Here are my top 10 tips for getting your small business holiday ready:

1. Audit your website and social media platforms.

Is everything up to date? Are any links, information, or graphics old and out of date? This is the time to get your site and socials sparkling! This is also the time to make sure that your website is mobile friendly. This will help you greatly with your friend Google!

 

2. Have your gift card game ready. 

Did you know the holidays are when the most amount of people purchase gift cards? Make sure you’re ready to offer this to your customers. Include a special element with the gift card and make it even more personal—a special bag, a handwritten note. 

 

3. Sneak peek what you’re going to offer.

Your customers want to be involved in the process so take them behind the scenes. Maybe that looks like showing them the boxes of the products being delivered to you and excitedly opening them up on social media, or simply tell a story about where your products or services came from. Take your customers on a journey!

 

4. Have your holiday photos and graphics ready.

‘Tis the season for some jolly photos! Now make sure you’re staying on brand with yourself, but incorporating the fun holiday season into your photos and graphics. Customers love to see a theme and get to move through the calendar year with their favorite shops!

 

5. Focus on customer acquisition and retention.

During this season, you’ll see new and returning customers and you’ll want to be prepared for both. What types of special offers can you offer to your past customers so they return? How can you create a great experience for new customers that they will become returning customers?

 

6. Take advantage of Small Business Saturday.

This is a massive day for sales for us entrepreneurs, and when people buy from a small business they want to know they’re impacting something greater. How can you make the focus about your family? Let your customers know who they’re benefitting when they make a purchase with you. People are much more excited to help a family pay for dance classes, especially when it feels personal to them.

 

7. Get reviews on your products.

Now is the time to get feedback on the products and services you’ll be selling. If you don’t have any reviews, you’ll want to ask those who have used your products or services to leave one for you. This helps with credibility and also allows you to get great feedback.

 

8. Team up with social media influencers.

This could be an organic connection or a paid promotion. Connect with influencers that you align with and ask them to promote your product. This could look like being reviewed publicly on social media or being added to a “holiday gift guide”.

 

9. Make sure your customer service is excellent.

This is the time of year your customer service will make the biggest difference to your customers. Whether it’s personalized touches, immediate responses or going the extra mile to make sure an order gets in their hands before the holiday. If you’re slammed and struggling to keep up, maybe now is the time to invite someone in to help you, even if only during the busy season. 

 

10. Check out those analytics.

If you aren’t yet looking at your analytics, this isn’t something you’ll want to wait on. Look back to last year’s holiday season and see what worked, and what didn’t. Focus your efforts (and $$) on the areas that were wins in your business. Seeing where the numbers fell last year will allow you to plan better for this year.