How To Brand Your Small Business For The Holiday
First comes Thanksgiving, then Black Friday sales, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday, and while we’re at it, the winter holiday season!
Filled with cold weather, Christmas cheer, and gifts, the holiday season is the perfect time for small businesses to take advantage and boost sales. Today, we will cover how to brand your small business for the holiday season.
How To Brand Your Small Business For The Holiday Season
Branding [or rebranding] your small business is not as hard as you may think. Although it takes adequate strategizing and requires a solid plan in place, these tips will have holiday shoppers stopping by your store left and right.
Plan in Advance
Seasonal branding for the holidays typically begins in early September. However, if you are just now getting a chance to pull together a strategy, dedicate a day to make concrete plans for the holiday season.
Note: Always remember that it is better to come up with a concrete plan for your business first, instead of building a plan along the way.
Make Your Brand Different
Determine the best way to make your brand unique compared to your competitors. Take time to analyze your target audience, see what they enjoy and include those aspects into your strategy. The more your audience can relate to your product and brand, the more likely they will patronize your business.
Standing out as a company can also mean tweaking your hours. If your competitors are only open during the workday, consider extending your hours a bit to catch clients that might otherwise pass you by. You never know who could view this forethought as an endearing gesture and possibly become regulars.
Invest in Unique Packaging
What better way to celebrate the holiday season than offering your customers unique themed packaging?
Use a red, green, or gold box instead of your standard shipping box for a special Christmas touch. Even consider incorporating bows and gift labels to give it that extra Christmas-gift feel.
Use Hashtags on Social Media
Having a great social media presence is a major key to successful branding for a small business. Research trending hashtags on Twitter or Instagram and include these hashtags in your social media posts. Keep the text in posts brief and compelling. Shoppers are on a mission and will scroll past your post(s) if they are too lengthy.
Don’t Change Your Logo
During seasonal promotions, feel free to add a seasonal touch to your logo to join in the holiday fun, but do not go overboard to the point that customers cannot recognize that the logo is already associated with your business.
Make subtle changes and be prepared to return the logo to its original design immediately after the holiday season ends.
Keep Track of Sales & Employee Hours Worked
Now that you know how to properly brand your small business for the Holiday season, be sure to keep track of all sales, organize receipts, and monitor employee hours worked. Accurate records of this information will be needed when you e-file your 1099s/W2s/94x series returns with TaxBandits by the upcoming January 31 deadline.
TaxBandits provides a step-by-step e-filing process that allows you to instantly complete these returns hassle-free. Create or sign into your account today and keep your small business on the right track during the holiday season!