Holiday Marketing during Covid 2020

What holiday promotional opportunities are awaiting B2C and B2B business owners and marketing managers?

Covid-19 has brought a change into the typical holiday season marketing.  Holiday Marketing during Covid 2020 is going to be tricky.  The same-old may not work for your small business. Find out what adjustments you should make with your small business plans here.

From October through January, every small business owner should be anticipating what’s to come.  Obviously holiday sales are on the horizon for retailers, however, many newcomer ecommerce shops and those planning virtual events offer more avenues to spread their holiday cheer.

Read the Facebook Holiday Marketing Guide here.  With insight and inspiration, find out how to get your business page more visitors for this upcoming Holiday season.

Get Started Now!

Don’t forget about email marketing when Holiday Marketing during Covid 2020. Update your email marketing list to send out digital holiday messages to customers & clients, reps and vendors/suppliers.  Schedule your drip campaign messages accordingly.

This is also the time to dive into your holiday ordering and shipping processes. Anticipate volume increasing and hire more staff accordingly.  Investigate your sales numbers from previous seasons to give you a sense of expectations.

Many supply chains are running low during the pandemic.  They key here is to plan, plan, plan, and be ready to change course if your suppliers don’t have inventory.

Do you also need to deliver holiday baskets or gifts to loyal customers?  Add this into your frenzied upcoming schedule.  Schedule shipments way in advance so they arrive on time.

November 26th-Thanksgiving

 

The obvious turkey and ‘give thanks’ posts are very common.  Shake it up a bit and add unique flair.  Since Thanksgiving will not be celebrated with extended family members in the colder climates (unless they snagged some outdoor heaters), think about how to reach those nuclear families with your brand and service offerings. Ramp up to Thanksgiving and Black Friday with these email marketing suggestions from Constant Contact.

 

November 27th-Black Friday

 

Get Ready, Set and Go!  This is the big day.  But it’s just been given a tailspin from Coronavirus.  What’s a small business owner to do besides encourage mask-wearing and social distancing?

Crazy enough, think outside of what big box retailers are doing.  How about creating your own Black Friday on a different date.  That way you aren’t in direct competition with the big box retailers.
See more suggestions about how to gain momentum for Black Friday shopping blitzes in this Bloomsberg article.

November 28th, 30th, and December 1st
-Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and #GivingTuesday

American Express created small Business Saturday to help the local retailers who were getting overlooked on Black Friday. This year, the resources for Shop Small® include a workshop on October 20th for business owners, resources for black-owned businesses, a shop small® map of participating businesses and more.  Click here.

Cyber Monday is November 30th.  Most consumers have adjusted over the past several months to buying almost everything and anything (raise your hand if you bought a Peloton!) online.  Cyber Monday celebrates that.  Perhaps stockpiling toilet paper can take a back seat while you gear up your small business to an online Ecommerce presence, ready to take on Cyber Monday.  Need more ideas for Cyber Monday? Read this !

On Giving Tuesday, because of Covid-19, most donors plan to maintain or increase the amount they give to charities.  This is terrific news for non-profits.  But it also brings the bad news of less volunteering during the pandemic.  Small businesses can join in on Giving Tuesday by highlighting all of the community support they have given to local non-profits over the past year.  Consumers love businesses that give back and help others.

Thursday, December 10-Friday, December 18

Hanukkah

Try to get on “Top 10 lists of what to buy for Hanukkah” to sell your product or service.  You can do this by signing up for HARO, Help a Reporter Out, and answer queries related to your product/service.
Post a menorah with lit candles to commemorate Hanukkah with your customers who celebrate.  Encourage your customers to share their Hanukkah celebrations with your brand.

Create a ‘Hanukkah or Holiday Gift Guide’ for your customers. Suggest gift ideas, cross promote other businesses within the guide and read this article for more creative ideas.

December 25th Christmas

Christmas this year is unlike any other.  Making the shopping experience as safe as possible for consumers with options like curbsite, contactless pickup, and less face-to-face interaction, will be the key to driving sales for small businesses.
Business2Community, in a recent article about Holiday marketing in 2020, came up with some clever ideas and adjustments because of Covid-19:

For example:

  • An entrepreneur in the hospitality industry could offer an “experience in a box” for customers who can’t travel right now.
  • A clothing retailer could focus more on casually chic clothing people can wear in or out of the home, rather than on high heels and festive dresses.
  • A sporting goods retailer could highlight solo sports like skiing and swimming in newsletter campaigns, to encourage socially distancing folks to get out into nature.”  

 

January 1st-New Year


For many health-related businesses, this is the perfect opportunity for potential customers to hear your message of fitness, wellness and good nutrition.
Give prospects an idea of what their new year’s resolutions may look like.  For example, post the following on social media “This new year, 2020, I resolve to …..”  (fill in the blank with how they may use your product or service).

The best gift you may give to your customers is holiday cheer, so no matter what you decide to do for your holiday promotional messages, thank your supporters and uplift them with your holiday spirit.  This year is especially challenging to everyone, mentally and financially.  Stay positive and upbeat with your messaging. Add humor to your social media posts and emails.  Create new opportunities to your product/service offerings. And don’t forget to spread joy!

Do you have any more unique marketing suggestions for the 2020 holiday season?  Email us at info@highkeyimpact.com.

