Tag: small business marketing

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How can AI help your content writing?

I know you probably expect a writer like me to react to any mention of AI the way that Dracula might respond to someone brandishing a cross in his face. Basically, hissing and hiding my face. However, it’s becoming more of a feature in the content writing landscape, and I can’t ignore it. I’ve even found myself using it a bit. So, how can AI help your content writing? Read on to find out.

How can AI help your content writing? I might be hiding from the answers!

It’s excellent for topic suggestions

When you’ve been in business for a while, it can feel like your marketing has covered everything you could possibly talk about. You’ll have new followers who won’t have read it all before, but you still want to create something fresh.

You can ask ChatGPT for original ways to talk about your product or service, which will give you a list. They might not all be usable, but some will, and it could inspire you to come up with more.

It can come up with new and unexpected angles

Sometimes, writing new content involves presenting the same information in new ways or from a different angle. You can create beginner guides and tips for people with more experience or choose a particular interest group. If you serve more than one type of person, their needs will vary, and you can write for both groups.

AI can help you find new angles, so ask something like “Who would be interested in x and why?” and see what it suggests.

You can use it to mash two ideas together

You might have a great idea for an analogy but struggle to make it work in practice. Writing a blog post could be a bit like cooking a meal. You need the right ingredients, cooking techniques and a big serving dish… wait, where was I going with this?

I could ask ChatGPT to explain how writing a blog post is like cooking a Sunday roast to get the juices flowing.

It can help you get your brain unstuck

Sometimes, you need to translate jargon so your audience can understand it. You try to write an explanation, and your brain goes blank.

When that happens, head to your favourite AI and ask, “How can I explain x in layman’s terms?” The answer might not be a perfect explanation, but it can give you some phrases to use as a starting point.

How can’t AI help your content writing?

AI can be helpful in the right circumstances, but it’s a bit rubbish at human emotion. You know, the stuff that helps you connect with your audience and shows them who you are. As a small business, your personality and values help you stand out from other businesses offering the same type of product or service. That’s why you still need to write your own words or work with someone like me, who’ll get to know you and put your personality into your content.

If you want to work with an actual human to create engaging content that lets your customers get to know you, I can help.  I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to get in touch. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here. Or, use the form below to sign up for monthly content writing tips straight to your inbox.

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Who do you want to talk to in the New Year?

Planning your New Year content - who do you want to talk to?

What do you do next when you’ve set your New Year business goals and worked out what your marketing needs to look like? Think about who you want to work with. Writing content that speaks to your ideal customers means you get to work with people you love, which makes everyone happy. So, who do you want to talk to in the New Year? Here are a few ways to work it out.

Your favourite customers

Having good relationships with your customers makes life a whole lot happier. They benefit from great results, and you can work with people you like and get repeat customers. It’s essential to my business. If we don’t get on, you’re less likely to show me your personality so I can share it in your content.

Think about your favourite customers, what they have in common, and how you talk to them. That way, you can use the same language in your marketing.

Creating a connection

What do your customers like about you? We connect with people for all sorts of reasons. You might share the same sense of humour or have a similar background. Maybe your business grew out of an interest that your customers share. Sometimes, they choose your business over a similar one because they like you or your approach.

Understanding where that connection comes from helps you to write in a way that engages your current customers and attracts new ones.

What gets people talking?

If you’ve looked at your numbers, you should have a good idea about the content that engages your audience and gets people talking. I often find that my most engaging social media posts are the ones that only have a tenuous link to my work. If it’s the same for you, dig a bit deeper. What type of content gets the best response when you talk about your work? Even if it’s only a few likes, it can help you to create new ideas or use similar language.

Are you being yourself?

Putting your personality into your marketing lets you relax and have a conversation with your ideal customers. That’s the theory, at least. I know I’m not the only person who worries about oversharing and putting people off.

As you create new content, ask yourself whether the words are flowing easily or not. If you find it easier to speak naturally in videos, transcribe them and turn them into written posts. Alternatively, you can work with a writer like me who’ll listen to you talk about your business and write new content for you.

What are you offering?

