If you currently walk into Target, Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, or Dollar Tree they are pushing Christmas decorative products already. They know this is a billion dollar industry season and they want their large slice of the pie. Small business owners can tap into the “push” of the holiday season just as seamlessly as the bigger competitors.
Holiday season goes into full swing the first week of November and gets a seriously pushed the week of Thanksgiving. Your small business needs to be prepared with holiday marketing campaigns now!
Holiday Look Book
Tiffany and Jennifer are great at preparing for and forecasting what is going on in their industry. In the month of September, they showed their social media followers several behind the scenes photos of their holiday look book they were creating. This builds buzz and excitement about the new merchandise amongst your customers. Your look book will show customers how best to wear and style your product. You have three weeks to pull together a photo shoot for your small business, but don’t fret from lack of money worries. Lack of money doesn’t have to stop your train you can still pull off a great shoot with less than $300.
Bring In Supporters
Another great thing the women of T+J Designs did was, bring in local bloggers and business women for their holiday campaign. Bringing your readers, customers and clients alike, into the fold of what you are doing is a genius idea; it’s not only engaging but its buzz worthy. Gary Vaynerchuk mentioned in his #AskGaryVee Show how much it means when people “follow” you. He was super excited when his favorite player from the Jets followed him on twitter. If you are shooting your holiday campaign in your city ask your social media followers to join. Have clients who live in your city? Have them be the models. Or a local photographer who is trying to build their business tie them into the fold.
Focal Point of Campaign
What is your campaigns focal point? Yes, you are releasing several pieces for your line but what is the one thing that you want your customers to be focused on? Pick 2-3 items that are the main focus of your campaign. These are your hot items that you deem your top sellers for this holiday season. These items are the ones you have ordered double or triple of for inventory. In addition, you will be making them your call to action banners.
Advertising Your Merchandise
Don’t wait til last-minute to get on bloggers gift guides or to advertise with them in general. When I had my online resale boutique I made sure to be in blogger advertising rotation starting in the month of October, opting for write ups on my business the week of black friday or first week of December. You can do a simple google search of holiday gift guides and find ones your product would be a good fit for.
What action can you start now?
Image by Eccoxile // CC
