10 Holiday Promotion Ideas for Small Businesses

Ho! Ho! Ho!” and jingle bells sounds are almost here. Consumers are rushing to do their Christmas shopping lists. As 76% of them prefer purchasing online, it’s time for you as a small business owner to take advantage of the season. In order to effectively execute a marketing campaign during the holiday season, one must adopt a strategic and intelligent approach.

Why?

Because there is stiff competition and everyone wants a piece of the Christmas cake. “This is a good time to increase my sales,” you may be thinking, but so is every other business owner or marketer.

The following are the most effective promotional options to assist you in standing out.

Let the show begin.

Idea No. 1: Get seasonal, as early as possible.

Want to guarantee that your holiday campaign has a successful launch and a significant impact?

Then, prior to the commencement of the holiday season, you must initiate seasonal promotions in order to get off to a strong start.

What is the significance of this?

As per the findings of a recent survey, consumers frequently organize their holiday purchases in advance.

The report showed that last year, over 50% of respondents started their holiday shopping season in September.

Therefore, the majority of individuals are willing to begin their shopping early in order to locate precisely what they are seeking.

That signifies the following for you:

Before December, you must begin promoting holiday-themed content so that your audience or subscribers are prepared for the occasion.

In this manner, you generate interest, establish anticipation, and establish a foundation for consumers to make a purchase from your business.

It is straightforward to captivate your followers and subscribers by publishing holiday-themed content prior to December.

Idea No 02 : Offer holiday discounts and promotions

Consumers are without a doubt more inclined to spend money on presents during holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas.

However, how do you convince them to invest that in your company?

Provide holiday sales with discounts and special offers.

This is one method by which you can substantially increase your sales.

We do not simply state that.

66% of consumers are anticipated to participate in promotional events such as Black Friday or Cyber Monday this year, up from 49% in 2022, according to a survey by Deloitte.

Consider the possibility of extending your offers beyond those events. In addition to the fact that discounts are considered a “special holiday shopping tradition,” the economy is currently somewhat unstable.

Thus, it is probable that offering discounts will impact the purchasing decisions of consumers in the holiday season.

Idea No 03 : Create memorable holiday shopping experiences

Consider this: consumers waiting up in front of your physical store to purchase things, or your email inbox vibrating with order alerts.

Does this sound like something you’d be interested in?

So, this is a concept you can put into action.

You provide your clients with a unique value by offering unforgettable holiday shopping experiences.

And believe us, that is something they will remember and invite others to enjoy as well.

Now, how do you give your consumers a memorable experience?

You can look into the following options:

• Making your retail store look like a little slice of Christmas joy.
• Optimize your landing pages and checkout process to provide a consistent user experience.
• Make a helpful gift guide.

Idea No 04 : Create festive social media content

The term “creating festive social media content” refers to what?

Simply stated, generate content that will raise your profile among consumers throughout the season.

Fortunately, there are numerous occasions to commemorate on social media prior to the holiday season.

Content creation for holidays such as Halloween, Black Friday, or Cyber Monday is possible.

You may then produce items for Christmas and New Year’s just prior to the beginning of the holiday season.

Unsure of how to generate holiday-themed content?

You can produce holiday content in collaboration with UGC creators or micro-influencers.

Alternatively, one might consider initiating a holiday-themed email marketing campaign.

In any case, remember to include holiday hashtags and send considerate holiday communications to demonstrate that you have people covered.

While sharing photos is commendable, uploading videos is an even more optimal choice.

Virtually 96% of respondents indicated that videos are extremely useful when making an online purchase.

Idea No 05 : Offer complimentary gift packaging with each purchase.

Here’s a practical digital marketing idea that can boost customer experience.

Why?

Because it saves them the stress of wrapping items from scratch, especially if it’s a special gift for their loved ones.

While it might seem insignificant, it goes a long way in helping you build a strong, long-term relationship with your customers.

