Wow, what a year! We can hardly believe it’s December already and the festive season has arrived. But boy are we excited, especially for our clients.

For many South African businesses, this is the busiest time of the year, bringing in the most sales. The season begins as early as Black Friday, going right through to New Year and even the last few days of January. It’s also a great opportunity to get a larger audience’s eyes on your brand and benefit from a new audience’s sales.

That’s because people are in the mood of giving and spending much more than usual. So much so that a study from 2018 predicted that South Africans were set to spend over R200bn during this period.

Yes, it’s time that time of the year when spirits are heightened, the worries of 2019 fade far away and Christmas carols are sung on repeat. While we can’t give you two turtle doves, three french hens or a partridge in a pear tree, we can share with you 12 days of festive marketing tips. So if your business is ready to take advantage of the spending season, here are a few tips to get started:

1. Get festive in every way

Deck the halls and dress your store, website and social channels in some festive flare. Show your customers that you’re in the festive spirit and go all out with decorations online and offline. Keep it within brand, but add a dash of magic over this exciting holiday period. 

2. Give back

While we’re all in the spirit of giving, think about how you can give back to your loyal customers, too. They’ll be buying presents for their loved ones, but will be delighted to receive a surprise gift for themselves. You could offer in-store wrapping, an added discount, or a free gift with their purchases.

3. Know your top social fans

Do you know exactly who has liked, commented and shared your social media posts throughout the year? Now, it’s time to recognise and reward them. Send them a personal message or create a special post naming them your top fan to thank them for support. Take it a step further and give them a little something as an extra special ‘thanks’.

4. Be helpful

Trying to find the perfect gift is hard. And buying gifts for some people can be near possible, especially when ‘they don’t need anything’, or worse, they have everything already! Give your customers some advice on what to buy Dad, Mum or Gran with helpful displays that promote gift ideas.

5. Dust off email campaigns

Who said you can’t reuse marketing campaigns? A whole year has passed, and it’s likely that your customers have forgotten all about last year’s campaign. Dust it off, give it a fresh lick of paint and send them some festive cheer. You can include your holiday specials and helpful information for this time of the year.

6. Don’t forget about ads

With all the festive season hustle, don’t forget about an easy way to get even more reach. Facebook advertising helps you reach your market within a day from design to set up, so you can get your holiday deals out in a flash. Remember to target the right audience and have an eye-catching design to get the most out of your ads.

7. Add an extra paypoint

Being the busiest day of the year means you’ll have a whole lot of extra foot traffic to your store. And no one likes long queues. Maintain an exceptional standard of service by adding an additional paypoint to keep customers smiling and flowing through the store easily.

8. Have a party

Perhaps you have new festive season stock, or maybe you’d like to get rid of some stock to make room for new gear. Invite some of your top customers to an exclusive party to shop the last bits at a discounted price, or to shop the newest arrivals first. But who needs a reason to throw a party anyway?

9. Utilise specials

Although this is the busiest season for sales, it’s also highly competitive. Make use of specials to ensure that your customers are choosing your brand over competitors. Think ‘3 for 2’ or discounting when customers spend over a certain amount. What kind of promotional offers will encourage shoppers to your store?

10. Google Ads

One of the first places customers go when trying to find the perfect gift, is our friend Google. Consider the questions your potential customers may be asking when searching for gifts. Have a search for yourself to see how you can encourage shoppers to choose your products with Google Ads.

11. Keep your staff in the festive mood

Extended hours and extra walk-in customers means your staff might become drained and unmotivated. Remember to keep them motivated during this time with incentives and festive season cheer. Your staff is the face of your business, and you want your customers to have a happy, festive shopping experience. And that starts with their interaction with your staff.

12. Vouchers

As much as you can encourage and guide your customers to purchase something, sometimes it’s just too hard to choose. When all else fails, make sure you have gift cards ready with enough vouchers. You can tailor these vouchers towards the festive season for extra charm.

Happy Holidays!

So there you have it. We look forward to seeing all the festivities. And we’re wishing our clients and their customers a happy holiday season, full of sales, sun and most importantly, smiles.

As always, if you need anything from us, please don’t hesitate to reach out.