Cheryl Friedenberg, President
High Key Impact, LLC
Digital Marketing Consulting for Small Business Owners
www.highkeyimpact.com
cheryl@highkeyimpact.com

Digital Marketing Consultant Secrets Revealed

The Ultimate List for Small Business Owners.
Digital Marketing Consultant Secrets Revealed!

As a small business owner with a website, the ultimate question you should be asking is “What else should I do to get my business found by potential customers?”

What do I need in order to get my small business found on the web?

There are a plethora of tools available, both free and paid, supporting your marketing efforts online.  However, small businesses may not have the time and manpower to take advantage of these supports.

Read the following list of Google tools and supports and find a way to set these up ASAP:

Google My Business
Sign up for a business listing, add your logo, add a cover photo, fill in key business details, upload photos and get verified.
Take a look at how a Google My Business listing for my business, High Key Impact, LLC shows on a Google search. (below)
(It’s the box with my profile photo and map on the right side)

 

Google Maps
Do a run-through using directions from Google Maps to find your business location.  Map your address from a variety of locations.  The ultimate ‘map-app’ helping customers find your small business location is key!  Let’s make sure it works properly.

Google Analytics
You have a small business website presence, but how do you know it is working correctly?  Google Analytics is another free tool available from Google.  Sign up for Analytics (search “google analytics” while signed in), ask your website developer to add the code and within days you will see your website’s visitor data. While there are several key data items in Analytics, ask yourself what numbers are most important to your service or product.

Read this Beginner’s Guide to find how to read and interpret Google Analytics data.

Google Search Console
Keywords are the ultimate search tool used on websites.  Many small business owners believe their keywords are all set, however, changes in business focus drive changes in keywords.  Need help from Google with your keywords?  Ask your website developer to set up Google Search Console.  Here’s a video all about how Google Search Console works.
Keywords should evolve as your business evolves.  Schedule keywords checks every month or so to make adjustments based upon ever-changing marketing focus.  

Google Reviews
Many recent articles about Google algorithms state that Google rewards the businesses with multiple Google reviews.  Listed below are several ideas how to ask for a Google review:

-Ask your customers directly.
-Send a reviews email campaign.  Create an email with a link tied directly to your Google My Business review box. Here’s how to create that link.
-Sign up for a text review service such as www.getfivestars.com.

YouTube ChannelYou Tube
Within a Google My Business account, go ahead and create a branded YouTube account.  With the influx of video marketing becoming the ‘go-to’ reach tool for most products or services, YouTube videos are key in video marketing. Watch this video to see how to create a business YouTube Channel for improved results.

Google+
What else helps local search SEO for small businesses?  Google+!  Google+ is part of the Google My Business suite and a simple tool to share more digital posts about your industry and company information.  Check out this article all about the benefits of Google+.

Do you use these marketing tools mentioned above?  What works best for your small business?

While uncovering most of the Google suite ‘marketing secrets’ in this blog, I realize there are more items to unveil in an upcoming blog entitled “Digital Marketing Consultant Secrets Revealed Part 2.”–Stay Tuned!

Cheryl Friedenberg cheryl@highkeyimpact.com, www.highkeyimpact.com

 

What’s the Latest In Social Media Marketing?

Read further for the latest news and helpful digital marketing information geared towards small businesses.

What’s the Buzz All About?  Did you hear about National Siblings Day?  Or perhaps you saw all of your friends posting old or new family photos? What a fantastic viral marketing campaign!  Here is the story behind #nationalsiblingday on April 10, 2016.

Facebook Post ReachFrom Hubspot.com.  This article discusses the decline of organic Facebook reach and how businesses are turning to paid boosts, more selective posts and personalized fan marketing in order to stay relevant with their page followers.

Customizing Your Facebook Business Page:  From Hubspot.com. There are various tools on the Facebook page which are not well-known.  For example, creating a customized Facebook URL will help you promote your Facebook page outside of the digital world in a simpler manner.  Also, check your ‘call to action’ button on your page.  Hubspot.com explains how to maximize Facebook Page tools, helping your business widen it’s reach.

Should you Pay For Social Media Marketing: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+ have introduced highly scale able, paid platforms for spreading the word about your small business.  Are these for you? Read more here.

Small Business Owners: All You Need To Do Is Ask

 

Over the past several years, our digital marketing brains have been introduced to a new array of tools including a variety of social media platforms, blogs, email marketing, search engine optimization, pay per click and so much more. Everything is now online. Small businesses continue to outsource precious dollars for their online marketing footprint in the hopes of converting website visitors into a precious customer. However, there’s another way to find hot sales leads.

What about the ASK?

Asking existing customers for referrals, testimonials and reviews is an oldie but a goodie.

Here, we have compiled a list of resources for your reference when asking clients for testimonials and referrals:

1. How to Get Better Testimonials
2. Painless Testimonials
3. Ask Clients for Referrals
4. Never Underestimate the Power of a Great Testimonial
5. Ask for Reviews on Google+ and your Facebook page.
6. Video!!  Clients would feel honored if you invited them to speak on video about how your business has helped them.
7. Email request.  Send a dedicated email to your clients listing all of the ways they could review your business online.  Ask them to pick just one method.

Referral and testimonials are a powerful tool when prospective customers are searching for you online.   Have a variety of tools in your back pocket to showcase your business through your clients’ voices.