This blog was last updated on October 6, 2020.

The holidays are rapidly approaching, and it’s time to start thinking about how you’re going to use the season’s tidings to your advantage as a retailer. Like any marketing strategy, holiday marketing is all about connecting with your customers and letting them know that you have what they want this holiday season. Here’s how to keep up with the competition and maximize holiday sales.

1. Use Social Ads

It might not make sense to dump advertising dollars into print ads when the vast majority of your customer base is on Facebook and Twitter, but that completely depends on your target demographic. In fact, more than 52 percent of consumer purchases are influenced by Facebook, including both brick-and-mortar and online purchases. It makes sense to target social media for your marketing and advertising.

A combination of paid and organic advertising may be the way to go. Use paid Facebook ads to get your products in front of the right sets of eyes, but don’t forget about building an organic connection on your social platforms. After all, that is what Facebook was made for!  Word-of-mouth can be absolutely huge on social media, where every single user is a potential consumer who wants to share reviews with the world.

2. Connect With Customers

With the hustle and bustle of Black Friday in the back of every consumer’s mind, it’s easy to forget that the holidays are actually about human connection (even if it’s virtual). Of course, ads are important on social media, but 65 percent of consumers expect a brand to interact with them in real-time, so you need to be intentional about creating positive interaction with your marketplace this holiday season.

Some tips include:

• Share holiday content
• Respond promptly to consumers’ product questions
• Start a conversation (“What’s your favorite bath bomb from our new holiday line? Share in the comments!”)
• Reply to all comments, not just product questions
• Be natural; use emojis and GIFs
• Build anticipation (“We just finished unloading inventory for our blowout Christmas Eve sale… Bet you can’t guess what’s in all of these merchandise boxes!”)
• Be active in relevant social communities

3. Give Back

Build visibility for your brand this holiday season by connecting with your community in the giving spirit of the season. Remember that your customers want more than a good deal; they want their holiday purchases to go toward good-hearted causes. In fact, according to mintel.com, 73 percent of Americans consider companies charitable work when making a purchase.

Some ideas include:

• Running a “buy-one, get-one” promotion (a la Toms or Warby Parker)
• Sponsoring Toys for Tots in your community
• Giving holiday meals to a local food bank
• Volunteering your time at a soup kitchen in the weeks leading up to the New Year
• Donating a portion of your retail proceeds to a charity

Be vocal about loving your community this holiday season, and then put your money (and time) where your mouth is.

4. Network With Influencers

Partner with an influencer or blogger who loves your product this holiday season and watch the demand rise. Influencer marketing strategies focused on branding or engagements can generate 8x ROI. The trick is finding the right influencer for your brand.

For the best results, look for an influencer who is active and posts daily content, and has followers who are in your demographic. If you sell safe makeup for tweens, then you probably want an engaged influencer who is young and has thousands of preteen followers. Micro-influencers can also be a great option for those with smaller budgets.

The right influencer is able to present your product as the perfect holiday gift for their audience, but in a more natural way, like they’re a close friend recommending a product they had a great personal experience with. It reads as a personal experience, not as advertising.

That type of natural connection is exactly what will make your product stand out this holiday season.

5. Use Urgency

Flash sales, deeply discounted prices, and limited stock. Sound familiar? Those are all marketing tactics that retailers use every Black Friday, and they work for a reason. When a sale is urgent, customers are often more likely to buy on the spot. Don’t limit yourself to using those tactics the day after Thanksgiving; they’re excellent holiday sales tactics throughout the entire season.

For maximum urgency, hype up the limited-time aspect of your sales event. An 8-hour only sale ensures a huge turnout, even more so when you advertise steep deals on products that are going to be gone in a matter of hours. This is an excellent tactic to keep up your sleeve for the last days leading up until Christmas when you need to move huge amounts of product fast.

Maximize Holiday Sales Now With Fast Business Funding

Need to grow your budget for your holiday marketing campaign? There’s no better way to do it than with the help of a small business-minded lending partner, such as Mulligan Funding. We work with businesses of all sizes to find funding solutions that work, including working capital loans and more.

These are just a few of the ways you can maximize your holiday sales this season. Think creatively, and look closely at what your consumers want. With the right approach, you’re on track to watch your sales soar moving through the last quarter of the year.

Call Mulligan Funding at 855-326-3564 to discuss your financing options today!

The information shared is intended to be used for informational purposes only and you should independently research and verify.

Note: Prior to January 23, 2020, Mulligan Funding operated solely as a direct lender, originating all of its own loans and Merchant Cash Advance contracts. From that date onwards, the majority of funding offered by Mulligan Funding will be by Loans originated by FinWise Bank, a Utah-chartered Bank, pursuant to a Loan Program conducted jointly by Mulligan Funding and FinWise Bank.