Do your products and services help the people you want to work with? For example, I love working with business owners who have a marketing plan and want a writer to deliver the words. I get excited about working with new people because I want to be part of their team. I still have products and services to help people who are learning, but it’s not what I spend most of my time doing.

Ask yourself whether you’re offering services that don’t get you excited or products you’ve fallen out of love with. Could you drop them and still help the people you want to serve?

If you’ve created a plan and want help writing engaging content that lets your customers get to know you, I can help.  I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to get in touch. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

Or, sign up to my mailing list for hints and tips straight to your inbox every month. You can unsubscribe whenever you like.

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Want to create engaging content? Look at your numbers

Engaging content is about more than words - you need to look at your numbers too.

You might not think words and numbers have much in common, apart from co-existing on a school curriculum. However, your analytics can tell you a lot about what content is striking a chord with your audience and helping you achieve your business goals. Here’s my guide to help you look at your numbers and write engaging content.

Plan your business goals

I’m not going to tell you how to set business goals. For one thing, it’s not my department. For another, your version of success might look very different from mine. However, when you’ve decided what targets you want to hit next year, think about what your marketing needs to do to achieve that. Do you need to reach more people, improve your social media engagement or increase your email subscribers? Knowing where you want people to go helps you focus on the right platforms.

Look at your numbers

You can use your marketing analytics to work out what’s working in terms of the marketing platforms you use and the type of content you create. Reviewing your numbers helps you see what’s working so you can do more of it or tweak things to test a different approach. When you talk about your business, some posts get a better response than others, often due to the language you use.

Remember that what your audience responds to can change over time; regular reviews help you stay up to date.

Think about keywords

I’m hearing more marketing professionals say that SEO is getting less effective. While that’s probably true, there’s still a place for it. Google is the first place many of us ask questions, and if you offer a service in your local area, there are still plenty of people searching ‘service + town’.

So, look at your website analytics. What keywords attracted the most visitors? Where did they go next? Did they leave or visit another page? Look at keywords, but think about the customer journey, too. When people land on your website, what do you want them to do next?

Are your sales pages working?

As the name suggests, sales pages focus on selling one product. Everything on there should be targeted towards persuading someone to decide to buy. If you’re getting lots of visitors but not many sales, look at your language. Does it help your customers understand how buying from you will help them? Does it focus on their needs or your product? If you have some sales pages that work while others don’t, compare the words. Spotting the differences can help you update existing pages to improve their performance.

Social media engagement

If reaching your goals means getting more eyes on your content, look at your social media reach and engagement. Reach is good as it means the algorithm shows your stuff to more people. When your followers engage with a post, it’ll also start showing your posts to more of their friends.

Check your analytics to see which posts got lots of reactions and comments. It shows that the post struck a chord and that you used engaging language. You can create more posts with similar subjects and analyse your tone of voice. Are you using a different style on different posts, and how does that affect the response?

If you want to write engaging content that lets your customers get to know you, I can help.  I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to get in touch. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

Or, for regular writing tips straight to your inbox, sign up using the form below. I’m a vegetarian so I hate spam and I’ll never share your details with anyone else.

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How to avoid Christmas clichés in your marketing

How do you balance (or avoid) Christmas cliches in your marketing?

Do you want to avoid Christmas clichés in your marketing? You might automatically say yes, but they can have their benefits. People like familiarity because it makes them feel comfortable. At the same time, they can be overly predictable, taking all the wonder out of what’s meant to be a magical celebration. If you use too many Christmas clichés in your marketing, you also run the risk of blending in rather than standing out.

How do you find the right balance? Here are a few tips to get you started.

Share some pop culture

Sharing your favourite Christmas pop culture references is the perfect way to help you find your people. Ask about their favourite Christmas film, song or story and share your own. Start a conversation about whether ‘Die Hard’ is a Christmas movie*. Show your personality and tailor your content to your audience, whether they love Christmas or can’t wait for it to end.

Put a spin on a cliché

You can use Christmas clichés, but give them your own twist. A simple option is to create a new version of ’12 Days of Christmas’. Choose twelve things related to your business or send emails with twelve offers.

Alternatively, share something funny that starts with a Christmas classic but ends somewhere unexpected. Like this:

Deck the halls and not your family.

