You’re making a list and checking it twice, at least we hope you are. Despite waking up and remembering it’s November, saying a few cursives aimed directly at 2020, and then getting on with work. It’s time we face up to the hard truth, Christmas is on the way.
In the business world, the holiday season comes with lots of opportunities for success. There’s a tonne of hard work associated with Winter, whether it’s the late openings for those last-minute Christmas shoppers or the stressful busy shop floors. With the hard-work comes great financial gain for those who get it right, so its time to work through the Create8 Christmas checklist to make sure you have it all covered.
Closing and orders 🔐
First on your Christmas checklist, work out your closing date first and foremost, it’s often the case with smaller businesses that the business owner will want a Christmas of their own. So work out when you want your holidays to begin and when you’ll reopen. The post-Christmas sales are important so don’t miss an opportunity. Knowing when you will close your doors will also allow you to work out what will be the last date for online Christmas deliveries let the eCommerce world know, sooner rather than later!
Keep your website relevant 💻
This step is vital on a number of levels. Firstly make sure your website has the information from step one, you don’t want your customers disappointed if they order too late and don’t receive a Christmas present. The ‘it didn’t come in time’ face on Christmas morning is NOT one you want to be associated with your business.
Secondly, think about your website visual. Are you going to have some form of Christmas theme or do you intend on keeping everything the same? If you’re an eCommerce site, maybe bring in some festive elements. They are fun and engaging for potential customers, and if you have something on sale, wave it in their faces!
Marketing campaigns 💡
Are your ads all planned and scheduled? Christmas marketing is a must for all businesses. Selling something at a reduced rate or giving something away for free is always a favourite with shoppers over the festive period. If you are a product-based company, run special offers across your marketing campaigns. Incentivise interaction with a freebie or competition. If your business operates in the services sector, maybe some free knowledge. For example, an energy company may offer, ‘Top ways to keep your bills down this Christmas’. Your knowledge is your product and highlighting it to potential customers is essential.
Gifting 🎁
OK, we know it’s a pretty old school business technique to send gifts to your clients. But it’s one that’s unlikely to go away. People love receiving gifts, and anything free will be valued far more than the intrinsic value of the gift itself. If you can brand your gifts, it’s a great brand recognition opportunity. The gifts you send can genuinely be anything. Chocolates with your company logo on, a Christmas hamper, whatever suits your sector, consider adding this to your Christmas checklist for 2020.
Christmas cards or charity? ✉️
The trend of eradicating Christmas cards came about a few years ago, and it’s something we can get behind. To get rid of the excess waste, companies have started donating the money they would have spent on cards to Charity and letting their customers know about it. Charitable donations are a great way to promote your business, so weigh one up against the other and make your call.
Social media 🤳
The hub of the majority of your traffic will be your social media feeds. Christmas is an even busier time on social media. So remaining active and promoting positivity and engagement is essential. Stay calm across your feeds and litter them with elements of the festive season. Whether you change your logo ever so slightly, to put a Christmassy spin on it. Or you post your adverts and interactions with a little bit more Christmas flair, make sure you are making the most of your social media accounts.
Is your content fully Christmasified? 🎄
The last piece of the Christmas checklist is your content. Across the board, you should be incorporating winter-related themes. We can’t stress the importance of having an active and constant stream of blog posts (hello welcome to one of our blog posts!), this should not drop off over the Christmas period. In fact, it should become more constant if you want your SEO to rank highly around December and January. Pair your products with Christmas themes and have fun with what you produce. Christmas marketing is fun, so don’t forget it!
Don’t ho-ho-hold back on your Christmas marketing this year. If you think your business could do with a hand with getting Christmas ready, we are ready to help! Give us a call or send an email and we will do all we can to make sure you make the most of the busiest time of the year.
Take a look at some more of our blogs for helpful tips, tricks and advice:
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