The holiday season seems to sneak up on business owners every year. It’s the most critical time of year, often starting or ending the fiscal year in the black. Marketing effectively during this time is especially important, because there’s a lot of competition, but here are a few tips to help you cut to the chase and drive more customers to your store or site.
Spread the word.
This holiday season, consider reaching your customers everywhere. The holiday season is an excellent opportunity to start an email list if you don’t already have one, and email the perfect format in which to highlight specific new tech products, updates to your inventory, in-store events, or sales. Print items can be created and ordered through sites like Canva, then either sent out via snail mail or placed in strategic locations around your store or shopping center. What’s more, email newsletters and social media posts can be scheduled, saving time during the busy season.
Add a twist to holiday visuals.
Visuals are essential, not to mention fun, during the holiday season. Consider changing background colors when highlighting technology hardware like backup drives or headphones in ads, emails, or product pages. Red and green are traditional, but here’s a quick tip: Try deeper shades of these colors to add a more sophisticated (and distinctive) look to your ads or signage. It’ll turn heads. If you don’t have a storefront, consider new banners or images for your website that highlight different categories of technology such as headphones, smart devices, and accessories.
Make everything accessible.
Research which hot technology products are on everyone’s list, and rearrange your in-store displays to highlight them near the front of the store, if not in the window. Find unique ways to show off technology hardware and interactive displays where customers can try out items. For learning gadgets like Sphero, you can set up an area for kids and adults to try out the robotic toy. Customers tend to purchase higher-ticket items when they can feel and test out the technology. As you make new displays, share them on social or in email newsletters for customers to see.
Sweeten the deals.
Once you send out the emails or flyers from above, consider adding a bonus to them; an extra discount, a gift card bonus, or a swag item with your logo or information on it. For example, purchase USB thumb drives or accessories with your business information to hand out with purchases; the customer will be reminded of you and then make repeat visits; it’s an investment in the future. Sales on their own during the holiday are nothing to be sniffed at, but adding an incentive like additional money off will have the customer buying from you instead of your competitors.
Put on a show.
Demonstrating products can pay off by showing how the technology is used or how it can benefit your customers. Try it for the first time during the holiday season. There are a few ways to perform a demonstration; you could hold it in person at certain times at your store. Demonstrations are ideal for home audio or headphones, learning toys, and wearables. Another idea is to demonstrate on camera and release the videos on social media or in an email newsletter.
The holiday is a fantastic time for a small business, but it’s also the most stressful time for getting customers in the door and making sales. These tips, even if you try just a couple of them, will make everything go a little more smoothly.
