It’s time to begin planning holiday marketing ideas for your business. Plan to showcase your brand. These holiday marketing ideas will help you celebrate your brand in a meaningful way. Nearly 40% of people begin holiday shopping in the summer! So, let’s put the sizzle on your marketing strategy.

This might sound old-school, but I typically print blank calendars and begin penciling in my holiday ideas. It’s never too early to start. And, if you have products on Pinterest, they always suggest promoting them in September, so boost, boost, boost on Pinterest and let your products shine. Here are a few holiday marketing ideas to help your marketing campaigns shine!

1. 1. Give thanks. Let your customers know you care about them by thanking them for their business!
   2. Create a Poll and ask followers if they ever shopped with you before and give them a discount on their next order. Or offer a 10% discount to those who’ve never shopped with you.
   3. Reward with a loyalty program for the holidays. Buy 9, get 1. Or bring a friend for a free lunch.
   4. Create space for a gift-wrapping station. This holiday promotion idea works best if you have a retail or online location. Teens often like volunteering at gift-wrapping stations and again, it takes planning to put something like this together.
   5. Create an online “Giving Tree”: For instance, if you’re in the food service business, create an offer where someone buys a coffee and donut package that is delivered to a local hospital. Another idea: allow customers to “pay it forward” and buy a coffee and something hot to eat for a homeless person.
   6. Create Pinterest Boards of all of your holiday products! People use Pinterest as an idea machine so share your content!
   7. Host a themed get-together: Earth Day, Back-to-School, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year’s. Make it an exclusive “insiders” event so customers feel like VIPs. Offer free samples of your latest products or a promotion to sweeten the deal.
   8. Offer “pre-booking” specials like the restaurants did during the pandemic. Example: Pay now and receive a generous discount for your spring lawn care.
   9. Offer gift discounts. Our research also found that 45% of shoppers will buy items for themselves while buying gifts for loved ones. Take advantage of this by offering a buy-one-get-one half-off special so people can buy a gift for their loved ones and a gift for themselves!
   10. Run holiday specials by pairing up with other small businesses in your ‘hood. According to Google, 68% of people plan to shop more at local businesses this season. Make it easier for customers to support community businesses by partnering with others in your area.
   11. Host virtual classes or tutorials that are very engaging. Flower arranging, pastry-making, etc.
   12. Amplify your offers and events on your GMB page.
   13. Spread good cheer! Build community and increase awareness.
   14. Highlight sales, end-of-year deals, and anything else you’re offering.
   15. “Reviews praising your services, employees, and business.
   16. Here’s a fun one: Advertise weather-related discounts “Below freezing special”. Great for a bar, offer a free warm drink when temps are below freezing. Or a record high, since you’re in Florida.
   17. Unboxing videos are the best as they show people your products or business up close. Unboxing videos regularly receive millions of hits on YouTube. An increasing number of retail and e-commerce brands are doing all they can to make the experience of unpacking their products as exciting as possible.
   18. If you’re a non-profit, PEN-not pencil-in a monthly request for donations with a link. Make it easy for people to give.
   19. Be sure to send a press release to the local media prior to your busy season and let them know what’s new with your business.

Additional Holiday Marketing Ideas

1. Use dedicated landing pages for seasonal promotions built exclusively for the season.
2. Use a countdown timer. Combine the countdown timer with scarcity-invoking copy (“sellout deals” “limited availability”) to urge visitors to sign up and be informed when new deals go live.
3. Make the most of your email list. Existing customers spend an average of 31% more than new customers.
4. One of my favorite holiday marketing ideas is to offer monthly giveaways leading up to the new year. Fans will encourage their friends and it’s a great way to give to your community while also adding new fans and followers. Click HERE and learn more about creating holiday giveaways that drive impressions, engagements and often increases followers.
5. Ask people to share! When posting on social networks include wording like “Please Retweet” or “Share this with your friends” as it truly helps spread the word.
6. Update your website and social platforms and feature the vibe d’jour.
7. Use YouTube. You’re guaranteed to find a group of people who will become your raving fans and customers, as long as you educate, entertain and provide solutions to their problems.
8. Marketing on YouTube will help you get found on Google!
   1. You might have noticed that videos are appearing more often in Google’s search results. This shows that Google considers video to be as important as text-only pages.
   2. You can take advantage of this by writing high-quality articles on your site and creating complementary videos in YouTube. Doing this will build backlinks to your site, meaning you get found on Google more often by people searching.

As always, I’m just a phone call away at 303-478-7863 if you need any help marketing your business. Or feel free to reach me via my CONTACT page.