My favoritist (I know it isn’t a word), time of the year is Christmas. I love everything about the holiday season – the gift wrapping, decorations, parties, food, gift-giving and more. While everyone around me is super irritated that retailers are rolling out the holiday marketing, I could not be more excited.
As a small business, the holidays are a great time for us to get creative with our marketing. Here are my recommendations for making the most out of the holiday season. Also, it is already October so you need to get cracking on the planning.
- Blogging. Publish a gift guide that is specific to your industry. Even if we aren’t in the consumer goods industry, 8THIRTYFOUR still loves to give recommendations on what is the hottest in professional gifts. Last year we focused on Grand Rapids’ businesses.
- Greeting cards. It isn’t cliche’, so don’t say that. Work with a designer to capture your company brand in a holiday greeting. If you really want to stand out from the heaps of cards businesses receive, then consider a Thanksgiving or New Year’s mailer.
- Give back. Pick a local charity, cause or create your own. Engage your clients and give them the opportunity to partner with you. For example you could do a gift drive or sponsor multiple families in need. Coordinate all the logistics and make it easy for your clients to participate if they choose to.
- Gifts. As a small business we invest in client holiday gifts every year. Pick a theme like “Made in Michigan” or “Made in Grand Rapids” or “Holiday Cocktails.” If you don’t have time to coordinate, then work with a local company like, Russo’s International Market to create a custom gift basket.
- Party! Host a get together for clients, partners and employees. Pick a date and time that is going to be convenient during the busy holiday season. Maybe instead of afternoon or evening, you host a breakfast with all of the fixings.
These are some pretty easy ways to engage in the holidays, if you feel like getting even more creative then give us a call. We like to think big, like real big.
