The secret is out; holiday promotion ideas are some of the best ways to boost your business. If you aren’t using them already, you need to be. That holiday spirit makes it the perfect time to run special offers, gift cards, and more. Consumer behavior analysis shows that consumers spend more during festive seasons. And if you want to capitalize on the holiday shopping season, these holiday marketing tips can boost your chances. You might run an email campaign or store decorations - your holiday marketing strategy depends on you and your business. There are many ways to promote your business during the holidays, and that’s where promotion ideas come in.
You can develop the best holiday marketing strategy by brainstorming different promotion ideas. And this way, you’ll drive profit to unprecedented levels by riding the holiday season wave. In this guide, we’ll give you the rundown on the best promotion ideas per industry and business type. Have you got a small business? No problem. A salon? Don’t worry. No matter your industry, there are ideas you can monetize. These holiday promotions will provide you with the boost your business needs from its specific industry.
First things first, why even use holiday promotions? Why bother with the marketing investment? The main thing you need to know is that people naturally spend more in the holiday shopping season. Whether buying gift cards, presents, or just treating themselves, spending spikes. If you market effectively, this means that you can massively spike your profit in the holiday season. By doing so, you’ll have a period of the year where you make drastically more, which definitely helps the annual yield.
There are a few more benefits, though. Let’s take a closer look at why you should use promotion ideas this holiday:
- Increases customer loyalty
One massive benefit of holiday promotions is that they increase customer loyalty. This is because they draw people in and offer special offers in the name of ‘holiday spirit’. You can encourage people to sign up for loyalty programs or reward cards. This widens your marketing reach and allows you to promote loyalty amongst existing customers.
- Customers have more tolerance for marketing.
Another reason why holiday promotions are great is that they come at a time when people are lenient towards marketing. You expect adverts and marketing during holidays - especially Christmas. Some people even go to shopping centers to admire the marketing decorations, so it gets ridiculously popular and more lenient. People are more actively engaging with marketing. And when you market correctly, they even seek it.
Finally, there’s our initial main point - the profit spike. Who doesn’t want a dramatic spike in their business profit? Investing in holiday marketing is a great way to boost your profit. Take advantage of the fact people are spending more and target your demographic.
Let’s start with a general overview of holiday promotion ideas for small businesses. Before we explore ideas for separate industries, we want to dispel the notion that promotions are just for large corporations. You can run a holiday marketing strategy for any size of business. You don’t even need tons of budget to allow for it. You can run a marketing strategy for nothing if you really want.
You might not want to run discounts if your profit margins are narrow as a small business. Similarly, you may want to invest less than thousands in decorations and paid marketing ventures. However, that honestly doesn’t matter. With that in mind, let’s look at the holiday promotions small business owners can use.
Set Up Captive Portal WiFi and Comfy Seating
If you have an in-person business, a great way to use the holiday season is to have comfy seating. This could be as simple as fairy lights and blankets. Or you could invest in outdoor heaters if you have unused outdoor seating space. People want to be cozy in the holiday season. And since many holidays are in fall or winter, comfy seating reigns supreme.
Take advantage of the increase in social plans and lousy weather. Then, offer captive portal WiFi for guests to enjoy while they enjoy your comfy seating. Captive portal WiFi collects all their contact details to ethically widen your network of marketing recipients. This strategy is a long-term and short-term win. You’ll get more customers over your threshold with comfy seating. But then you’ll also get more marketing contacts long-term and opportunities to improve customer loyalty.
Run an Event
Events don’t have to be ridiculously expensive. You could do something as simple as opening outside your usual hours and teach people cocktail-making. You may have a jewelry retail store. You could run a jewelry-making workshop and sell tickets for entrance. There are many ways you can use your expertise and time rather than investing with money. Events are a great way to build better connections with your community and target audience. Plus, they help you make a quick profit through ticket sales and any purchase made during the event.
Offer Holiday Themed Products
Lastly, another way that you can promote your business during the holiday season is with themed products. This is great as it is low risk. You’re simply using your expertise to create a holiday-themed product that is no more risky than any other item. The winning benefit is that it offers novelty and that ‘special treat’ quality customers love.
You stand out with holiday-themed products; just look at the legacy of the pumpkin spice latte.
Salons are enormous during the holiday season because people want to indulge and look their best. But just think of the situations - new couples meeting their families and parents getting ready for work parties. And that’s not even considering the young teens looking forward to New Year’s Eve social events. Everyone wants to look and feel their best, which is where salons come in. Salon holiday promotion ideas are fantastic for your business.
Not every business needs extra marketing to take advantage of the holidays. Salons are one of these lucky business types, as they already have loyal clients. However, with additional deals and promotions, salons can utilize holiday periods. Refrain from falling into the false sense of security and thinking, ‘That’s not for us’. These are the top three ideas that you can use for your salon business.
Discounts and Gift Cards
These two come hand in hand despite being slightly different. For instance, customers could pick up a gift card for their best friend for an Indian head massage and treatment. They could also see ads for Christmas discounts and think, wow, that’s exactly what I need for my work party. The holiday season is about indulgence and gifting, so make it easy for people by offering discounts and gift cards.
Decor
Decor is another big way to succeed with salon holiday promotions. Having holiday-themed decorations helps you to embrace the holiday spirit. This offers you and your staff novelty, boosting morale in busy times. However, it also adds novelty for customers - helping you stay more firmly in their minds and building fun, positive associations. Get in the holiday spirit and bring your customers with you - you’ll see more profit from it.
