Holiday Marketing Tips for the Season

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), retail sales in November and December are expected to increase a solid 3.6 percent to $655.8 billion. Online sales are forecast to increase between 7 and 10% from last year to as much as $117 billion. As you can see, the holiday season is an incredible opportunity for retailers all over the United States. This is a great time to take advantage of this opportunity and step up your marketing game for the holiday season. Here are three holiday marketing tips to help your business during this exciting time of year.

Don’t Doubt Social Media’s Power

Social media has a huge impact on holiday shopping. In fact, in 2012, 66% of Black Friday purchases were the result of social media interaction.  39.3% of consumers in a survey by Crowdtap say that Facebook has influenced them to buy a gift and 64% of responders in another survey said they bought a product because of something they saw on Twitter. This proves that you should focus on your online marketing, especially social media posts during this holiday time.  Social media can help you drive traffic to your website as well as driving customers to your store.

Stay Competitive During This Time

With the holiday season here, it is more important during this time than ever to stay competitive with other retailers. You can do this by focusing on your website’s search engine optimization or SEO and making sure your page is towards the top if not the number one listing on search engines. Email and direct mail marketing is a great idea during this season as well. Include store promotions or coupons inside to encourage people to come into your store and see your selection and to build awareness. Ensuring your website is optimized for mobile users is a great idea as a lot of shoppers use their phones to make their purchases these days.

Of course there are much more ways to help your store during the holiday season, but these are some of the most effective, yet still easy things to do. This year’s holiday season is in its prime time, but it’s still not too late to create a holiday marketing plan. Start now and finish off the year with great numbers.