Think of a new angle

Finding a new angle on Christmas can get your audience thinking and offer something useful. You could talk about avoiding stress, staying active, or making Brussels sprouts edible. If your business has nothing to do with Christmas, think laterally; I saw a great blog post about the most common issues HR professionals have to deal with after the Christmas party.

Be serious if you need to

You don’t have to be jolly just because it’s Christmas. If you’re talking about domestic violence and mental health issues or highlighting how many families are homeless at Christmas, it’s OK to be serious. The idea that some people are struggling as you’re getting ready to celebrate will hit home with your audience and make you stand out.

What does Christmas mean to you?

‘The true meaning of Christmas’ is one of the biggest Christmas clichés going, but that doesn’t mean you have to avoid it. Just be honest. Posts like this can start a conversation, and you can even use them to ask for help. If you feel as if you’re trying to meet everyone else’s expectations and have forgotten what you’re doing it for, ask people what they’re looking forward to.

If you have unique family traditions, talk about them. It lets your audience see the person behind the business and could inspire them to try something new.

Do what makes you happy

Ultimately, you don’t have to talk about Christmas unless your business depends on it. By December, I’ll be talking about planning for next year. If you love talking about festive things and making your Christmas images sparkly, do it. If it makes you want to cringe, don’t, and tell your audience why. They might just agree with you.

*Yes, of course it is. You can’t get much more Christmassy than a disastrous work do.

If you want to write engaging content that lets your customers get to know you at Christmas and all year round, I can help.  I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to get in touch. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

Or, if you’d prefer to get content writing hints and tips straight to your inbox every month, sign up using the form below. I’ll never share your email address with anyone else, and you can unsubscribe whenever you like. Plus, I’m a vegetarian, which means my business and I are 100% spam-free!

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How to talk to your audience at Christmas

How to talk to your audience at Christmas whether they're relaxed or stressed out.
Image by Julie Grant Photography

No matter how you do marketing for the rest of the year, Christmas is a little bit different. The way your audience is feeling will probably change. They might have warm and fuzzy feelings, be completely stressed out, or even a combination of the two. Even if your business has nothing to do with Christmas, the language you use in your marketing may need to shift to reflect that. Whether you’re aiming for Christmas sales or New Year bookings, read on to discover how to talk to your audience at Christmas to make it happen.

Be emotional

There’s no getting away from it; Christmas makes people emotional. That means you get to use emotion in your marketing because it’s more powerful this time of year. Knowing how to talk to your audience at Christmas means understanding how they express emotion. You might have customers who wear their heart on their sleeve, are a bit more reserved or just hate the whole thing.

They might be stressed because they love Christmas but feel the weight of expectation is too heavy. Speak to how your audience is feeling, and your content will resonate.

Keep it short

You can make an exception for blog posts; otherwise, keep your content short and snappy. You’re speaking to people who either have too much to do or can’t be bothered but know they’ll be in trouble if they don’t buy at least a few presents. No one has the brain space for long social media captions.

Write short and snappy tips or gift recommendations, and your audience will be much more likely to read them.

Make your audience smile

Laughing is good for you. It reduces stress and helps you sleep better, so it’s the ideal antidote to Christmas stress. Even if you don’t have a Christmassy business, you can still give your audience a giggle to make them feel better. Even cheesy cracker jokes can help people bond over a collective groan.

Alternatively, post something calm to let them stop and relax for a couple of minutes.

Be direct

Keeping your posts short is great, but it’s also important to be direct. Tell your customers if a product is the perfect gift for their mum or someone who wants to make their garden more environmentally friendly.

A quick tip like “Here’s something you can do in less than 5 minutes to deal with X” will show your audience how helpful you are and win you new fans.

Show your personality

OK, this applies all year round, but it works really well at Christmas. You might be the sort of person who loves everything about Christmas, which probably means you want to attract customers who feel the same. Alternatively, you and your customers might enjoy Christmas but still feel stressed. There’s loads of preparation to do, and even the nice things, like the school carol concert, involve a full-on diary juggle.

Don’t worry about what people expect of you. Be honest about how you’re feeling, and you’ll attract customers who feel the same.

