Forge Member Jacqueline Jones of One Degree MMM wrote a blog post to warn small business owners as they prepare for the holiday sale season. Pay attention entrepreneurs! You need this info:
We all know that holiday season comes at the same time every year. But for some reason, entrepreneurs and small business owners tend to treat it, each year, as though it’s a brand new concept.
Jacqueline Jones of One Degree MMM
While complaining about big box stores having their Christmas decorations up in October, they neglect to turn their attention to their own brand’s holiday plans.
Because the words holiday and sale are practically synonymous in the United States, let’s address where small business owners fall short in taking advantage of a seeming buffet of open wallets and thoughtless spending consumers.
5. Small Businesses Fail to Establish Their Marketing Process in Advance.
Figuring it out as you go along shows that you didn’t believe that your products would fly off the shelves or your services would book to capacity. In a perfect world, small business owners would establish a sales funnel that met prospective buyers at each level of their journey of interaction with their brand.
Marketing at each step helps to push your audience closer and closer to their final commitment. Further, it gives the business owner something to track to figure out where the sale gets lost in translation.
Establish your process and work on your sales funnel. If you don’t know how to pull this plan together, consult with a marketing professional to get on the right track!
4. Small Business Don’t Engage Their Audience Before The Ask.
Unfortunately, a large number of small business owners don’t speak to their audience until they have something to sell. That’s never really a good idea. It’s a worse idea in the busiest sales season of the year. Further, most small businesses primarily use social media as a way to promote and advertise their product or service. By now, we all know that algorithms favor those who are consistent.
Once you’ve made a plan for your sale, turn your attention to what you will do between now and that sale. Interacting with your customers will help build your relationship to both avoid being ignored because you only show up when you want money, and rank higher in platform algorithms. Interacting with your audience may even lead you to adjust what services or products you’ve chosen to highlight for your holiday sale. Put your ear to the streets early!
3. Small Business Don’t Invest in Promotion or Advertising to Increase Brand and Sale Awareness.
If only letting your circle friends know what you have to offer is enough for you to grow your business, GREAT! KEEP AT IT! If you are looking to scale your business and pick up new customers and clients during this busy sale season, start now figuring out what you can budget to support your fantastic holiday sale.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “You have to spend money to make money.” Well, it’s true. Social media, Google, and other platforms practically do the work for you. Your job as the marketer of your brand is to research to figure out what will work best, then put your money where your audience is.
2. Small Business Don’t Ask The Price That Generates Revenue.
The word “sale” can quickly make small business owners forget they have a bottom line. Getting caught up in the competition of it all makes brands feel forced to go lower and lower on the price curve. Stand your ground. Ask what you’re worth, even while it’s on sale.
The first step to accomplishing is having done the work of understanding your pricing in the first place. Since you’re starting early, if you haven’t done so, do it. Then stand tall and ask for the sale.
1. Small Business Wait Until The Last Minute To Make Holiday Sale Decisions.
You can’t possibly be surprised by this. This #1 mistake is the entire reason why this post exists. My team and I strive to help business owners level the sale season playing field single-handedly.
For this reason, I’ve introduced a new and limited-time consultation.
Check out the Small Business Holiday Prep Consultation available now through October 15!
Go on… GO BE GREAT! 