With so many businesses vying for customer attention, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. It’s especially easy to get lost in the crowd as those businesses put their marketing strategies into high gear throughout the holiday season.
The good news is that people are paying attention to brands more than ever during the holiday season as they shop for the perfect gifts for friends and family members. You just have to get creative to ensure you stand out.
Here are some branding tips for businesses that will get you noticed during Christmas.
Send Holiday Cards to Customers
Chances are, you’re sending holiday cards to your friends and family. We all expect to get cards from those who are nearest and dearest to us, but we don’t expect to get heartfelt cards from the businesses we frequent. Use this to your advantage by sending cards to your customers.
It’s even better if you can send cards that have been personalized with holiday rubber stamps. By sending out cards with a handmade touch, your customers will get the impression that you care, which is great for business.
Offer Special Discounts and Coupons
The holiday season is a strange time for pricing. Some use the opportunity to hike prices because they know people will be shopping. Others offer the lowest prices of the year. Instead of simply thinking about the prices of your items, give shoppers a gift of your own by offering a special discount or a digital coupon.
With coupons, you can get full price from new customers and encourage them to sign your email list. At the same time, you can encourage previous shoppers to buy from you again, all while getting into the holiday spirit.
Host a Fun Holiday Competition
It may come as a bit of a surprise, but hosting a competition is one of the best ways to engage customers with your brand. This is especially true during Christmas. There’s just something about the holiday season that gets people in the mood to be friendly and have a little fun.
A few holiday competition ideas include:
- Funniest family mishaps during Christmas
- Worst Christmas present ever received
- Frugal Christmas finds
- Homemade Christmas gifts using rubber stamps
- Counting the details in images you upload to social media
The prize doesn’t have to be something too outrageous. Offer a large discount or a free gift to the winner and you’ll still get plenty of participants.
Get Into the Spirit of the Season With the Right Content
There’s no doubt that the right content can boost your business, so it makes sense that quality content can do a lot for your bottom line during the holidays.
Create special articles that are full of seasonal content and promote them on your social media accounts. To get the most out of your content, write articles that:
- Are useful: Choose topics that offer value to your readers, like how to get through the holiday season without breaking the bank.
- Are inspiring: Tell stories of local people helping others during the holidays, or share what makes the holiday season so special for your work family.
- Spread awareness: Support a cause you love during the holidays and show your customers that your business has a higher purpose.
Although it’s a good idea to tie the content back to your business, skip the sales pitch during the holiday season. It lessens your message, especially if you’re trying to provide real value to your customers by spreading awareness or sharing inspiring stories.
Hand out Free Gifts
Tis the season for giving, so why not get in on the action by handing out a few gifts of your own?
Free gifts don’t have to be anything huge. You can have customers draw from a discount bag at the register, or you can throw in a free sample of an upcoming product. If you have the time, wrapping small giveaways can make the gifts even more special.
What’s most important is that you have fun. Show your customers that you enjoy the holiday season with these tips and you’ll find that you can have fun while you increase your sales at the same time.
