As we lead up to the end of 2022, the festive season is now right around the corner! The end of the year can be a stressful time for businesses with increased demand for our products and services, and we can often feel overwhelmed by it all. At the same time, this is an exciting and fun period that can bring great success and growth to your business.
We’ve developed these 5 simple steps to help you make the most out of this festive season. Now doesn’t that sound like the best holiday present ever!
- Get planning now
There’s no denying that the festive season often creeps around before we even know it, sometimes leaving us unprepared. The best way to get around this is by planning ahead! This can be as simple as structuring your flow of events leading up to the end of the year, or mapping out what needs to be done during certain months or at key points in the festive season. Scheduling time to sit down and organise the big picture of your festive season is a great way to make sure you cover all bases and nothing is left too late or forgotten. Planning ahead might look like deciding events, scheduling deadlines, figuring out your holiday trading, updating your branding and social media, or informing your customers on all the fun and festive things you have in store for them. Planning things like events take time- from initial designing and organising to your marketing and sales.
- ‘Tis the season to be jolly
The best way to capitalise on the festive time is to Make it Seasonal. Everyone loves all the fun and creativity that comes with our big annual holidays including Halloween, Christmas, and New Year. Decorating spaces, creating themed food and drink, and participating in fun activities. Implementing these into your business is a great way to engage with customers and make the most out of this festive season. This can be as simple as popping up some “Christmassy” branding on your social media pages, decorating your shop front, or developing a seasonal menu. Additionally, if you really want to get on theme with the festive time, themed events can be a great way to get people involved and generate business. Examples of this can include themed lunches with uniquely curated menus, specialty holiday drinks, themed entertainment such as karaoke or live music, dress-up competitions for prizes, and more!
- Be creative
The festive season is the perfect time for you to have a bit of fun and get creative. There are many ways you can do this by first figuring out what creative elements you’d like to include. This can include creating themed designs to use for your social media and marketing, building menus, creating exciting unique events, developing entertainment, or creating new seasonal products. It’s important to remember that you still want to stay true to your business and brand- nothing too crazy or your customers might be confused. However, playing into the fun and playfulness of the festive season by being creative is a great way to stand out and offer your customers something special for this time of year.
- Promotions and sales galore
What’s everybody’s favourite holiday present? A great deal of course!
Whether you’re in the business of providing great experiences in-house, or selling amazing products online, customers across the board love specialty promotions. During this time of year, consumer spending is at an all time high. Particularly after the last few years of very, well how can we say it “unprecedented times”, people are more excited than ever to go all out for this year’s festive season. With businesses able to now fully trade again, including put on large celebratory events like they used to, it is expected that partionage to holiday events this year, as well as purchasing rates will be at an all time high. To make the most out of this, be sure to Offer Great Promotions. This could follow your usual promotions such as daily specials, drink deals, and $$$ or % off promos, leading up to the festive season. Make it even more fun by using seasonal theming for your promos, like Christmas themed specialty drinks, or online promo codes like “XMAS20”.
- Celebrate with your customers
Hands down the best part of the festive season are all the celebrations. At the end of a long year, it’s important to look back on all your hard work and success as a business and enjoy all the fun that comes at the year’s end. Your customers are the foundation of your business, so being able to celebrate the highs of the year with them not only allows you to say ‘thanks’ for their support, but helps them to feel valued and appreciated, and leave them coming back next year. Some great ways to do this might be by offering further promotions such as loyalty discounts or special offers to your customers, or simply further building a relationship with them by asking for feedback or sharing their experiences, purchases and celebrations with your business. A great way to keep this engagement going is by sharing the happiest times of the festive season through your social media and email platforms for your customers to enjoy. So be sure to smile big, say ‘cheese’, and share the best of your festivities with everyone.
It’s safe to say the festive season is a great big time of business, fun, and excitement for all. Through these 5 simple steps, we’re sure you can make the most of this festive season and celebrate all the greatness of 2022 before we say “hello” to an even better new year. If you need a hand with some marketing or graphic design, get in touch and let us help you plan the best end of year to date.