During the holidays you’ll see colorful flashing ads, glittering graphics, and fancy shining things all offering discounts, incentives, and freebies in the hopes that you’ll walk through the door and buy all the things!
Here’s the thing though…once the holidays are over? Fancy signs come down, free stuff goes away, and the same old marketing tactics come back out to play. Small business owners start struggling again to make ends meet because they all keep forgetting one thing:
Just like in social media, a business is about BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS, and you can’t form relationships with one-off holiday customers.
So, how can you build relationships during the holidays?
You have to shift your mindset and, quite frankly, stop thinking about yourself and think about your clients instead. We know that sounds counterintuitive, but think about it. During the holiday’s people are thinking about their families, friends, giving thanks, and helping others, and small businesses should be doing the same.
Make just a few small tweaks to your holiday marketing strategy and generate more leads to your sales tree all year long by trying these tactics instead:
- Get involved with a local fundraiser, sponsored food drive. Find a cause that relates to your business in some way or that is close to your heart and give back! Host a food drive, call for volunteers or motivate clients to participate. Getting involved in events like this not only helps you give back to your community (which is something ALL small businesses should be doing, but it also helps you meet other like-minded people and become a trusted source in the area).
- Make Donations in a Client’s Honor. Instead of sending out client gifts, send out holiday-themed emails announcing you made donations to a local charity in your client’s name. Word of mouth travels far over those red holiday coffee cups!
- Host a Hot Chocolate and Cookie Office Drop-In. No one likes to work on Fridays, especially in December so make it so they don’t have to and make friends with your neighbors! Invite business and homeowners alike and anyone who wants to stop by with the only requirements being Bring Your Own Cookies to share!
Need help with your sales tree? Reach out to Green Bag Designs for a 2020 Marketing Strategy Session today! We’ve got all your marketing needs IN THE BAG!
We totes love to carry on w/ our peeps! Find us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, & LinkedIn