And who knows, it might bring in a few sales or referrals your way.

Idea #6: Run holiday contests on social media platforms

If you are a business owner or a marketer you must be familiar with social media contests, because that’s one of the easiest ways to engage the customers relevant to your business.

Now this idea is a win-win situation for everyone involved.

It’s going to help your business connect with your audience and in turn, give them a great opportunity to win a prize.

Here’s what organizing giveaways, contests, and sweepstakes offers you:

• Increased sales.
• Increased brand visibility and brand awareness.
• New customer acquisition.
• Long-term relationships created with customers.
• User-generated content from your audience.
• and the prize you are going to offer, depends on you and your marketing budget.

One may distribute complimentary products, gift vouchers, coupons, or branded merchandise.

Make sure to plan properly, as many people will engage, you are going to need some additional support on this one.

Concept #7: Establish a holiday referral scheme

Holidays represent the season when interpersonal connections are at their strongest. At social gatherings, it appears that everyone knows something about one another.

You are aware of the situation, correct?

In light of this, now is an ideal time to establish a holiday referral program.

To clarify, the term “incentive sharing” pertains to the practice of rewarding individuals for recommending your product or service to others.

Why should the implementation of referral loyalty programs be considered?

Because it is a program that is well-structured and can assist you in:

• Broaden your clientele.
• Increase brand recognition.
• Forge enduring connections with prospective clients and decrease customer attrition.

Idea No 8: Organise holiday social media events

By social media holiday events, we now refer to webinars and live streams that prove to be especially engaging for your audience.

A webcast? Amid the festive season?

You can consider them as opportunities to catch up with loyal customers and obtain creative gift suggestions.

The kind that can facilitate a more profound audience connection and provide them with sufficient justification to support your business while they are out purchasing for the holidays.

Idea No 9 : Collaborate with influencers to execute holiday surprises

Consequently, if you desire your holiday marketing campaign to soar, consider implementing the following suggestion.

That is because social media influencers possess the ability to sway the purchasing decisions of their audience, much like genies.

Approximately 40% of Twitter users claim to have made a purchase in response to an influencer’s suggestion.

Idea No 10 : Use an early bird offer.

Lastly, an early bird offer can be utilized to benefit your holiday campaign.

For instance, you could offer a $50 discount to the first ten consumers.

Offers like that would get your audience looking forward to the day, with everyone trying to be among the first ten.

But then, it doesn’t have to be money. It could be a free product or a coupon.

How to Uncover More Holiday Marketing and Promotion Ideas

There exist numerous holiday promotion ideas that can be implemented throughout the holiday season, in addition to those that have been delineated thus far.

However, how do you locate them?

Listed below are some marketing tips:

• Surveil your competitors: Indeed, observe your competitors’ activities throughout the holiday season. Examine their websites, newsletters, and social media platforms. Which post has received the most interaction? You ought to examine their work in order to determine how it can be altered to produce your own.
• Utilize AI (artificial intelligence): ChatGPT and Google Bard are two such options. You can generate concepts from them by composing a prompt.
  For example, what alternatives exist for my holiday marketing strategy besides the options presented in XYZ? Keep in mind that the optimal output for AI is typically determined by your input. Thus, it may be necessary to iteratively refine your prompts in order to achieve optimal outcomes.
• Another effective approach to understanding what customers will value is to place oneself in their position and conduct an in-depth analysis of their thoughts. Through research, you can accomplish this. For instance, monitoring user heatmaps or conducting surveys on your website.

You must have gained some knowledge regarding holiday campaigns, correct?

Certainly, you are welcome, and implementing a robust marketing strategy for your holiday campaign would significantly benefit your company during this season.

You should have various notions regarding how to begin at this point.

However, in the event that you do not, collaborating with influencers and creators is a solid starting point.

They will ensure that your marketing campaign succeeds by producing relevant content. Book a Free Digital Marketing Consulting Session with one of our STAXO Experts if you need a hand.