The holiday season is almost upon us! There’s no time like the present to start planning your holiday marketing ideas. To help your business craft an ideal marketing plan, we put together this list of ideas that can bring in more customers, increase your sales, and spread some holiday joy.
18 Holiday Marketing Ideas
Pick and choose from this list of holiday marketing ideas to come up with in-store marketing plans that attract, entertain, and engage customers.
Set the Holiday Mood in Your Store
First things first, decorate and embellish your store so it has a holiday feel. Consider adding a few lights, holiday wreaths, or trees. Or simply update your in-store digital signage so it includes relevant seasonal content.
Create a Holiday-Themed On-Premise Photo Op
While you’re setting up your store for the holidays, create a specific scene that can be used as a great holiday-themed photo op. A photo op is a background or unique element that customers take a photo of and share on social media. This helps spread your brand across social media as people share their user generated content.
Design a High-Quality Holiday Overhead Music Playlist
It’s not enough to just put on a holiday music radio station. You should curate and use a high-quality overhead holiday music playlist. What makes it high-quality? It’s a list of songs that will please customers — but not annoy your employees.
Infuse Your Store With Holiday Scents
Amplify the season by tying it to the sense of smell. Use scent marketing to add fresh holiday smells to your store like peppermint, evergreen, or pumpkin spice.
Host a Holiday Event
Once you get your store set up for the holiday season, invite customers in to experience it by hosting an event. Host a workshop, open house, free gift wrapping day, or VIP shopping event. Provide value and give back to customers to give them an incentive to visit your store.
Offer a Free Gift to Customers
Another way to show appreciation to your customers during the holidays is by creating a promo that offers a free gift. Design a program that gives away a gift or discount in exchange for a referral, specific spend threshold, or some other customer activity.
Run a Holiday-Themed Contest
Boost holiday excitement and engagement even more by running a holiday-themed contest. Offer a prize that your ideal customers would want for themselves or as a gift to give to someone else and drive them to your store to sign up.
Create Special Offerings
Bring your brand further into the holiday season by creating special products or services that are holiday-themed and only available for a limited time.
Make a Buyer’s Gift Guide
Help people struggling to find the perfect gift for the person that has everything by creating a gift buying guide to items at your store. Make a list of the best gifts for certain categories like moms, brothers, friends, etc.
Sell BOGO Gift Certificates
Another way to tap into the gift market is by offering customers something for them when they buy something for someone else. Create a buy-one-get-one (BOGO) gift certificate program or something similar to reward customers for buying gifts from your business.
Have a Black Friday Plan
Get ready for the biggest shopping day of the year. Create a plan for Black Friday far in advance so you have time to plan your discounts, update and create signage for your store, and promote your sales.
Update Your Website
As you create holiday promotions, make sure customers know about them in your store, as well as online. Update your website so customers can clearly see the holiday specials and deals you’re offering.
Set Your On-Hold Music and Messaging
Also, add your holiday promotions to your hold messaging so customers on-hold can learn about your deals, discounts, and events. Consider also adding holiday music to the on-hold playlist to bring your brand even more into the season.
Create Holiday Email Campaigns
Spread the message about your holiday promotions by creating email campaigns to send to your customer list. Don’t just send one email. Create a plan for promoting up to the holiday and featuring individual sales, deals, and events.
Create Social Media Promotions
Get the message out about your holiday marketing through social media as well. Develop campaigns that promote your deals as well as showcase the special looks and offerings you’re brand is providing through the holiday season.
Partner With Other Brick-and-Mortar Businesses
As you design holiday promotions, see how you can partner up with other nearby businesses. Creating cross-promotions can drive new customers to your store and send your customers to others around you.
Create A Plan to Give Back
Don’t make the holiday season all about buying gifts. Partner with a local charity and donate proceeds or run a food, gift, or clothing drive to spread holiday cheer with your local community.
Don’t Wait to Start Planning
The holidays come up fast. If you aren’t ready and prepared with a list of holiday marketing ideas, you might miss out. Start planning early and get the pieces in place to use the holiday season as a great opportunity to attract and engage your customers.
Make Sure Your Store Is Ready for the Holidays
Use these holiday marketing tips to get your store ready for the holiday rush. But also keep in mind that it’s not just holiday details that need to be in place if you want to connect with customers. Your storefront and business should always be polished and optimized to create an excellent customer experience year-round.
Does your business need a comprehensive solution for all of your marketing needs? Schedule a demo with Spectrio today to see how our offerings can improve the customer experience at your business.