How to effectively market during the holidays

Many business owners assume that they can simply market during the holidays like they do the rest of the year. However, you should consider the holidays separately and take into account what they can mean for your marketing plan. It is also important to consider the holidays that will affect your business. This will vary from business to business depending on the type of business that you run. This means that you should not base your holiday marketing plan on what anyone else is doing. Depending on your target market your business will be uniquely affected by the holidays. However, it is equally important not to overlook the holidays as a valuable marketing time. Here is what you need to know about how to effectively market during the holidays-

- Have a holiday marketing plan-It won't be effective to simply rely on your regular marketing plan to get you through the holidays. You will want to have a holiday marketing plan that is part of your overall marketing strategy. You should also set up goals that you want to achieve with your holiday marketing. However, you should keep in mind the length of the holiday season. You want to structure your holiday marketing goals so that they can be achieved in that time frame. Finally, you should not try to put together your holiday marketing plan at the last minute. As part of your overall marketing plan you should begin putting this plan together well in advance of the actual holiday. In addition, you should also have a holiday marketing budget that is separate from your overall marketing budget.
- Get creative with your holiday marketing-You can get very creative with your marketing during the holiday. Marketing experts stress that this can be the time to go big with your marketing message. Be creative and come up with a slogan or logo that will have your customers talking long after the holidays are over. Keep in mind that if you are creative with your marketing you won't need to reduce prices or have a big sale just to get your customers to come in and buy from you. While this can certainly be a good time to discount some things you want to market in a way that shows your customers that they need to shop with you in order to make their holidays complete.
- Incorporate your holiday operating hours into your marketing-Most businesses choose to have special holiday operating hours to accommodate their customers shopping needs. If you choose to do this you will want to include this information in your marketing materials. This will let your customers know that you are thinking of them and trying to accommodate their needs which can be a powerful marketing message. If you feel that it is not profitable to be open during certain holidays then letting your customers know that you will be closed is actually a positive marketing message so no one will be expecting you to be open when you are not.
- Send out your holiday marketing message well in advance of the actual holiday-It is important to keep in mind that you need to send out any holiday marketing materials well in advance of the holiday. If you simply assume that your customers will shop with you regardless you may be seriously disappointed at your holiday sales. By sending out marketing materials in advance of the holiday you are giving your customers a chance to plan their holiday shopping and make sure that your business is included in that. Finally, it is important to calculate any delivery times when it comes to sending out holiday marketing so that you can be assured that your customers will receive your marketing materials at the right time.