The holiday season is the perfect time for small businesses to get creative with their marketing initiatives. With festive messaging and holiday-centric ideas, you can boost brand visibility and build connections within your community. Switching up your marketing is also a great way to relate to your audience’s needs and improve profitability during the busy holiday season.
If you own an HVAC company, med spa, or other small business in your community, you may wonder how you can join in on the holiday fun with your marketing approach. In this article, we’ll explore 10 versatile holiday marketing ideas you can consider this holiday season. Here’s everything you need to know:
1. TikTok Storytelling Series
Short-form video is an engaging marketing tactic that can be great for storytelling or sharing experiences. Creating a series is a great way to humanize your brand and keep your customers coming back to hear more. Some holiday-centric storytelling ideas include:
- Highlight local charities or give-back initiatives
- Tell the story of your brand
- Highlight the use cases for your products
- Holiday product guide for different audiences
- Create a how-to guide for the holidays
You can also post these videos on Instagram Reels or share them in your email marketing to maximize your reach.
2. Charitable Donations for Items Sold
A great give-back campaign you can do this holiday season is to make a donation for every item that is sold. This is a great way to support local charities in your community and build rapport with your target audience.
It can also help boost sales and increase profits. For this holiday marketing idea, you can choose a specific item or service to give charitable donations. For example, if you own an HVAC company, you can contribute 10% of every service sold in December to a charity of your choice. This small donation will excite your customers while highlighting your contributions to the community. To maximize your marketing, you can also track how much money is raised on social media or in a newsletter to generate excitement.
3. Pre-Made Bundle Gift Ideas
Pre-made gift boxes are a grab-and-go option for last-minute people searching for a high-value holiday gift. It’s a great low-cost idea that’s useful, festive, and has a high perceived value. When creating pre-made gift ideas, create different bundle gifts based on interests. Some ideas to consider include:
- Gifts for him
- Gifts for her
- Gifts for food lovers
- Gifts for your mother-in-law
- Gifts for the hosts
- Gifts for pet lovers
4. Holiday Promotions for the New Year
Booked and busy all of December? Set up a new year campaign instead. December is the perfect time to plan your New Year initiatives and to start planning special offers and promotions for January. Switching up your marketing to focus on New Year’s instead of Christmas is a great way to get recognized and improve brand visibility during the holidays. Some fun New Year’s inspired ideas include:
- Buy now, save in the new year
- New Year, new me discount
- Gift card bonus with purchase
- Introductory offers on memberships
- “Resolution-ready” savings
5. Holiday-Centric Social Media Contest
Social media contests are a fun-filled way to grow your following and boost online brand visibility during the holiday season. Some holiday-centric social media contests you can consider:
- Tag your friend’s giveaway
- Share a photo or video contest
- “Caption this post” contest
- Ask a trivia question
- Like, comment, share giveaway
- Partnership giveaway
- Rewards and loyalty giveaways
6. Offer Free Gift Wrapping
Let’s face it – some people are too busy to wrap all their gifts themselves! Offering gift wrapping is an affordable value-add that can help drive more sales and improve first impressions with new customers. You can decide to offer gift wrapping for all in-store purchases or set a specific amount threshold. Free gift wrapping will impress your clients and is a great way to build rapport with your community.
7. Refer a Friend Holiday Bonus
If you own a med spa, HVAC, law firm, or accounting firm, you know just how important referrals are to your business. A great way to get more referrals during the holidays is to offer a special referral bonus. You can also give out special services, discounts, and offers to loyal customers who refer a friend during the holiday season. With this initiative, you can continue to get high-value leads during the busy time of the year and set yourself up for success in the new year.
8. Reward Loyal Customers With Loyalty Programs
Rewarding loyal customers is a great way to increase customers’ lifetime value while improving customer retention. Here are some creative ways to reward loyalty during the holidays:
- Offer special “thank you” discounts
- Increase loyalty points for purchases during the holidays
- Gift with purchase offer
- Offer free shipping to individuals with an account
- Offer double points on purchases during December
9. Partner With a Local Business
Partnerships can help you get your small business noticed by a new audience. It’s also a great way to boost sales and improve brand visibility in your community. Some creative ways to partner with other businesses during the holidays include:
- Partnership bundle social media giveaway
- Charity event partnership
- Co-hosted holiday gift guide
- Co-branded direct mailers
- Co-branded holiday events
10. Get Festive With Email Marketing
Email marketing is an invaluable marketing channel that every brand should consider taking advantage of during the holidays. Email marketing is a must-have to promote giveaways, promotions, and special offers. This is also a great way to ensure your brand gets noticed in the inbox and your offers are top of mind throughout the holidays. Some ways to switch up your email marketing strategy to align with the holidays include:
- Add a countdown clock for a sense of urgency
- Use festive fonts, colors, and imagery
- Highlight discounts
- Create a storytelling newsletter series
Elevate Your Marketing With Townsquare Interactive
At Townsquare Interactive, we specialize in helping small businesses maximize their results with highly effective marketing campaigns. We’re here to help you get noticed during the holiday season and ensure you maintain these results well into the new year. We provide business management software and digital marketing solutions to help you run and grow your business.
Contact us today to learn more.