ll be more likely to spread the word about your business than those who were disappointed with their experience.

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