For most businesses, the lead up to Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year. But small business owner, if you’re doing all the things and running around like a headless turkey in December, it’s just going to lead to burnout.
So, to make sure things are running smoothly and you’re able to put your feet up come December 25th, here are 4 things you need to do now, to make sure your biz is ready for the holidays.
1. Have your Christmas and New Year Marketing planned.
The holiday season is noisy, especially when it comes to marketing. The shops are loud. Mariah Carey is played to death. …And every business is out there marketing their bum off to make the most of the expected increase in consumer spending.
You need to make sure your marketing efforts are going to stand out amongst your competitors.
And here are my tips to do just that:
- Christmasify your branding and socials.
- Create some Pre Christmas or Post Christmas sales.
- Run a competition.
- Promote and show off your Christmas products.
- Do a Christmas countdown on your socials – a great way to increase engagement.
- Create a package or a limited time offer, just for Christmas.
- Educate your potential clients with helpful content in the lead up to Christmas and put a fun festive spin on it.
2. Organise & schedule your digital marketing so you don’t have to do it during the holidays, or in those busy few weeks before Christmas.
We all need a break, but that doesn’t mean your marketing efforts have to stop.
Start planning and batching your social media and e-newsletters now.
- Use a program like Canva to get those Christmas social media templates ready.
- Set up and schedule your e-newsletters. Mailer Lite is my go-to here.
- Use a scheduling program to schedule and auto post your social media. Canva, Later and Planoly are all great tools for this.
- Start planning your marketing for the new year.
- If you have the budget, outsource to a VA, designer or digital marketing expert to free up your time.
3. Look forward to the end of year break and don’t forget to let your clients know you’ll be away.
If you plan on closing over the Christmas New year period, work out the dates you’re going to be away and start advising you customers now. You may even have pre-Christmas delivery cut off dates you need to make people aware of, to avoid disappointment.
Keep your customers informed by:
- Adding closure/cut off dates to your email signature.
- Create a social media post.
- Use your newsletter to keep customers updated.
- Add closing/cut off dates to your website.
- Update your Google business profile.
Then …get that out of office email responder set up and ready to activate on your last day.
4. It’s Christmas, so get gifting
Of course, you do a great job at looking after your customers, contractors and staff all year round. But the holidays are time to say “thanks”.
Add a little gift to every order that comes in during December. Or surprise those who have helped you over the past 12 months with something a little extra special.
Some gift ideas that you might want to start organising now are:
- Branded Calendars, magnets, note books
- Thoughtful Christmas cards or Custom branded Christmas cards
- Branded gift tags and packaging
- Free downloads like colouring in sheets for kids or yearly planners
- Gift vouchers or a discount code for your product / services
- Sweet treats (My go to in the past have been Freckleberry and Our Sweet Pantry)
- Custom Portraits (perfect for Christmas cards too)
Check out my online shop to see what creative Christmas goodies I have available for sale, or get in touch if you need help designing something customised for your brand.
Most of all, be sure to look back at the amazing things you’ve accomplished over the past year and enjoy the holidays + a well-earned brake with those you love the most!
Get your business Christmas ready with my free checklist.
The Little Black Kat check list of all the things you need to do now, to get your small business ready for the holiday season.