If you want to write engaging content that lets your customers get to know you at Christmas and all year round, I can help.  I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to get in touch. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

Alternatively, for writing hints and tips straight to your inbox every month, sign up for my mailing list using the form below. You’ll get a free copy of my eBook ‘Stop hiding your business’ as a thank you from me. I’m also a vegetarian, which means that my business and I are entirely spam-free!

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How to give your customers peace of mind

Creating content to give my customers peace of mind.
Image by Julie Grant Photography

Having regular customers is a great feeling. They’ve experienced your customer service and come back for more. Some of them might even have recommended you to their friends. On the other hand, encouraging people to buy from you for the first time can be tricky because they don’t know what to expect. Here’s how your marketing can give your customers peace of mind before they buy.

Explain the process

Before your customers buy from you, they need to know what will happen next. If they buy a product, they want to know how long it’ll be before it’s delivered. If they book a call with you or come for an appointment, will they be able to go away and think before they decide, or will you expect a decision straight away? What should they wear to class, or is there anything they need to bring?

Clear information about what they’re getting into is reassuring and means they’re more likely to take that first step.

Show them behind the scenes

Showing your customers behind the scenes of your business helps them to feel like insiders. They can see new products being created or how you set your studio up for a photo shoot. It can help them feel more comfortable about working with you too. Showing a fitness class with bodies of all shapes and sizes lets people know they won’t be the only person with a wobbly belly.

Make it easy to get in touch

If you offer a bespoke service, you’ll often need a conversation with a prospective customer so you can tailor your service to their needs. Make the process clear and easy to follow wherever people find you. You could have a contact form on your website or want people to message you if they find you on social media. Make it obvious what you want them to do next.

Equally, if you’re offering a class or selling a product, make sure the link to book or buy is easy to find so they don’t have to search for it.

Use straightforward language

I feel as if “don’t use jargon if your clients don’t know it” could be my catchphrase, but it bears repeating. This is especially important if you work in a professional or technical field like finance or law. Your clients want to be reassured that you’ll help them rather than bamboozle them with jargon.

Don’t feel as if you need to use fancy words for things. Write as you’d normally speak, then edit.

Include FAQs

You can answer FAQs anywhere, from your website to social media to a sales page for a specific product or service. If you can use real customer questions, that’s great because other people will probably ask them too.

FAQs are great for SEO because they’re the questions potential customers will also type into Google.

Put yourself in your marketing

If you’re a one-person business, letting your customers get to know you helps them to trust you. Showing your face in your marketing helps people distinguish you from others who offer something similar. They see your face or hear your voice in a post and remember you because you don’t look or sound like everyone else.

If you want to write content that puts your customers’ fears to rest and lets them get to know you, I can help.  I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to buy. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here. Or, sign up below to get useful content writing tips straight to your inbox every month.

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Five reasons why your customers are scared to get in touch with you

Kirsty thinking about why your customers are scared to get in touch with you.

It’s nearly Hallowe’en, so my thoughts turn to the spooky side of life. The thing is, what if your business is the scary thing? You might know that you and your business are lovely and not terrifying, but your customers could still hesitate. Here are the top five reasons your customers are scared to contact you and what you can do about them.

They don’t know what to expect

Contacting a new business can be like the first day of school; exciting but also terrifying if you don’t know what to expect. That’s why schools send out loads of information to parents and have settling-in days for the kids.

Use your marketing to share what happens when people get in touch, book an appointment or come to a class. Tell them what they need to bring or what to wear. They’re more likely to get in touch when they can see the path ahead.

They think they won’t understand you

This probably applies to you if you work in law, accountancy or anything technical, particularly with lay clients. When I was a solicitor, legal speak created a shorthand to use with other lawyers, but I never used it with my clients. Your customers might be putting off something important because they think you speak gobbledegook.

If your customer doesn’t speak the same technical language as you, don’t use it in your marketing. Show them you’re a normal human being who’ll explain things in a straightforward way.

They’re worried about pressure sales

I hate pressure selling. When I got married, we immediately rejected the photographer who offered us a 50% discount, “but only if you sign now.” Does that ever work?