Offer Holiday Giveaways
On the note of fun things to do to encourage customers to purchase services, holiday giveaways are great. Holiday giveaways are one of the best holiday promotions as they also spread brand awareness and grow your reach. Get a social media competition running for a free treatment or style cut. You can get people sharing or commenting to enter, which soon builds traction. It is a fun way to embrace the holiday season, grow your reach, and get more interest in your services.
What about holiday promotions for restaurants? Restaurants get massively busy over the holiday season. Think about it: you get Christmas parties, couples heading out on romantic meals, family get-togethers, and more. The whole idea of holiday spirit revolves around connection and indulgence. People eat, drink, and party more. So, it is unsurprising that people head to restaurants to tick that box. Brace yourself; as every seasoned restaurant owner knows, holidays are hectic but profitable for restaurants. Restaurant preparation is critical.
Of course, you likely will remain closed on certain holiday days. For instance, Christmas might be off the cards. However, you can still get tons of holiday promotions in the lead-up to holidays. These are the top three ways to promote your restaurant this holiday season. Which one best suits your business?
Holiday Events
Always consider the power of live event marketing when debating how to promote your restaurant this holiday season. Live events are unique as they unite the community, give you loyalty conversion opportunities, and get people over the threshold. All of these things are great foundations for long-lasting business success - that goes beyond even Christmas. However, holiday events also boost profit by attracting large numbers and creating a quick profit spike. What’s not to love?
If you run a holiday event properly, you could make a profit on the day and boost profit long-term. It is a win-win.
Decor
Decor is a big one. While it might sound cheesy - and sometimes it absolutely should be - decor can help sway your holiday marketing strategy. People love aesthetics, and there’s a growing trend for social media-friendly restaurants. The holiday season always has an aesthetic. So take advantage of that and create photogenic and unique decor for your restaurant. Everyone loves a bit of novelty.
Yes, you already know about restaurant design ideas and selecting restaurant themes. But what about holiday-themed decorations? Get brainstorming and see how you can make your restaurant more appealing.
Gift Cards
This is a clever one, and many restaurants are already successfully using this holiday marketing strategy. Sell gift cards. Gift cards are the perfect present for anyone unsure what to get a friend or member of the family. And with restaurant gift cards, it has the bonus of treating them to an experience of their choosing. You could offer cards with themes - like a romantic meal with champagne for two. Or more general cards, like $50 at insert your restaurant name here. It is up to you.
Place the cards on display near the checkout or payment counter. You can always add a note on the menu, too.
Retail is one of the first industries to jump on the holiday spirit. And that’s because the retail industry is the backbone of many holidays, especially Christmas. For instance, Christmas is all about gift-giving and generosity. Therefore, holiday retail promotion ideas perform brilliantly. Recognizing your industry’s role in the holiday season is essential to create a great strategy.
Let’s look at some of the top ideas you can use to promote your retail business this holiday. These are the absolute top three you should consider - steal or adapt them; it’s up to you.
Special Offers
This one is self-explanatory. Retail is one of the best industries to use special offers as one of their holiday promotions. This is because people shop for presents at the best possible rate and are more receptive to impulse buys. Holiday marketing campaigns for retail stores should include some offers 90% of the time. It is the most effective way to target people - especially crazed consumers going Christmas shopping on a budget. You stand out from competitors with better prices and appeal to the holiday spirit’s impulsivity.
Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs are another great idea. You can entice customers into a marketing system by using customer loyalty program rewards (like membership discounts). They get program rewards, you get consistent marketing recipients, and everyone is happy. It is a brilliant way to establish long-term loyalty benefits with short-term strategies.
Retail store WiFi is one great way to encourage loyalty program sign-ups. Just set up a captive portal system to collect contact details for marketing purposes. You could also advertise loyalty programs at the checkout desks; just have a QR code for quick sign-ups.
Offer Gift-Wrapping Services
Offering gift-wrapping services - and being loud about it - is a brilliant way to approach marketing this holiday season. So many people are won over by ease, and knowing your purchase will be gift-wrapped is a bonus. It takes a job off their list, makes them look good, and provides extra ‘sway’ for an impulse buy. Think of little extras like this, and then advertise them on social media or in your storefront displays.
How vital are promotion ideas in the holiday shopping season? It is a great question. After all, if people are already buying products and services more, why bother with extra marketing? The simple answer to this question is because you are in a competition. Under highly unusual circumstances, you might find that you dominate your industry. For instance, if you’re a hair salon in a town or a restaurant with many loyal customers. However, for the most part, you’ll be competing against businesses investing in marketing.
What does this look like? If you’re selling a similar product to your competitor, yet they offer special offers, they’ll get the purchase. Similarly, imagine a product is available online, and the consumer receives a notification via email campaign. Why would they think of your physical store instead if you have no holiday promotions or a marketing strategy? It is an easy thing to weigh up. If you want to get even the slightest taste of success, you’ll need a holiday marketing strategy.
Of course, that’s where Beambox comes in. While thinking about which holiday promotion ideas in this article best suits your business, what about WiFi marketing? WiFi marketing is the backbone of any marketing campaign - how you can collect contact details for email addresses.
Tools like Beambox’s elite WiFi platform make a huge difference in running marketing campaigns. You can create more effective campaigns using contact detail collecting strategies - not just in the holiday shopping season. Start your Beambox free trial today. We can help you prepare for your upcoming holiday promotions, really getting in the holiday spirit.
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