It might be the moooost wonderful tiiiime of the year for families, bakers, present-opening kids, mall santas, Amazon, and custom reindeer decoration builders, but for businesses that lack top-tier strategies for putting the holidays to great promotional use, it can be a season full of coal. The real “coal-like” stuff that comes only from competitors running rampant with increased sales.

2021 saw record-shattering numbers in retail sales alone. And even despite fears of a recession, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales for 2022 were respectable at worst, shockingly high at best. Bottom line: no matter the size of your business or operation, the holidays are a consumer spending spree you do not want to miss out on.

So let’s discuss how you can take full advantage!

Gift Cards: Spirit of Giving & Receiving

Look, are they the most thoughtful gift on the planet? Not nearly, but what they lack in creativity they more than make up for in practicality. I can’t tell you a single time I found myself at a store, restaurant, theater, or any place where I recalled having a gift card received at Christmas…and felt annoyed or under-considered.

It’s why they are so popular. So incentivize people to buy your gift cards by granting them one of their own with a minimum purchase (a $10-for-every-$50 ratio is pretty foolproof).

Wildly Creative Content

Keyword here is “creative” - anything that feels cliche, bland, or recycled will not only forego increased sales - it can even backfire and leave people wanting to avoid you in the future.

Whether it’s an email drip campaign, social media posts, or blog content, the goal is to make your audience feel festive, joyous, and celebratory. By having them feel this, they’ll think about you down the road. We are driven more by emotions than logic, so using the former will inform the latter.

Small tip: Humor stands out more than sincere “holiday-greetings-type” posts. Nothing inherently wrong with these, but funny stuff just tends to offer a larger creative sandbox, which is crucial when most businesses are harping on the same topic throughout November & December.

Masterfully executed holiday content will also weave in the promotion(s) you’ve chosen… but subtly. There is content in which promotional details should be front and center, just don’t make that the case for everything.

Holiday Contests

Most people love competing. All people love free stuff. YOU love increased awareness. See what I did there? Nice.

And a holiday contest offers it all. You could stick to the easier online-only method - photo competitions, caption contests and the like. Or, you could roll out something in-person and feature competitions related to your business. This avenue is also strongly enhanced by a radio remote - paying for a popular radio station’s most popular program, to broadcast live from your event. It’s a sure fire way to draw loads of enthusiastic consumers to one location.

Of course, you could forget the competitive angle and simply create a giveaway/raffle for name and email address, which are pivotal for future marketing efforts.

Free Shipping - Give a Little to Sell a Lot

There’s some psychology at play here, but offering free shipping, particularly at a certain price point, is a tried and true method to winning over winter purchases. How does it work? People often get spooked when they hit the checkout page and are greeted with a shipping charge they’ll often deem exorbitant. When the consumer sees this, it can ruin trust, cause frustration, and ultimately create potential for an abandoned card. You don’t want that. The mind plays a subtle trick when we shop. 

When we see a price…. THAT’S the price. Even if we subconsciously assume we’re going to be hit with a shipping fee, it almost always stings when we see it. Try avoiding that this holiday season.

Additionally, holidays are a time when people are overjoyed to save where they can. You offering free shipping feels like a free Costco trip, guaranteeing you will make back much more in additional sales, than what you lose covering their transportation. Maybe even a free sample or two, who knows?

Partner With a Good Cause

There’s an enormous ripple effect in joining forces with a nonprofit, charity, or any organization serving the community.

They get more exposure. You feel wonderful. And consumers are blessed with a two-bird-one-stone benefit. The chance of a great, likely discounted purchase, and a portion of it going to help someone or something else that needs it.

An underrated bonus is halving the work that could have gone into this. Sure, there could be friendly debate on the best way to go about crafting a collaborative promotion, but once a consensus is reached, dividing and conquering will ensure you won’t need to be working late nights to make those holiday sales targets.

Radio Advertising

Radio is huge during the holidays because of one word: nostalgia. And few things bring that holiday feeling like beloved Christmas songs and sound effects.

Getting your business heard on the right stations, with engaged listeners, is arguably the best bang for your marketing buck during the holidays. This is because, despite the enormous reach that can attained, radio advertising is shockingly affordable because of it’s efficiency in production. There’s no expensive cameras, no highly competitive google ad keywords. Best of all, if you’re a local business, you’re reaching locally-passionate consumers. And catering your marketing to them, accented by fun holiday language that also ties in your promotion, is a goldmine waiting to happen for your small business.

The Best Holiday Marketing is Thoughtful Holiday Marketing

And truly compelling thought isn’t always easy, and always takes time. That’s where we have come in hundreds of times for hundreds of Treasure Valley businesses. With the top-rated radio stations, and a can’t miss buy-2-weeks-get-1-free offer to kick off 2023, your business has an epic chance. Don’t let it slip away, and watch your competitors slip past.