Pictured Tim Parker of Chula Vista Brewery of Eastlake.

The holidays are just around the corner! Is your business ready? For many small businesses, the outcome of the holiday season can be the difference between a good year and a GREAT year, and preparedness is key! Don’t get left behind this year; make sure you set your business up for the best success to brighten your holiday season. Here are five tips to maximize your sales this holiday season:

  1. Set seasonal goals and plan your promotional schedule – setting goals is a great way to gauge whether your marketing efforts are working and what sales channels work best for your business. If you don’t know where to start, a one-on-one meeting with a SCORE or SBDC counselor can be an excellent place to get advice and create attainable goals that you can track. Create a marketing calendar to map out the months ahead and decide on a promotional schedule that works for you. There are several free calendars online in various formats to fit your working style.
  2. Post your holiday specials on social media. — There’s no better way to get the word out about your holiday specials than to your fans on social media. Easy-to-use online design programs, such as Canva or VistaCreate, can be great for giving your posts a festive holiday look. If you are very busy this holiday season, there are several free tools you can use to post your content, such as Meta’s post scheduler or Hootsuite.
  3. Promote your business during Small Business Saturday on November 26. – Small Business Saturday is a nationwide movement to support small businesses that make up our local communities. Make sure you download your free marketing materials from the American Express Shop Small website to remind your neighbors to Shop Small – in-store and online – and invite visitors to pop by and say hello.
  4. Make sure your website is ready.– Will you have extended hours for the holidays? Confirm that your website is up to date with your accurate operating hours and seasonal offerings, such as holiday menus or sales. Don’t forget to update sites like Google My Business or Yelp since many customers will search for businesses through these websites. Also, ensure your contact information is correct, and if you have a brick-and-mortar location, the address is easily found on your site. If you aren’t collecting email addresses for your contact list, this is a great time to add an email form to begin communicating directly with your customers. Another way to measure your success this holiday season is to confirm that you have Google Analytics installed on your site to see where your customers are coming from and how people discover your business.
  5. Secure the capital you need.– do you have the inventory you need to meet your sales goals? You also might need to hire seasonal staff or have funds on hand to make an investment in marketing. Accessity can help businesses with funding up to $100,000 for inventory, hiring employees, marketing, or making tenant improvements such as setting up a holiday display. We can even fund our Rapid Loan up to $8,000 in as little as three days. Contact us today to see what your options are.

Accessity can help you get started achieving your goals today – our team is highly experienced and can answer any questions and provide you with free resources such as business, financial, credit, and more advice. Please feel free to contact us here.

This information is shared for educational purposes only. Please consult legal, tax, credit, or financial experts for specific guidance.