5 Holiday Business Tips to Grow Your Customer Base
Instead of letting your business coast during the holiday season, McCauley Marketing Services encourages businesses to take advantage of the bustle of potential customers in both physical and internet presences. Below, we provide tips for taking your business from “Baa-Humbug!” to a season of growth, joy, and gratitude as we head towards the New Year.
Take advantage of User Generated Content (UGC). Share photos that your fans have shared or acknowledge them through social media. Use a campaign-based hashtag on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and make sure they tag you! Ultimately, the more customers interact and feel connected with your brand, the more likely they are to keep coming back (and maybe do some holiday shopping with you, too!).
Use increased customers to build your email base. Implement giveaways and drawings for gifts and discounts that require the customer to give you their contact information to enter. Once they opt in to your mailing list, you can then use those email addresses to send out specials, sales, and news happening within your business to strengthen your email marketing.
Run specials for only customers who “like” you on Facebook or follow you on Twitter. This helps keep social media interaction flowing. A great idea for running specials is to begin them in the New Year rather than immediately. This increases the chances for customers to walk through your door again in 2014.
Keep your employees merry and bright. Customers have grown familiar with interacting with disgruntled employees during the holidays. Emphasize to your employees the importance of remaining positive and diligent not only in their work schedules, but when speaking with customers or clients. You may be surprised how far great customer service can go when it comes to people remembering to revisit your business long into the New Year. If you are able, offer employees incentives for keeping the holidays jolly with bonuses or treating them to lunch. Developing and maintaining your business’ reputation is a critical component of preserving positive customer relationships.
Show your support for local or global charities. This will not only benefit you, but an actual organization that supports those in need. Encourage your followers to support them too! This will help customers realize that you are not just trying to sell something and recognize that there are actual people behind your organization, making them more likely to support you in the future.
For more on the latest marketing tips and social platform updates, please follow McCauley Services on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest. Happy Holidays!