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7 Holiday Mistakes To Avoid
With Christmas just around the corner, the holiday spirit fills the air with cheer, good tidings, and of course, holiday sales! Without a doubt, Christmas can be one of the most lucrative holidays of the year but it can also be overwhelming, especially for small businesses. Careful preparation and organization is essential to keep your holiday shoppers happy, and you and your employees keep your sanity when the holiday frenzy strikes. Keep your holiday spirit alive by steering clear of these mistakes:
- STARTING TOO EARLY.
It would be smart to start your holiday campaign early and get ahead of the game, but if you do it too soon, you risk the chance of being forgotten all too easily. Why waste a good mailer or flyer when your timing would be off to your target audience? And if you run the same campaign for 3 months, your customers would just get tired of hearing from you and tune you out.
- MISSING THE BOAT.
On the other end of the holiday timeline is starting your marketing campaign too late – when your audience may have already completed their holiday shopping elsewhere. This is a terrible waste of opportunity, especially when you have the chance of offering great deals. Find out when other businesses start their marketing campaigns and review how successful your previous holiday campaigns were.
- EMAIL FLOODING.
Nothing is more annoying than receiving marketing email from the same sender on a daily basis. Bombarding your customers with email won’t convince them to buy from you, and frankly, it’s a waste of you and your customers’ time. Sending out more emails during the holidays is natural, but it doesn’t give you license to spam.
- NONSTOP MARKETING.
The worse thing than not starting your marketing campaign on time is not knowing when to stop. If you’re still pushing holiday campaigns by January, you’re creating the impression that a) you don’t know what you’re doing, and b) you’re desperate to get rid of holiday inventory. Make sure you label your campaigns correctly, like a post-holiday sale or a New Year blowout.
- CHEAP HOLIDAY CARDS.
Most businesses send out holiday greetings, and it wouldn’t hurt to send one out too. But if you will be sending holiday cards just for the sake of it, you’re better off. If you want your customers to take notice, then your greeting card better be out of the ordinary. Adding value to the card helps, like including a coupon or free gift.
- TAKING OFF.
Everybody wants to take some time off during the holidays, but Christmas Eve and Christmas Day carries a lot of potential business. Ask your employees – there is bound to be someone willing to work on those days. When all other stores are closed and yours is open, you could be the miracle a last minute shopper is looking for.
- NEW YEAR AMNESIA.
Getting caught up in the holiday rush usually means that businesses fail to start planning for the year ahead. When the holiday fever subsides, you don’t want your business fading into oblivion. Come up with a marketing plan early on so you don’t get end up scratching your head when the new year arrives and you have a shortage of customers.
Avoid these mistakes and you keep your business profitable and your customers happy during the Christmas season. Plan well and you may see those holiday shoppers again next year.
