It’s that time of year again, how does it creep up so quickly?! November can be a strange month for sales, but use it wisely and it can be one of your most productive.
Don’t panic if it’s quiet. Remember November is always a quiet time of year, and you can use it get ahead with your Christmas products. Read on for ideas, and don’t be scared of all the lists; pick and choose as you go.
*Top Tip* A really handy software to keep you organised is Trello. It’s completely free and lets you create lists so nothing gets forgotten, and it’s dead easy to use.
Christmas Products
- Range of Christmas Products for your website – do you need any new ones or can you use existing pictures?
- Launch your Christmas Range on Social Media.
- Launch your Christmas Range via email (*Top Tip* We recommend Mailchimp!)
- Make sure MailChimp (or similar product) is up to date. Why not send an email to everyone who has shopped with you since March and give them an early-bird discount code for your Christmas Range?
- LinkedIn: Are you utilising LinkedIn for corporate work? If not, set up a profile and a business page and let all your local hotels know that when they open in December, you’re there for bouquets, door wreaths, plants and all things Christmas!
DIY Christmas Wreaths: Everyone is going mad for DIY Christmas Wreaths this year, so get yourself sorted with a product of your own if you haven’t already. If it feels like you’re jumping on the bandwagon, you’re not. You’re simply offering a product with a lot of demand, that’s just good business.
- Photograph your wreath finished, so your customer knows exactly how theirs could look
- Choose the style of DIY you’re going with. Are you providing moss and a frame or making a foliage wreath for your customer to start with?
- Photograph your wreath in pieces so the customer can see exactly what they’ll get.
- Create written instructions that guide your customer step by step, including photos of how to wire materials.
- Why not create a video of yourself making the wreath? It’s not as daunting a task as it sounds, your mobile phone will easily take a good enough video. Either task someone with taking the video, or buy a stand that your phone will attach to.
*Top Tip* Good video editing software that we recommend is Movavi. It’s a one-off cost of £50, and it’s really handy if you need to do any editing like adding a logo.
Marketing your Christmas Range: If you’ve got spare time, use it to plan your marketing week by week in the run up to Christmas. It will save you bags of time and keep you organised in December. Aim for at least 2 posts a week on your chosen social media channels.
*Top Tip* Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest are the best platforms to showcase visual products like flowers.
- Pick a product to promote each week.
- Christmas competition – you could run one soon highlighting your Christmas Wreaths to drum up a bit of excitement and increase your followers in the run up to Christmas.
- Focus on the fact that you’re a small local business. *Top Tip* Don’t forget Small Business Saturday on 5th December.
- Post snippets of your How-to Wreath video. Involving your face on social media can help your audience connect with you and product.
- Think about any add-ons. Do you currently offer extras such as candles, chocolates or bottles or wine? *Top Tip* Partnering with other local businesses is a win-win. It emphasises that you’re small independents sticking together, and the business you partner with should promote your products too.
Good luck! Planning for Christmas can seem like such a daunting task, but believe us, when you get to December 1st and all these things are ticked off your list, it will feel reallyyyy good.
If you need any help with our Top Tips, send us an email to support@strelitziasoftware.com and we’ll get back to you.