Get Ready For The Holidays

Yes, you read that right. Even though Christmas is still more than three months away, savvy business owners are preparing now for the holiday season.

Why? Because it takes time and planning to make your seasonal specials turn into the smoothly running, profitable operations that they can and should be.

Did you ever wonder why some sales and special events seem to be loaded with problems and delays? Maybe the displays look thrown together; or worse, you don’t hear about a great special until it’s too late to purchase it.

Possibly you’ve had a similar situation. There’s a holiday or special occasion coming up soon and you thought of a great promotion to tie into your core business offering. Then you discover that you don’t have enough time to pull all the pieces together.

On the other hand, have you ever noticed how some holiday events seem to proceed almost effortlessly, as though someone behind the scenes was carefully orchestrating every detail?

Well, that’s exactly what happened. Someone took the time to plan and prepare for all the little details that go into making a promotional event just right.
5 Ways To Prepare For Your Holiday Promotion

1. Decide on a theme. For a holiday, this is relatively simple; just work with the underlying message of the celebration. For example, during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, anything having to do with giving or gratitude is appropriate.

2. Decorate around your theme. Whether you have a brick-and-mortar building or a virtual store, it can be a good idea to add a festive touch to your customers’ experience. You can add lights to a display, place ornaments in your office or change the banners on your website.

3. Plan your promotion and look for ways to make it different. Everybody has some type of percent off sale in December. Instead of a regular discount, you could use an add-on as a gift; something like “buy 3 and get an extra as a gift” to give away. Or you could donate to a charity based on sales and make that an incentive for customers to shop. A clothing store for instance, could announce that you’ll give sweaters to a homeless shelter for every so many dollars spent on certain items. Create a display and keep a running total to make it a community event.

4. Choose your promotion methods. Start early to drop “coming soon” or “working on” hints in your Twitter stream and other social media forums. Use teasers or countdowns to build anticipation in your target market.

5. Don’t forget to document your event. You’ll want to keep track of your results so that you know what works and what doesn’t. This is necessary to determine what to try again and what to get rid of.

Happy Holiday Planning.