“Black Friday” is only one week away. Are you ready for the holiday shopping season? Could your business use a boost from the biggest shopping time of year?

For anyone still considering last minute marketing for the holidays, here are 12 tips:

  • Competition for customers’ attention is never more fierce than during the holidays. To help cut through the clutter, create a consistent message and repeat it in numerous channels: email, text messages, website posts, holiday cards, social media, etc.
  • Make a limited time offer to encourage buyers to act right away.
  • Distinguish a small business from the “big box store” experience. Pitch the unique characteristics of your products/services in your marketing. Focus on quality, experience or service rather than price.
  • Target a specific niche audience with your marketing efforts.
  • Host a holiday event to bring customers to your physical or virtual location. For physical locations, holiday festivities such as tree-trimmings, cookie exchanges, wine tastings and Christmas caroling can draw in potential customers and facilitate networking with neighboring businesses and vendors.
  • Mail out postcards containing discount coupons. For e-commerce, use a specific coupon code to track the results of your promotion.
  • Create promotional logo items as gifts for your holiday customers. Branded “refrigerator” magnets can serve as year-round reminders of your business.
  • Prepare a special deal for “Cyber Monday” and post it prominently on your website. Enlist your fans to share the deal on their social media pages.
  • Monitor social media sites for mentions of your business; respond promptly and appropriately.
  • Post relevant, fun seasonal photos on your website and social media pages.
  • As applicable, optimize your results for frequently searched seasonal terms such as “free shipping,” “black friday,” “cyber monday,” “holiday sale,” and “deals.”

Reports by Google regarding 2012 showed that 26 percent of consumers began their holiday shopping on Black Friday and another 44 percent began in early December. So it’s not too late to promote your products or services for holiday sales.

Want to learn more about making the most of holiday marketing? Need a last minute website upgrade to accommodate holiday e-commerce? Contact Page Progressive. We would be glad to help you.