Lunch and Learn: How to market your business this Christmas

In this Lunch and Learn, marketing expert Anna Morrish explains how to make the most of the festive period to increase your search volume, keyword rankings and sales. Watch to find out what your business should be doing not only in the run-up to Christmas but afterwards, as we enter the new year.

Anna is the founder of Quibble, a full-service digital marketing agency aimed at giving small and medium businesses access to digital PR and SEO services that only larger businesses could traditionally afford.

She has over 10 years' worth of marketing experience and has worked with both small and medium-sized businesses, all the way up to the likes of eBay and Slimming World.

Key takeaways from this session:

• Learn how to prepare and plan ahead for Christmas

• Discover ways to maximise sales in the run-up to Christmas and afterwards

• Find out how to connect with a wider audience

Summary of Anna's key points from the webinar

Preparation and planning

• Christmas is approaching, so it's important to prepare. If you haven't made any plans yet, now's a good time to start.

• For B2C businesses, this is the peak time for sales and making money from customers and a wider audience. B2B businesses, on the other hand, should focus on new contracts and reviewing things from January to May. It's crucial to start building relationships and nurturing leads during this time.

• When to start preparing for marketing? It's best to have a 12-month marketing calendar and begin planning in January. Plot out the events you want to market throughout the year.

• To make the most of Christmas and the new year sales, prepare in advance. Start planning now if you haven't already. Develop ideas for sales and offers, and gather collateral and assets. Take a look at what other businesses are doing.

• Create a plan that outlines your Christmas activities and write it down, either on paper or on a spreadsheet. Start by determining what you need to do on 1 November and continue with the preparations leading up to the holiday.

• This could include promotions for new products or upcoming sales, such as advent calendars, which are highly popular. The Twelve Days of Christmas is a significant event.

• Once you've organised your priorities and made a plan, you can feel more at ease and confident in your abilities.

Key dates

• Currently, it's Amazon Prime Day. Many people are already thinking about their Christmas shopping. Some have even started or finished their shopping already.

• 1 November marks the appropriate time to begin discussing Christmas. It's the date when your marketing approaches should shift towards a more festive tone when communicating with your customers. So, once Halloween is over, begin implementing some of your festive marketing activities.

• On 24 November this year, there is Black Friday. Whether you participate or not is your choice. Black Friday is a good date to remember if you focus on products, as you may want to offer some deals during that time. Many people will be searching for offers and comparing you to your competitors. Even if you don't take part this year, observe what others are doing and consider it for next year's plan.

• On 27 November, after Black Friday, there is Cyber Monday, with many sales occurring during this period.

• For B2C businesses, it's important to communicate the cut-off date for Christmas orders, which usually falls between 16 and 20 December.

• Most people complete their Christmas shopping by the end of November. In December, you'll mainly encounter people who haven't been as organised and are still in the process of shopping for gifts.

Setting goals

• Before setting your goals, consider what you want to achieve. Keep in mind that if you're starting late, you may not see the same results. For B2C, the focus is on increasing sales. Take into account your previous sales history and the growth you've experienced. Use the customer data available to you.

• In a B2B context, you may want to generate more leads, establish relationships, and increase the number of proposals. It's important to remember that leads may take some additional consideration before converting. It's necessary to determine what goals you want to achieve and the effort you need to put in to achieve them.

• Make sure to confirm any offers or sales that will occur leading up to Christmas, including Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the January and Boxing Day sales. Organise and inform your team about the details so everyone's clear on what products will be on sale and what they need to promote. Remember, it's a team effort.

Budgeting

• Budgets are important for various aspects of your business. This includes outsourcing support for managing orders and design work for marketing assets. You may also need a budget for social media ads and giveaways to build a community and increase your social following. Having a set budget for these activities is wise.

• In January, you may review your budgets and your strategy for the coming year. Consider the messaging on the website, as well as the need to create new blogs, guides, landing pages and email marketing. Design these elements so they carry you through to the new year. Keep in mind that people may not have a lot of money after the holidays, so offering special deals can help maintain sales.

User experience (UX)

• If you haven't been reviewing your user experience (UX) regularly, now's the time. You need to put effort into increasing sales, and you should allocate a budget to ensure visitors have a seamless user experience on your website. The user should have a perfect experience from landing on the site to making a purchase or engaging with you in any way. This could include signing up for newsletters, if that's one of our goals.

• You could invite your family and friends to visit and navigate your site. Take a look at the experience of purchasing – what is that experience like? Ask for feedback and make changes accordingly.

Website landing pages

• You may also want to create landing pages specifically for Christmas. This could include offers, special gifts or products that you want to promote during the holiday season. Consider the various types of landing pages required, such as Christmas gifts for different recipients or interests. It's important to categorise the products on your website accordingly.

• For B2B businesses, you could offer a festive bundle, such as a festive service or a freebie, as part of your marketing strategy.

• Consider revisiting the specific landing pages that you can focus on with your social media, email marketing and advertisements. You'll need to use specific email templates and design elements. It's important to maintain consistency in messaging, styling and branding.

Tracking and analytics

• You need to set up your tracking, including Google Analytics, to make sure all of your conversions and goals are properly configured. Also consider segmenting your data for accuracy and effectiveness.

• You can set up UTM tracking to follow users from your website. This will help you see which campaigns are working, and what you should repeat. Knowing what's effective and what's working (and isn't working) is crucial for future campaigns and budget planning.

• There may be some advertisements that you want to run again, or some promotional materials you want to make available.

Changing your approach for the festive season

• What are some ways to get into the festive spirit? Giving yourself a festive revamp is a simple task that you'll likely start seeing other businesses do as Christmas approaches.

• Consider adding various elements, such as a Santa-themed logo, to your website, to enhance the Christmas experience for visitors. You could also incorporate these elements into your social media channels and give everything a festive touch.

• Changing things back and forth requires some effort, but it's worth it because people will notice and get into the spirit. It's a way to attract attention, especially during the run-up to Christmas or even Halloween.

• Consider this perspective: People will engage with your brand if they see your festive activities and positive attitude towards the season. Consequently, they may also engage in any social or community-related content you share.

• Think about providing festive gift guides for your website's content. These gift ideas can be for any occasion, not just Christmas, although you make the gift ideas more specific if you like.

• When coming up with gift ideas for, say, bike lovers or coffee lovers, it's important to be specific with your keywords. Think about what people are likely to search for on Google or type into social media when looking for products like yours. Use those keywords to target your audience effectively.

• Lots of people use the search bar on TikTok. As a result, you should consider the keywords and hashtags used in social media posts, as well as the content created on websites.

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