Five practical marketing tips to make money this holiday season

The ultimate goal of any business is to make money and so any marketing efforts that are undertaken must positively affect the business’s bottom line.  With Christmas only a few weeks away and other shopping holidays in between such as Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, here are some practical marketing tips to make sure your small business’s bottom line smiles this season.

1.    Pre-orders and appointments – Pre-orders and appointments are synonymous to guaranteed cash for small businesses.  Some clients will go as far as making a deposit on their pre-order.  Secure as many pre-orders and appointments as you possibly can, this will definitely result in money in your business account.

2.    Host a sales event – Hosting a sales day or ongoing sale is one way to move inventory but making the sales day an event with other customer engagement activities can generate even more sales.  Have a special to attract walk-ins and newly referred customers.  Offer discounts or BOGO on old inventory and special offer on new inventory.  If your business is fashion, a fashion show can showcase your new stock better than a mannequin and if you’re releasing new food-based products, a DIY session, tasting or menu suggestion increases the practicality of the product and increases the likelihood of the product being purchased.

3.    Create a customer referral/incentive programme with a timeline – This is a great time to launch a customer referral and incentive programme but put a timeline on it.  Remember, the aim is to make money for the holiday season, so a referral programme that is defined by time with specific incentives and coded offers can help your small business capitalise on sales this season.

4.    Get your products on shelves – Formally, this is called increasing market access but in lay man’s terms get the product into the eyes of consumers, the more shelves your products are on, the more likely they are to be seen and purchased.

5.    Upselling – Upselling is a great way to earn revenue for the business.  While upselling is a sales technique, it engages the customers once they enter the business space and encourages them to purchase more, upgrade or buy additional products to generate more revenue.  Upselling really exposes the customer to other options that were not considered before.  The intention with upselling is not to be pushy but to highlight the benefits of purchasing a higher end product.