Is Your Business Ready for the Holiday Season?

The holiday season will be here before you know it. While you may already have your products ordered, sales planned, holiday hours set, and events on the calendar, there’s one more thing your business needs to be ready: your marketing.

If your business relies on Q4 sales, this is a crucial time to make sure your marketing materials are ready to support you through the busiest time of the year.

Save the late-night list checking for Santa. Your goal should be to have your marketing ready to go before the holiday rush begins, so you can focus on your customers, your business, and maybe even enjoy a little holiday cheer yourself.

Make Your Holiday Marketing List

Start by making a list of everything your business will need between now and the end of the year. Depending on your business, that might include:

1. Graphics for Holiday Events Holiday open houses, special events, Christmas parties, community events, promotions, and everything in between need graphics that grab attention and make the important details easy to find.

2. Promotion & Sales Graphics Planning a Black Friday sale, holiday special, or end-of-year promotion? Get your social graphics, email graphics, website banners, and in-store signage ready ahead of time.

3. Marketing Emails Don't forget your email list! Plan emails for upcoming sales, events, special hours, gift ideas, last-minute shopping, and holiday deadlines.

4. Gift Certificates If your business offers gift certificates or gift cards, make sure you have plenty printed and ready to sell. You don't want to be scrambling to get more printed when someone is looking for a last-minute gift.

5. Holiday Hours Make sure your holiday hours are updated everywhere customers might look: your website, social media, Google Business Profile, and any other online listings. And don't forget to update them again when the holidays are over!

6. Print Materials Menus, posters, signs, postcards, flyers, bag stuffers, table tents, and other printed materials can all help promote your holiday offerings while customers are already in your business.

7. Social Media Content Plan as much of your holiday social media as you can ahead of time. Scheduling posts in advance means one less thing to worry about when your days get busy.

8. Website Updates Is your holiday promotion easy to find on your website? Make sure important information like holiday hours, events, gift certificates, special menus, ordering deadlines, and promotions are easy for customers to find.

9. Photos & Other Content If you need new photos for holiday promotions, products, food, or your storefront, don't wait until December. Schedule photography early so you'll have plenty of content to work with.

Keep Your Branding Merry & Bright

As you start creating your holiday materials, don't forget about your branding. There is a big difference between adding a little holiday flair to your existing brand and making it look like a particularly enthusiastic Christmas elf took over your entire marketing department.

You don't have to turn everything red and green or put a candy cane on your logo to make your marketing feel festive. A seasonal font, a few holiday colors, some subtle graphics, or a little bit of seasonal photography can be enough to give your marketing a holiday feel while still looking like your business.

Your customers should be able to recognize your brand even when you're dressing it up for Christmas.

Don't Wait Until December

October is the perfect time to start getting these materials together. The more you can prepare now, the less you'll have to worry about later. And remember, you're not the only business getting ready for the holidays. Printers, photographers, sign companies, promotional product vendors, and other businesses are all about to get very busy.

If you need something printed, give yourself plenty of time for design, proofing, production, and delivery. Waiting until the last minute can mean longer turnaround times, fewer options, and a whole lot more stress. The same goes for your digital marketing. Creating and scheduling content now gives you more time to think strategically instead of trying to come up with a social media post between customers, meetings, and holiday errands.

A Little Preparation Goes a Long Way

The holiday season is already busy enough for small businesses. Your marketing doesn't need to become another last-minute scramble. Take some time now to make your list, identify what needs to be created or updated, and start checking things off.

Because when the holiday rush arrives, you'll want to be focused on serving your customers and growing your business, not frantically searching for the right version of your holiday flyer at 10 p.m.