Potter small business owner using her laptop in the workshop
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With every business fighting for consumers’ attention during the holiday season, it can be tough for small businesses to cut through the noise – especially if you’re on a small marketing budget. Here are 10 quick, low-cost strategies you can use to help boost sales before Christmas.
1. Target Warm Leads
Marketing to warm leads (people who have already shown interest in your business or have purchased from you previously) can lead to more conversions than solely marketing to a cold audience. One study found that website visitors who are retargeted with paid ads are 70% more likely to convert. Paid ads are a popular choice for remarketing to warm leads, but you could also utilize SMS (text message) marketing and email marketing to your existing customer base (those who have opted in to receive such messages).
2. Create A Gift Guide
Gift guides can be a great way to help your audience find gifts for loved ones, making their lives a bit easier in a time of potential stress (and increasing your chances of making sales). So you could create your own Christmas gift guide and publish it on your website, blog, and/or email marketing. The products in the guide could be exclusive to your own business, or you could include recommendations from other small businesses as well – if you do include others, this increases the chances of it being shared in front of a wider audience.
3. Make Bundle Deals
Another way to increase sales is to create product bundles. According to Taptool, bundling your products may increase your store’s average order value by up to 30%. You could bundle together some of your best-selling products, or products that complement each other, or strategically bundle together some of your best-selling and lowest-selling products to help move your less popular products off the shelf.
4. Go Live On Social Media
Many social media platforms will notify your followers when you go live. Get in front of the camera and go live on social media to tell your audience about your holiday season deals or highlight your best-selling products, leaving time to answer any questions from your followers in real-time. This is also known as “live commerce”; McKinsey reports that businesses that use it may achieve conversion rates of up to 30%, ten times higher than the average.
5. Collaborate With Another Business
Is there another local, small business you could team up with this holiday season? Collaborating with another company can be a great way to get your brand in front of a new audience and increase sales. Here are some ideas: You could run a joint Christmas giveaway on social media, create hybrid product packs, run a joint pop-up event, or give your customers a reward (such as a discount) that they can redeem at the partner business.
6. Christmas Countdown Series
Running a limited-edition series on social media can help you increase engagement, build momentum on your pages, keep your audience coming back, and boost sales. For example, you could run a 10-day countdown to Christmas series, highlighting a different product each day as a gift idea.
7. Upsell On Check Out Page
Upselling, or encouraging your customers to buy a more premium version of a product they’ve chosen, or add another product to their checkout cart, can be an effective way to drive more sales to your business, especially for e-commerce stores. The customer is already in a purchase frame of mind, so it’s a good time to ask if they’d like to add a bit more product to their cart.
8. Offer A Gift Card Option
Sometimes it’s hard to choose what to buy someone for Christmas. So, give your customers the option to purchase a gift card or gift voucher. It offers customers more flexibility and peace of mind, while boosting your sales in the process.
9. Utilize A Countdown Timer
Using a countdown timer on your social media (such as your Instagram stories) to promote your holiday sales or limited stock levels creates urgency and hype. And when there’s urgency or a deadline, customers may be more likely to act faster and make a purchase. Don’t go overboard with countdown timers, though; use them sparingly so that they’re genuine and not seen as a gimmick.
10. Get Boxing Day Sorted
While you’re focusing on Christmas sales, don’t forget about Boxing Day, too. Get your marketing organized in advance so you can simply press the “go” button on the big day and create more sales for your small business.
It’s not too late in the holiday season to try out new, low-cost marketing strategies. Try some of the strategies above to increase the chance of boosting sales for your small business before Christmas.
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