What You Need to do Now for a Successful Holiday Sales Season!

Planning for successful holiday selling season

Three years after the pandemic and the supply chain crisis, having a successful 2023 holiday sales season will be challenging. What’s the challenge this year? Inflation. The cost of many staple items is still going up, as are interest rates. As either a retail brick-and-mortar location or an ecommerce store, what can you do to make 2023 a profitable holiday season for your business?

What’s Expected this Holiday Sales Season…

Holiday sales tips for retail & ecommerce stores.

Chip West of Vericast, who watches national consumer trends and data, said inflation would continue to be a “significant issue” this holiday season, with shoppers keen on “deal-seeking” and willing to bypass a favored retailer for a better deal elsewhere.

Half of the survey respondents said they plan to use more coupons for holiday shopping, according to the survey. One-third will keep an eye out for coupons in the mail or through a newspaper; a similar number will watch for online promotions.

Nevertheless, Vericast’s poll of nearly 1,900 consumers indicated 25% plan to spend more this year and 40% say they’ll spend the same as in 2022.

The Daily Gazette: Down to Business: Survey shows Christmas shoppers will be more price conscious

Given that, it behooves you to start strategizing and planning super early for this holiday sales season. 

Optimize for Search

You want to be found when people are searching for what you have to offer. And we switch from your regular target market to the gift-giver. That person may be looking for gift ideas — it’s up to you to provide them and make sure they come up in search.

Each of the networks has its own internal search engine that rivals Google. It’s important that you fill out your about sections, bios, product descriptions, etc., completely. Moreover, not just on your website — including meta descriptions — but on each social media network. Furthermore, each description and bio should be keyword-centric. Avoid flowery language. Especially on X (Formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Pinterest where you only have 160 characters for a bio. Facebook gives you a lot of space as does LinkedIn. Take advantage of it.

On Pinterest, you have 500 characters for descriptions on both boards and pins. Use it! Don’t just pin items, go into Pinterest and edit each board and pin with those important keywords.

10 Tips to help you get a jump start on a Successful Holiday Sales Season:

holiday sales season shopping
  1. You must realize that your gift-giver may be a different target than the people you’ve been marketing to. For instance, if you sell women’s accessories, you’ve been targeting women of a certain age. Now, you need to target their husbands or boyfriends — the gift-giver. Do some research to figure out how best to reach them.
  2. Choose the right social media network. If you’re promoting a local event venue for corporate parties (B2B), then you’ll want to focus heavily on LinkedIn and Google Business. If you’re an ecommerce site, then Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest are going to be your primary networks. But, don’t forget that LinkedIn users are consumers, too! And, of course, you’ve got the younger generation on TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube!
  3. Create great enticing graphics. You need to stand out above all the other posts — not just your competition! Use only sharp, quality graphics and videos. For instance, videos and animated gifs are more eye-catching than static, still photographs. I like Canva.com. It’s a free graphics tool and they have all the templates you need. Use the 800 x 800 standard social media graphic template for all the networks.
  4. Don’t use the same images over an over again. You don’t want to be boring. There are plenty of free-use graphics out there. I like Pixabay.com. Also, you can create new graphics easily — even animated ones — with the free online graphics tool, Canva.com.
  5. Change your social media cover graphics to reflect the holidays. I’d do this immediately! Furthermore, keep an eye on your competition to see when they’ve switched over to the holiday mode. Canva free templates for all the social media cover graphic — the banners — in the correct dimensions.
  6. Diversify the people in your pictures. You want to make sure you’ve got everyone that’s a gift-giver covered! Don’t use the same type of people in your pictures. For instance, if you’re trying to reach the male gift-giver, show a picture of a guy giving a gal a gift.
  7. Christmas Shopping Cart & GiftsShowcase your best gift-giving ideas on your website or social networks. Like, “gifts for men”, “gifts for kids”, “gifts for women”, “gifts under $__”, etc. Create a board on Pinterest for each category. Then, pin pictures from your website there.
  8. Do some fun videos. As I mentioned above, videos and animations are more eye-catching than still photographs and graphics. Have fun. First, not all videos need to be professionally done. Second, use your phone or tablet to record impromptu, casual videos with greetings and messages. Third, upload them everywhere: YouTube, Instagram Stories and Reels, Snapchat, Facebook, & LinkedIn. In addition, embed them in your blog. As a time-saver, use Sendible to schedule out your posts to the various networks.
  9. Make sure to cover all the holidays! It’s not just Christmas! There’s Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, too. Also, what about New Years? You may want to change cover graphics to celebrate the new year.
  10. Budget some ad spending dollars. Face it, you might just have to spend some money to increase your reach. Moreover, what’s nice about social media advertising, is that with just a little investment, you can reach a lot of people. Furthermore, you can specifically target your audience. Again, look at your competition. How are you going to stand-out? How are you going to reach that gift-giver?

Don’t Sweat It! Plan It!

Get ready for the holiday sales season

Finally, be flexible! Don’t freak out when something you ordered will not come in time. Also, be absolutely clear to your customers on your website on shipping and return policies. Customers are aware that they pick up the shipping costs. It may behoove you to check out your main competitors and see how much they’re charging for shipping. Shop carriers, too! 

Need some guidance? Let’s start with a free 15-minute phone consult and we can talk about your goals for the season. Click here to schedule one today!


Want to do it yourself? Then, here is the step-by-step guide that you need. Available for the Amazon Kindle app!

The Blueprint: Strategies for Effective Social Media and Digital Marketing
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The Blueprint: Strategies for Effective Social Media & Digital Marketing Your Total Digital Marketing Strategy Solution!
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