Creating quality holiday content during the season can be time-consuming and stressful, but it is also one of the most lucrative times of year to promote your small business.
Whether you are a web-based service or brick-and-mortar retailer, social media and web content is a cheap and easy way to engage your customer base and get them in the mood to buy your product this season.
But where to begin?
Sure, huge corporations with nearly unlimited budgets, marketing teams and an international fan base put out some amazing holiday content. But what can small businesses realistically achieve on a budget?
To help you get inspired, we have chosen 5 small brands that are utilizing their blog and social media profiles to make the most of their holiday marketing and promotions.
1. The Solvang Bakery
This family-owned California bakery only has one location, but they are nationally recognized for their all-occasion gingerbread houses.
Naturally, they do plenty of business around the holidays! They actively post on their blog, facebook and Twitter accounts to keep their loyal customers coming back year-round.
What your business can learn from Solvang Bakery:
Make Your Facebook Cover Photo Festive
Update your Facebook cover photo to something festive! Solvang Bakery specializes in seasonal gingerbread houses, so what better product to highlight than one of their unique gingerbread creations?
For your business, it could be a picture of your staff with Santa hats, or a special service you only offer during the holidays. Get creative!
Your Facebook cover photo is often the first thing people will see when researching your business, so put your best “face” forward.
Encourage Industry Influencers to Promote Your Products
The more places your product is featured, the better.
In the below example, Solvang Bakery has shared a post by A Beautiful Mess Home featuring one of their most popular products, The Gingerbread Manor.
To achieve this, think about sending free samples of your product or offering a trial of your service to social media influencers in your market and asking them to post a picture or review.
While it may cost you a little bit of money, this tactic can garner a high reward by giving you access to a larger audience.
2. SafeWise Home Security
SafeWise, a web-based service that allows you to compare local home security retailers, has been doing a great job producing high-quality holiday content on their blog and Twitter.
They have proven that even a dry subject like home security can seem exciting by offering traditional informational safety resources and customer-specific content in a new way.
What You Can Learn From SafeWise:
Get Creative with the Type of Content You Post:
While a simple blog post with pictures is great, there are all kinds of other creative ways you can engage your audience.
SafeWise uses Holiday Home Safety Quizzes, Christmas Tree Safety Infographics and Evergreen Holiday Home Security Guides to educate their existing customers and bring in new business.
The great thing is that this type of content can be tweaked slightly and re-used every year.
Use Holiday Content to Target Specific Customer Segments
Why generalize your marketing when you can get specific and personalize your offers?
SafeWise uses their Facebook, Twitter and blog posts to target specific customer segments.
This Tweet was designed to target pet owners who want to keep their furry companions safe this holiday season.
3. TomKat Studio
TomKat Studio, based in Chandler, Arizona, specializes in party supply packages, accessories and gifts.
TomKat Studio founder, Kim Stoegbauer, started the business after achieving great success with her personal blog. Needless to say, she knows a thing or two about effective holiday content.
What we can learn from TomKat Studio:
Use Pinterest Tutorials to Connect with Your Customers
Many small business owners stick to Facebook and Twitter when publishing holiday content, but Pinterest can be a great place to spread the word about your products and services.
TomKat uses Pinterest Tutorials like the one below to show customers how they can use TomKat products to re-create amazing holiday-themed looks.
Think Ahead and Promote New Year Offers Early
Take advantage of the giving mood your customers are in around the holidays, and start New Year promotions now, before your competitors have a chance.
If you can offer something they need for Thanksgiving, Christmas AND the New Year, they might buy it all from you for convenience.
TomKat Studio has already started promoting their New Year products with Twitter updates.
4. Majestic Wines
Majestic Wines is UK-based retailer that sells wine, champagne and high-quality artisan foods.
Their holiday content stands apart because it tells a valuable story that customers can relate to, become excited about and invest in with pride.
What We Can Learn from Majestic Wines:
Include Your Employees in Your Holiday Marketing Strategy
Majestic Wines creatively uses their blog as a way to bring their customers and employees together, while also recommending fine wines.
In this What We Want for Christmas blog post, each employee describes the country in which they dream of spending Christmas, and suggests a wine that they hope is in their stocking this year from that region.
This is an incredibly fun way to give your small business the personal touch that not only encourages customers to buy this year, but will keep them coming back next year as well.
Use Instagram to Creatively Market Your Most Popular Products
Majestic Wines features their most popular products on their Instagram account, and so should your small business.
Think about how you can show your best products in action, and how you can convey your brand and its mission through pictures.
Majestic Wines shows customers that they are committed to giving back to their community by posting pictures of the products they sell that give a percentage of profit to charity.
5. BarkBox
BarkBox is a subscription service that allows dog owners to receive a monthly box of carefully selected pet products unique to their dog. They are an amazing example of how you can produce holiday content for a niche product or service.
What we can learn from BarkBox:
Vines Are a Great Way To Involve Fans in Holiday Content
BarkBox started a Christmas vine hashtag called #xmasbarkbox that allows fans to submit a vine of their dog doing anything silly, crazy and Christmas-related.
This can be a fun way to include your customers in your brand, and organically show your products being used in real-world situations.
You could use this tactic to create contests, promote special offers or just increase brand awareness around the web. If you’re lucky, your vine might go viral!
YouTube Videos Can Show Your Product in Action
BarkBox sent Thanksgiving-themed BarkBoxes to fans, who filmed their dogs’ reactions to the products and posted them on YouTube.
This is an ingenious way to make an emotional connection with potential customers, and can be re-created to suit your product or service.
What Will YOUR Holiday Content Look Like?
We know the holidays are a busy time of year, but hopefully these examples have given you a better idea of how to create kickass holiday content for your small business.
With a little creativity, time and strategy, you can drum up brand interest and loyalty for little to no investment using your blog and social media accounts.
What kickass holiday content put you in the mood to buy? We’d love to see examples in the comments section below!
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