Holiday Marketing Tips to Reel in Christmas Sales

With Christmas just around the corner, the holiday spending spike is happening now. Is your business prepared to capitalize on the season? Will you end the year on a high note? Or will you be limping into 2010?

From email marketing to your PPC campaign and everything in between, a holiday makeover to your marketing campaigns could be your ticket to reeling in those Christmas sales. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your holiday marketing efforts.

• Play up the holiday theme in your emails—Your holiday email marketing should be holiday-centric from head to toe. Your subject lines should focus on special Christmas offers, and the design of your emails should have a Christmas theme so they stand out from the emails you send the rest of the year.

• Be careful not to overdo it—Your company isn’t the only one putting its email marketing campaign into overdrive for the holidays. Your readers’ inboxes are overflowing with offers. Just make sure you don’t overdo it. Emailing your subscribers too often puts you at risk for annoying them and causing them to view you as a spammer. By all means, increase the frequency of your emails as Christmas approaches, but don’t cross that overkill line.

• Be a friend to last minute shoppers—Let’s face it: A lot of us wait until the last possible minute to do our shopping. If you can offer shipping solutions and special deals to accommodate last-minute shoppers, you could put your company in a profitable position. You may even consider offering printable gift certificates that can instantly be delivered to the customer via email. Don’t forget, gift cards account for about 10% of all holiday spending.

• Be creative—A creative holiday promotion can help separate your business from all the others. I’ve seen a few businesses run “12 days of _____” promotions very successfully. Finding an interesting way to incorporate the holidays into your sales promotions can get your customers into the Christmas (and spending) spirit.

• Customize your website—Show your website visitors that your company is offering hot holiday deals by customizing your website with a Christmas theme. It makes your website feel more personal and warm during this wonderful time of the year. Customizing your website for Christmas doesn’t have to be a hassle. It can be as simple as altering your logo with a Santa hat or something else Christmas related.

• Don’t overlook PPC—Don’t forget to incorporate the holidays into your PPC campaign as well. This includes everything from targeting seasonal keywords to altering your call to action to include references to special Christmas deals. It’s all about being relevant. Customers shopping for Christmas gifts are going to be attracted to special Christmas deals highlighted in your AdWords copy.

Above all else, make sure you have the infrastructure in place to meet your customers’ needs quickly and easily. Review your checkout process to be sure it’s working correctly for a smooth transaction. Make sure your customer service representatives are providing fast, reliable service for Christmas shoppers who are in a hurry.

How have you changed your marketing efforts for the holidays? Share your tips in the replies.