The holidays will be here before you know it which means holiday marketing campaigns are right around the corner! The holidays are one of the best times to market your small business or start-up and grow your current customer base; so as a B2B it’s important you know how to sell to your target audience.
All things considered, creating holiday campaigns for small businesses and start-ups can be overwhelming at times. This blog is geared to help your B2B know when and how to sell during the holidays and teaches you what should matter most to your business.
When should B2B businesses sell during the holidays?
Did you know that some businesses receive their greatest amount of revenue during the last couple months of the year? While inflation will definitely take a toll on the percentage of holiday spending this year, that doesn’t mean holiday marketing campaigns are any less important.
Among some of the top times to market your brand are during Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Some other important selling dates that fall during the end of the year are Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday. Traditionally, there’s a high consumer demand during these times. You’re going to want to take advantage of selling during the holidays by starting early and ending late. Therefore, a good time to start your holiday promotions is towards the end of October. Be sure to run campaigns through the end of the year to maximize sales opportunities.
How can B2B businesses sell during the holidays?
In order to increase your market share during the holidays, you’re going to need to know the proper way to sell to stand out from competitors. It’s important to focus on low-cost strategies that are going to provide a high impact on customer purchasing habits. Here are some things to consider when preparing to sell during the holiday season:
Understand your place in the market: Though marketing during the holidays is a cash cow for some businesses, for others it’s a seasonal downturn making them compete with other businesses for sales which results in less revenue. Research what sales are typically like for your industry throughout the year. Also, do some benchmarking to learn how competitors choose to market during the holidays. This knowledge will help you decide how much you should be promoting your brand during the holidays and on what channels.
Set seasonal goals: Whether or not your business is planning on significantly increasing its revenue during the holiday months, you’re going to need to create goals for your business. How much are you looking to increase your market share during the holidays? What’s your overall marketing goal? Setting achievable goals for your business will help you determine how to market your brand in order to meet said goals.
Create a marketing calendar: Now that you’ve set goals, it’s time to implement some marketing strategies. This includes setting a plan for all of your holiday-based marketing, from social media to email marketing campaigns, and even paid advertising. Know what platforms you’ll promote on and create quality content that will appeal to holiday shoppers to encourage them to purchase from your small business or start-up.
Offer deals: While it might not ring true for every business, having a promotional plan in place during the holidays has the potential to increase conversion rates and boost sales. Depending on your industry, decide whether you want to offer discounts to select customers. This can come in the form of loyalty sales, buy one, get one deals, buy now, pay later purchases and more. By going the extra mile for loyal customers during the holidays, you’re only going to increase their trust and reliability in your brand.
Following these steps to create holiday marketing campaigns will have you maximizing the number of sales your small business or start-up can make during the holidays.
What matters most to B2B businesses during the holidays?
Sometimes the holidays are the perfect time to update and strengthen your existing marketing strategy. With the new year approaching and current strategies wrapping up (no pun intended) your B2B can use this time to your advantage to generate some extra revenue. Here are some pain points your business can fix during the holiday season:
Spend your marketing budget: If you’ve been holding off on that marketing budget until the end of the year, time is ticking. Develop a specialized marketing strategy for the holidays so your business knows where to spend the remaining cash in the budget.
Go after the best deals: Whether your B2B relies on collecting inventory to sell or you’re just looking to update your software, the holiday season is the best time to make a purchase. Similar to you, other businesses are implementing their holiday marketing campaigns so typically the holiday season will consist of better deals. Investing in software to help your business will lead to a great ROI, potentially even greater than usual when there’s a discount involved.
Prepare for the future: The holidays are a great time to look at the year in review and prepare for the future. Make note of what holiday marketing strategies are working well for your business and what you should change for next year. Keeping an eye on the success of current campaigns will provide insight into what you should focus on and implement next year. With this knowledge you can create custom goals and plans to help your small business or start-up grow.
Now that you know the holiday season is a beneficial time for small businesses and start-ups to sell, it’s time to start planning for it. For assistance creating effective holiday marketing campaigns to sell your B2B this upcoming holiday season, schedule a discovery call with us today!
