It’s difficult to predict how busy your customers will be during the holiday season. It’s difficult to predict how your business will be as well! There are many factors that tie into both traditional and digital marketing that a business should consider. Holiday shopping is a crucial part during this time of the year, but B2B services can capitalize on businesses trying to maximize their expenses.

Team TLC has come up with some great things to consider when beginning your marketing for the holiday season. See below!

Get Creative with Your Content on Social Media

This year, we believe people are tired of being told what to buy. By making a connection with your audience, you are more likely to earn their trust as well as their business. Holidays are a great time to step away from sales mode and touch onto some good emotions. We suggest limiting hard taglines like “THIS OFFER WON’T LAST” or “BUY IT BEFORE ITS GONE”. Trust us, your customers are hearing that enough.

Our copywriter Justin Decelle suggests these social media posts:

1. Do a Holiday Gift Guide – This means you can include other local businesses that you can vouch for and tag in your post for an extra bit of reach. It is a “soft sell” post, but includes your goods or services among notable names.
2. Run a small contest – We understand that there are immense limitations with social media in terms of running a contest. Quick contests like “Comment with your favorite holiday song to win a 10$ gift card to Starbucks” may encourage a little bit of engagement. Our rule to ensure your post does not get demoted: do not insist your fans “share” for extra entries.
3. Reward Responsibly – Make note of specialty bonus initiatives for shoppers during this holiday season. What we mean with this is to really translate it: “_____ with Purchase” or “10$ Rewards with Purchase” are great, clear indicators of what customers can expect.
4. Clear Content Wins – Finally, we believe that your content is best when it is clear! Set deadlines for sales, shipping, or when your storefronts will be available. Pictures of staff working is a bonus to make these strict timeframes less hectic for customers.

Reward Your Loyal Customers

As we mentioned above, a free gift with purchase is a great way to reward customers during select sales times… however, how do we go beyond that? Now more than ever, customers want to know their dollars and business are going to companies that offer quality products and services while truly caring about them.

We believe every business needs a little TLC, but we also believe that nothing can beat the genuine connection between business and customer.

Here are a few tips we’ve gathered on bridging that gap and rewarding your loyal customers:

• Bonuses to Business – Whether it’s a gift with purchase or voucher to your business, customer appreciation can be a great way to provide budget-friendly gifts for patronage. If you would like to take it a step further, we suggest planning an event with TLC for…
• Customer Appreciation Day – An event dedicated to your most loyal customers could yield a huge turn out and community build. Right now, events are filling up the calendar for the rest of the year! We do not believe it is too late to host an event. Pop the champagne, get those swag bags ready, and show your customers some love.
• Send Holiday Cards – If you have a database with your client addresses, we suggest sending a holiday card for a personal touch and thank you. This may not work for every business, but it is a traditional marketing tool that has been used for decades! What better way to get back into your client’s mind with a thoughtful thank you?

Plan in the Background

It is a great opportunity to start preparing for the end of the year and beyond. This is a crucial time to enjoy with your family and renew for the year, but don’t rest on your laurels! While it may be calling it a bit close, preparing for a December sales campaign may help a business earn some extra income during these busy times where time off is important.

We believe that preparing your social media ahead of time is a great, low-risk way to free up some time during a busy eason. Facebook’s Meta tool is a great scheduler that ensures there is flexibility with posting across social media platforms that connect with the customer. A content calendar 2 weeks in advance can help save valuable time scrounging up a post last minute. Remember: the more active you are with content people wish to engage and see, the better you will appear in the algorithm of timelines on Instagram and Facebook.

If you’d like for one of our social media experts to coordinate a social media calendar with you, we have bookings available now.

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Everyone on the TLC team wishes you the best this holiday season. This season is ramping up already and if you are on the fence of how to prepare on such short notice, we are available to assist you! From social media, press releases, web design, and more… you can count on your Bonita Springs marketing experts!