With Thanksgiving and Black Friday less than 2 weeks away if you have not started on your holiday promotional plan, trust us you are already behind the ball. Today we are giving you 3 quick tips for business success and how you can win this holiday season by dominating your business like a BOSS!
1. Get That Email List Together
While everyone is focused on how many Instagram followers they have, shift your energy and focus on how many people are on your email list. Followers are cool but a high follower count does not equal to high sales. Also with over 800 million users on Instagram, it is getting harder to reach your target audience.
With an email list, people are giving you permission to contact and sell to them directly! There should be several ways for people to sign up to your email list.
- Directly on your website as a link or via pop up
- On your social media pages in your Instagram bio or as a button on your Instagram or Facebook page.
- When checking out and purchasing products on your website
Once you have a solid list, use that during the holiday season to set up a series of promotional emails so you stay top of mind for your customers. In addition, don’t forget about the follow up Thank You email with a promo code for their next order. It is much easier to sell to customers you have already acquired vs. selling to brand new customers.
2. Have a PRE-black Friday Sale
We all know Black Friday is the day everyone is waiting for to grab a good sale. Beat your competition to the punch and hold a PRE-Black Friday sale. Promote discounts exclusive only to your pre-Black Friday sale to entice customers and create a sense of urgency. People will want to get in on the action and fear of missing out will set in quickly.
You can also reiterate this idea with Christmas and New Years. Don’t forget about the stragglers who didn’t get a chance to buy on Black Friday. Cyber Monday people are still looking for deals and are online waiting to shop!
Not sure what to promote this holiday season? Bundle your products and or services to move more inventory and sell more. This will also give customers an opportunity to try more than one product at a time. Something as small as $10 or $5 off for a bundled item will make a big difference for those looking for a good deal. Everyone loves to save a few dollars. Although the bundled item will be sold at a discount, the purpose is to increase the cart total per person.
3. Get CRYSTAL Clear with Shipping & Handling
The number one stress of online holiday shopping is worrying about when your gift will arrive. Online shopping continues to increase every year and customers are definitely reading the fine print of your shipping policy. The last thing you want is a negative review with a past customer saying they didn’t get their gifts in time. Here are a few tips to set you up for success:
- Make sure your policy is easy to find on the website.
- Prepare for USPS delays. Suggest cut off period for orders and communicate that date to customers for items to arrive on time
- Install pro shipping and handling apps on your e-commerce site transparent tracking. ShipStation integrates with several websites and multiple carriers so customers are able to see each step of their shipping in real time. Make your business or side hustle efficient and allow this app to answer those email tracking questions for you!
What other best practices do you implement for your business during the holiday season? Comment and let us know!
