The holiday season will be more important for small businesses in 2020 than ever before. As businesses look to rebound, the holiday sales that can make up a large portion of their yearly revenue will be vital in stabilizing operations and continuing to grow. Marketing is essential in maximizing holiday sales, and this year’s approach will need to be a bit different. Here we look at the importance, benefits and strategy behind paid social media advertising, nurturing current customers, and content marketing.

Paid Social Media Advertising

“Paid social media is a method of displaying advertisements or sponsored marketing messages on popular social media platforms, and targeting a specific sub-audience. Pay-per-click advertising, branded or influencer-generated content, and display ads are all examples of paid social media.” Paid social media ads allow you to get your products in front of a highly targeted audience of potential customers. While many digital strategies take time to become effective, paid ads can start bearing fruit immediately, making them a perfect fit for a holiday marketing push. They are best used in conjunction with organic posting as advertisements only remain viable as long as you’re paying for them.

Some of the benefits of paid social media ads include:

• Amplify your reach
• Fit any budget
• Enhance your targeting
• Boost brand awareness
• Maximize your content marketing
• Gain access to mobile users
• Gather market insights

Some tips for developing your ads:

• Know what business objective you're trying to achieve
• Know your target audience
• Let your organic posts inform your ads
• Pay for what matters: Impressions or engagement
• Design your ads with mobile in mind
• Test your ads to optimize performance
• Measure results—and report on them

Nurture Current Customers

Typically, about half of your holiday sales revenue will come in the form of repeat customers.  Focusing your holiday marketing efforts on those that are already familiar with and loyal to your brand can make for extremely effective and efficient campaigns. “Depending on which study you believe, and what industry you're in, acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one.”

Some tips for nurturing your current customers include:

• Send greeting cards
• Keep lines of communication with customers open
• Know the stages of customer loyalty
• Provide customer support
• Ask for customers' opinions
• Don't overlook current customers in your marketing
• Adapt your business plan/model
• Implement email drip campaigns
• Develop a loyalty rewards program
• Create a referral program

Content Marketing

Creating blog articles, videos, graphics and social media posts to promote your holiday sales, events or contests can amp up awareness and drive holiday revenue. “The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as: a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

Some key benefits of content marketing include:

• More on-site content
• Higher domain authority
• More referral traffic
• More social traffic (and followers!)
• Improved brand reputation
• Tighter customer/reader relationships
• Universal utility
• Decreased marketing costs and compounding value

A few tips to help you gain traction:

• Only Publish Your Very Best Material—and Be Consistent
• Evaluate the Success of Your Content with Data
• Repurpose Your Content
• Be Bold and Speak Your Mind (Especially When Others Don't Dare)
• Go After Specific Keywords with Your Content
• Back Up Your Arguments with Data
• Ensure Your Content Reflects Your Brand's Voice

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