Is your small business getting ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday? How your business performs during the holiday shopping season can set the tone for the rest of the year and into the new year. With Americans spending more than $465 billion on holiday gifts, you don’t want to miss out on potential profits.
Below, we’ve compiled a small business digital marketing checklist to help you get your online presence ready for the holidays so that you can win new customers and see more sales!
- Update All Local Listings
- Set Special Hours for Holidays
- Prep Your Website
- Produce Helpful Content
- Optimize for E-Commerce
- Send Out Email Promotions
- Share Holiday Photos on Social Media
Update All Local Listings
Google has seen 900% growth in “near me” searches over the past two years, and that trend doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon. During the holiday season, people will be looking for goods and services in your area. Make sure they can find your business by creating or updating your local business listings in online directories like Google My Business, Bing Places, Yelp, and Yext. And don’t forget to include information about holiday promotions or special services offered during the holidays in your business descriptions!
Set Special Hours for Holidays
Google My Business allows you to set special hours to let your customers know when you’ll be closed on a holiday without having to completely change your typical hours of operation. Update your business hours for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day so online searchers know when you’re open and available. If your small business will be closed for an extended period of time, consider creating a Google Post to alert customers of your absence and let them know when you’ll get back to them.
Prep Your Website
More than 170 million Americans make purchases between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, spending $7.4 billion on Black Friday alone. Your site needs to be prepared to not only handle an influx of traffic, but also deliver customers a terrific online purchasing experience so that they can take advantage of Black Friday deals. As you prep your website for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, ensure your return policy is up to date and consider adjusting your hosting plan, implementing pop-up offers, and updating your website plugins so that everything runs smoothly when traffic to your business website increases.
Produce Helpful Content
Considering creating content that solves problems that customers often run into during the holidays. For example, a local grocery store could share recipes for Christmas dinners or holiday cocktails using ingredients sold within the store. Or a home maintenance store could upload a YouTube video demonstrating how to spread deicing salt on driveways and sidewalks. This content not only helps customers, but it can even help build trust with your brand so that, when they’re ready to make a purchase, they think of you.
Optimize for E-Commerce
60% of shoppers plan to make at least half of holiday purchases online, so your website needs to be ready to deliver an excellent customer experience. Optimize all images with ALT text and relevant tags to help products show up in image search results. Put together gift guides with enticing product descriptions. Highlight your special offers and discounts with website pop-ups. And look for ways to boost page speed.
Send Out Email Promotions
If you’ve been building your email lists throughout the year, the holiday season is the perfect time to leverage the work you’ve put in. 59% of people say email marketing influences their purchasing decisions, so sending specialized promotions could help drive more sales during the holidays. Consider creating exclusive offers and holiday sales available only to email subscribers. Share a holiday gift guide that highlights your top products. Deliver “abandoned cart” emails to remind customers of products they were interested in but have not yet purchased. Anything you can do to guide customers along in the purchasing process helps!
Share Holiday Photos on Social Media
Give your business some personality by sharing photos of you and your team getting ready for the holidays. Post pictures on social media of your staff decorating the office, volunteering at a local food bank, and celebrating during a holiday party. These posts help generate interactions and make your brand more relatable to customers. Also, be cognizant of the different holidays being celebrated by your customer base. Take time to create posts that celebrate different cultures and beliefs to show your customers that you care.
Need a digital marketing strategy crafted around holiday sales? Hurrdat Marketing can help your small business get in front of customers where they’re looking online. Learn more about how we use Digital Marketing services like web design, SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, paid advertising, and more to improve your business’ visibility!
