7 Top Festive Online Marketing tips for Small Businesses

 

The festive season is here, and Christmas is fast approaching. There are plenty of ways in which to maximise your engagement with your customers and potential customers and promote your business during this holiday period. Here’s some festive online marketing top tips for small businesses.

1. On Your Website

If your business has a website, or any online presence, be sure to decorate it along with the festive theme.  In addition to adding a human touch, it creates a more inviting and warmer online shopping experience for your customers.  If necessary get a graphic designer to decorate your logo, this won’t cost much. Since your website is the first point of interaction with potential clients and even your regular customers, ensure it displays relevant and up to date information about the products and services you are offering. Make sure you update the headers and footers with crucial holiday information.

2. E-mail Marketing

E-mail is one of the most cost effective methods of maintaining contact between a business and its customers or potential customers.  In terms of determining the optimum length for your newsletter, consider first and foremost who you’re sending it to and then the purpose of the email.  Is it designed to encourage readers to purchase a new product or service you’ve recently launched? In which case it’s best to keep it punchy and not go overboard with company updates.  On the other hand sharing an inspiring story would demand more text.

Ensure you’re emails are accompanied by direct links to, say, your website, landing page, social media pages or to your promotional offers. Invest some time into designing festive looking emails that will capture your audience’s attention.  Furthermore ensure you’ve clearly stated the intention of your email in the subject box. For example, you could say, “Thank you very much for doing business with us. Here are some fantastic Christmas offers just for you.” Finally remember that online marketing is regulated, so do not email anyone who hasn’t given you permission to do so.

3. On Social Media

Social media provides endless opportunities for festive online marketing.   Firstly try to ensure that you have an established presence on more than one network. Chances are that your current and potential customers will be highly active on social media this Christmas but the fact is that not all of them will be on the same network. Research states that the majority of people are signed up to 5 social media networks but actively use at least three of them.  Thus, make an effort to broaden your online marketing efforts across multiple platforms.  It’s a great opportunity to get creative and experiment with different tactics.  Do not forget of course to analyse the performance of your marketing endeavours to as to determine what is and what isn’t working and you can then use this data to shape your online marketing strategy for the new year.

Use seasonal timeline cover photos. Dress up your profiles with festive cover pictures and be sure to change them regularly. Select or create quality festive templates, or again seek the help of a professional graphic designer to create bespoke and professional images for you.

Be sure to keep your website, social media pages and profiles up to date with current information about your business, products and services.  More importantly do something different that makes you stand out from the crowd as well as super charging your reputation and sales, for example offer advice on great outfits for the festive season, or a free Christmas recipe, run a competition, or offer a coupon.

Use hashtags to maximise engagement with your customers. Since it can be hard to have your own hashtags trending, use the ones that are already trending.  Don’t forget to add links to your website or landing page.

Always respond to mentions. Provide timely and friendly responses to comments and questions.

4. Use of Incentives

There are several incentives you can offer customers and potential customers online.  Gift cards, for example are perfect this time of the year, and social media provides a fantastic space in which to promote your gift card deals. You could try, for example, pushing a deal on social media that gives away a 60-dollar gift card for 50 dollars.

Post offers on your website or social media pages. Everyone is after a bargain at Christmas. Rewarding your customers with a seasonal promotion will have them coming back.

Something else to consider is sending e-Christmas cards to your customers and prospects. This is a lovely touch that will make them feel appreciated. Who knows, they could pass on the details of your kind gesture to their connections and bring you a flurry of new leads in the new year.

5. Blogs and Bloggers

A highly effective online marketing technique is reaching out to bloggers for extra assistance and exposure.  Ask reputable bloggers to run your Christmas giveaways and reviews of your products and services on their blogs.  Expert bloggers have ready-made audiences with whom they have a special rapport and can provide a massive market for your small business.  They’re also highly skilled at reaching the top of google search engine results pages.  It’s advisable to treat these bloggers with the utmost respect by carrying out extensive research prior to contacting them and make it very clear in your proposal that you’ve done your homework.  Ensure that you offer a thank you gift to the blogger.

6. Remarketing

Remarketing has been found to be a powerful tool for bringing back customers who didn’t buy from you the first-time round.  Bear in mind that people who’ve previously expressed an interest in your products or services are hot leads, so positioning festive targeted ads in front of them wherever they’re browsing on the web is a great way of re-kindling their interest.

7. The Use of Videos

Did you know that 64 percent of consumers are most likely to purchase an item after watching a video of it on an eCommerce website?  Nowadays, videos have become extremely prominent in engaging customers online.  Use the video to sell and explain the fabulousness of your products and services, useful particularly  following the launch of a new product or service.

Applying the tips above will lead to positive results and a great start to the new year, good luck!

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