Amy Copperman November 20, 2020 As a small business owner, there’s a lot to celebrate this holiday season. You’ve beaten the odds during a pandemic, an election year, and a myriad of other changes and challenges. Perhaps you’ve pivoted your operating model, explored new ways of reaching customers online, or created whole new offerings to meet this moment. And now you’re looking ahead to the busiest season of the year for retailers. Phew!
The holiday shopping season might look a little different for all of us, but it’s still an important inflection point for small businesses. And there’s a huge opportunity to double down on the grit and successes you’ve built during this challenging year. Here are three easy ways to give your business a boost this holiday season.
1. Double Down on Your Small Business Story
While small businesses may not be able to compete with the big guys when it comes to deals and savings, your business has something the superstores don’t: a regional story that has the potential to capture hearts. Another piece of good news: Research suggests that shoppers have a renewed desire to shop locally. According to a Nextdoor survey, 72% of members believe they will frequent local businesses more often after this crisis. Encourage your audience to shop local this season and highlight the ways your business contributes to the local community. Perhaps you’ve been a neighborhood favorite for years, or produce your goods using local or sustainable ingredients, or maybe you’ve found innovative ways to share resources during this tough time. Whatever your unique small business story is, make sure you highlight it for your customers and appeal to consumers’ interest in shopping local. You might also consider tying your offerings to a charitable donation, so your customers feel doubly good when they shop with you.
2. Drive Urgency by Focusing on a Couple of Key Shopping Days
A great way to make sure your customers take advantage of your holiday offerings is to make them time sensitive. This tactic creates a sense of urgency and helps your products show up when folks are typically crossing off their nice lists. Pick a shopping holiday, such as Small Business Saturday, and create a social advertising or email campaign for it. Be sure to focus on platforms where you have the most engaged audience and boost your organic posts with a little bit of ad spend, so you’re sure to reach new and current customers.
Announce your sale ahead of time to build anticipation, remind your audience when it’s live, and follow up with last-chance messages to make sure you’re staying top of mind.
Pro-Tip: Surprise your audience by extending your sale last-minute and give yourself another opportunity to mention your offerings. Refresh the creative a bit to make it exciting. Even if you always planned to extend the sale, you can still drive urgency by making it seem like a surprise for your customers.
3. Refresh Your Social Creative
An easy way to mark the moment is by refreshing your marketing materials. Consider updating your cover photos on social media to reflect the holidays or a new merchandise you’re hoping to move. Create gift guides, highlighting your products. Or refresh the copy on a well-performing product advertisement to speak to the holidays and your new deals.
Ready to get started? Check out Adobe Spark’s e-commerce holiday hub, which provides holiday-themed templates that you can download and utilize for your business’ social media channels.
A version of this post is available on Adobe Spark’s blog here.
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