Happy November! I know how hectic this time of year starts to feel right about now but, I have a short exercise that’s going to make your end of year marketing planning WAY easier.

When the end of year comes, entrepreneurs tend to trap themselves by not offering enough in terms of special incentives or by offering WAY too much. Your mission is to excite your customer, not exhaust them but, don’t worry! This little exercise is an efficient way to make that happen, especially if you’re an entrepreneur with limited resources.

First, here’s what we’ve got coming up:

• November 28 - Thanksgiving

• November 29 - Black Friday

• November 30 - Small Business Saturday

• December 2 - Cyber Monday

• December 3 - Giving Tuesday

Then, of course, there’s the holidays and New Year. 

And, for all of my local folks here in Pinehurst, NC, we’ve also got these events to think about:

• Festival of Trees - End of November

• Village of Pinehurst Christmas Tree Lighting - End of November

• A Village Christmas - Mid-December

Looking at the calendar, this leaves just THREE SATURDAYS until the most popular shopping season of the year begins (Black Friday through Cyber Monday) and SEVEN SATURDAYS until Christmas (only SIX, if you’re counting shipping cutoff dates).

There’s alot to think about. Believe me, I know BUT, hear me when I say: there’s a way to make planning for these next few weeks more manageable and you don’t need to write a 100 page marketing plan to make the magic happen :)

You can be a seasoned small business owner with a brick and mortar location or you can be a service provider or newer online business owner like me. No matter what, there are opportunities for you to whip up a fun promotion or two in time and increase your impact.

You don’t need to invest a large amount of time into maximizing year-end sales opportunities, but you do need to plan ahead. This 10-minute exercise will break down what seems like a complicated task into manageable steps.

Here’s how to plan a holiday promotion in 10 minutes

Here we go. Set your timer and start from the end.

1. Start planning backward from the earliest date above to help you visualize your timeline and set a goal.

When will your holiday messaging start and end? What are your most popular shopping days and how many of them are left? Working backward will help you visualize exactly what your business has the capacity for in terms of marketing and allow you to focus only on crafting promotional offerings that uniquely influence the customer experience.

2. Review your offer. What is it currently and how can you further incentive your audience?

What added-value promotion could you offer your audience that they don’t get ANY OTHER time of year? For example: Get an extra with your order VS discount on order OR how about hosting some social media giveaways? And, what about your subscribers? Do they get something special that no one else does this time of year? You want to add to your customer’s experience, not take away from it. You also want to add to your bottom line and not take away from it :) so always consider added-value opportunities. Here’s more on that and examples for service providers and retailers.

3. Create deadlines for yourself, plan your messaging and start promoting your offer(s) based on your timeline. 

Be strict about this! Nothing has to be perfect, it has to get done. This is the most critical stage of planning for the holiday season. You’ll likely have multiple levels of messaging at this point. Remember, it is a popular time for abandoned carts and returns. Setting deadlines will help you visualize and plan your messaging so you’re hitting all areas.

For example: Consider strategies for those in your audience who are ready to purchase and those who are hesitant to purchase. Perhaps you will have an abandoned cart email or two at the ready, as well as targeted messaging on social for those cautious shoppers? 

Did you know that abandoned cart messages are opened two times more than any other types of emails? And that sending as many as THREE of those kind of emails is 44% more effective than sending just one [PRDaily]?

Keep that in mind moving forward. Just because you share it once (whether it’s email, blogging or on social) doesn’t mean you shouldn’t share it again. Once is never enough. You have to show up for your people, especially during the busy season!

This is not a time to give up or pull back. You have an opportunity here to keep your momentum rolling right into the New Year (no matter your business size), you just have to get creative and be strategic.

And, the best part? These three techniques can actually be used for ANY promotion - not just the holidays. Give it a try!

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