Don't Wait Until November to Think About Holiday Marketing
While we know it’s not even fall yet, now is the time to start planning your holiday marketing before the craziness of the season hits.
It may feel a little early to start thinking about Christmas campaigns and end-of-year content when we’re still enjoying the last few weeks of summer, but November will be here before we know it, and with it, your calendar will likely be just as full as your customers' calendars. Planning ahead doesn't mean you need to start posting Christmas content tomorrow - please don't - it simply means you need to start deciding what you want to do this season, get your pieces in place, and give yourself enough time to do it all, and do it well.
Think about it: maybe you decide to run a Black Friday promotion this year. That sounds simple enough, until you realize you need to decide on the offer, take photos, design the graphics, write the emails, update your website, and actually tell people about it before Black Friday. On the flip side, maybe discounts don’t make sense for your business at all. Your holiday marketing could focus on giving back to the community, thanking your customers, promoting gift cards, or simply keeping your business top of mind during a very busy time of year. That’s one of the biggest benefits of starting early: you have time to figure out what actually makes sense for your business.
On a more practical side of planning, you need time to actually get everything planned and created. You need holiday photos taken, graphics designed, emails written, website banners updated, and client gifts ordered... all during a season when your team is taking time off, customers are traveling, and you're also trying to enjoy the holidays!
So before the holiday season officially begins, pull out your calendar and look at November and December. Decide what you want to promote, what needs to be created, and when everything needs to happen. You don’t need every detail figured out today, but having a plan gives you somewhere to start. A little work now can save you a whole lot of stress later!
At Express Strategic Services, we’re already thinking ahead for the holidays, and we’d love to help your business do the same. From your overall strategy to the content your customers actually see, we can help you head into the end of the year feeling prepared instead of playing catch-up.
