3 Last-Minute Tips for Holiday Success
The countdown to Christmas is on and you’re busy making your lists and checking them twice. Are last-minute store promotions on that list? If the answer is yes then you’re in luck! Here are three marketing tips to help ensure that your store has a successful holiday season.
Tip #1: Refresh Your Website
Whether you have a physical storefront or not, your website acts as the 24/7 face of your store. So if it’s lacking a holiday look and feel or doesn’t feature your new holiday merchandise, you may be missing out on some opportunities (and sales!). Your homepage and products page should both feature holiday merchandise, whether it’s a picture of a display of products or individual product pictures, and should have the most up-to-date store information. This is imperative so that your most important details, including store hours, events and promotions, are spelled out clearly to your customers. You won’t want them to miss a single thing going on at your store. If time is an issue, add a few holiday stock photos to your homepage to show some holiday cheer. Or if your website provider like SnapRetail allows you to schedule changes to your webpages, do this in advance so it will automatically update on the time and date you’ve chosen.
The same goes for your social networks. Transfer the same overall look and feel of your website to your social pages to keep consistent brand awareness and showcase your new merchandise. Post updates about your holiday hours, showcase new merchandise and promote your events on each network. To help you easily add a holiday touch to your website and social networks, download SnapRetail’s Holiday Stock Images Bundle here.
Tip #2: Promote Gift Ideas for Everyone
The closer it gets to the big day, the more help your customers will need to find gifts for everyone on their list. So make it easy for them! Send an email that features gift ideas for women, men, kids, pets; whatever your audience. Or separate the email by price point and list gifts under $100, $50, $30 and $10 in separate sections.
Don’t forget about your social networks, too. Ask your fans questions like, “We want to know: who do you still have to shop for?” or “What’s your favorite gift purchased at our store for the holidays?” to increase engagement and promote shopping at your store. In conjunction with your email, feature a different gift idea every day for a week on social media. For both email and social media, be sure to include some basic information with each product so that your customers have some important product details and can make an easy decision; to buy!
Tip #3: Run a Daily Flash Sale
Sales, specials and deals skyrocket during the final shopping week before Christmas. So it’s imperative that you stand out from the crowd. A flash sale will help you do that! Promote your upcoming flash sale to your customers via email first by mentioning that you’ll have a different one-day promotion going on for a week, and that you’ll announce on social media each day. Then, on the first day of the flash sale, post a photo of the item on sale and include a clear message that communicates your sale is for today only. Continue similar messages for the remainder of the week or change it up. Post a photo of your flash sale item of the day and the current price. Then encourage your customers to Like the post to receive a bigger discount on the item like, “This scarf is currently $35. If we get to 20 Likes (or Favorites for Twitter) on this post (or tweet for Twitter), we’ll discount it to $15!” Not only are you helping your customers shop for the holidays, but you’re increasing your reach, too!
Get your pen ready! Implement these tips now and you can cross store promotions off of your holiday checklist.
Kelley Sloyer is the interactive copywriter for SnapRetail, an online marketing automation solution that helps independent retailers succeed in today’s competitive marketplace using email, social media and websites. She has a retail and writing background, earning a bachelor’s degree in communications media and journalism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. For more information please visit snapretail.com.