With Christmas being one of the busiest times of year for small business owners, Vista Australia CEO Marcus Marchant shares his key tips to ensure that they maximise profit potential, especially in the context of a post-lockdown world.
Marchant said revamping a business’ marketing and design are essential to stand out within the overly saturated Christmas market. However, with the rush of the Silly Season, he explained that it is difficult for small business owners to know where to start.
Here’s Marchant’s ultimate small business Christmas countdown prep guide:
Phase 1: Research and admin
Devise a detailed Christmas plan – Doing a little prep and planning ahead of time allows businesses to skip much of the frenzy and feel more in control when the Christmas season suddenly arrives. Tick some things off a list early by creating a budget (and sticking to it), preparing an inventory and assessing which areas to improve on since last year.
Conduct market research to see what other brands or competitors are doing / did last year – Once a plan is devised, it is important to get inspired. Check out what other businesses do during the Christmas season by perusing Pinterest, looking at Facebook advertisements, or engaging in a discussion board to gather learnings. Start by asking yourself some key questions; What are your customers looking for this Christmas season? How will you meet those demands?
Phase 2: Design and rebranding
Order your advertising materials – During the festive season, get customers excited about products and offerings with virtual events or in-store deals. Then, get the word out using personalised postcards and brochures that feature key details of events and offerings. Also consider using banners and posters to announce sales.
“Christmas-ify” your shop or website – For brick-and-mortar stores, consider hosting a local event, or decorating the shopfront. For websites, refresh the designs (while staying on-brand) to get customers into the Christmas spirit.
Order thank you cards or gifts like mugs, calendars or branded promotional items with your logo on them – The Christmas period is an especially good time to thank customers and employees and to strengthen relationships for the upcoming year. VistaPrint has created sample festive messages to send to clients, along with a couple of tips and templates to update to match.
Phase 3: Going the extra mile
Reflect on what to improve for next year – Order too much of something that didn’t fly off the shelves as you expected? Run out of staples like branded bags halfway through the Christmas rush? Learn from it, move on and add it to the checklist for next year.
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