If you use sales calls in your business, there’s no single way to reassure people that you won’t do this. You can share case studies and testimonials and talk about your process on your website, blog, and emails. Knowing they’ll have time to think things over will reassure people and encourage them to book a call.

They’re scared of asking a stupid question

No one wants to look stupid or feel like they’re being a nuisance. Your future customers might have a question whose answer is the difference between them booking and walking away, but they’re afraid to ask it.

The best way to deal with this is to use FAQs. You can use these as a list or a single post on any marketing platform. Answer questions that people have asked you, but make some up, too. Talk to people in your networking groups to see what they’d ask. I love coming up with questions for clients. I’ve lost count of the number of blog topics that came out of me asking a client how something works.

They don’t know you

What’s the biggest first-day-of-school fear you can think of? Yep, will the other kids be nice? Will I make friends? When you put yourself in your marketing, you help your customers get to know, like and trust you so they aren’t scared to get in touch.

Your marketing can show people who you are before they ever meet you (if they’ll ever meet you). When you write your marketing, be yourself, and you’ll ease your customers’ minds.

If you want to write content that puts your customers’ fears to rest and lets them get to know you, I can help.  I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to buy. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here. Alternatively, sign up using the form below for helpful hints and tips straight to your inbox every month.

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How email marketing can turn subscribers into customers

I'm at my laptop typing, creating content to turn subscribers into customers.

Getting people to sign up to your email list gives you a whole load more control over what your audience sees. It’s true that your emails may end up in someone’s unopened backlog. However, they’re much more likely to see your content than if you rely on social media, so your email marketing can turn subscribers into customers.

The question is, what do you do with your subscribers once they’ve signed up? Read on to find out. (If you’d like to learn more about how to persuade them to subscribe in the first place, read this)

Create a nurture sequence

“What’s a nurture sequence?” I hear you cry. It’s the email equivalent of introducing yourself, welcoming someone into your business and showing them around. You can tailor what you offer them based on what they’re interested in (more on that in a minute), but your aim is to send around five emails to let them know what to expect from you and your business and give them an overview of your services.

Offer a low-cost product

Fear is one of the most common obstacles that prevents anyone from buying from a business for the first time. They don’t want to waste money on something that doesn’t deliver (literally or metaphorically). Offering a low-cost product to a new subscriber helps because they only take a small risk. Depending on your business, you could choose something digital or a small physical product.

Make an offer

Emailing your list can achieve several different goals. Your emails help people get to know you, let you share valuable tips and tell your subscribers how they can work with you. Don’t be afraid to share your services and tell readers how they can book an appointment or buy your newest product. You can also offer them something special…

Make them feel special

Feeling like you’re part of a community can be really special. Your emails can offer that to your subscribers, making them more likely to buy and keep that feeling going. You can make your readers feel special by offering something just for them. That could be a discount, early access to new products or subscriber-only content and events.

Involve them in your process behind the scenes

Showing your customers what’s happening behind the scenes helps them get excited about new products or understand more about your services. Case studies work well for service-based businesses or share images to show what you’re working on. Sharing with your subscribers first gives them that sense of exclusivity and lets you preview subscriber-only deals, but you can also do this on social media.

Include valuable content

It’s important to talk about what you’re selling in your emails, but your subscribers will get fed up if that’s all you do. Share content that helps them learn about what you do and DIY if they need to. Sharing a couple of blog links in your nurture sequence gives new readers quick insights and helps them get more out of your lead magnet.

Tell a story

Telling a story in your marketing helps your audience relate to you as a human being and not just a business owner. It can show them that you understand what they need or how your lives are similar. There are loads of ways to do this, but remember that it’s OK to talk about your life and experiences using your own voice.

Personalise your emails

Your email software should allow you to include someone’s name when you email them. Personalisation can go further than that with the right tools. You can segment your list and contact people interested in specific topics. It’s much easier to turn subscribers into customers when you’re only sending people information about services they’re interested in.

Don’t be shy

If you’ve ever held back from emailing your list because you don’t want to bother them, stop. They signed up to hear from you. If they change their minds, they can unsubscribe, but if they don’t know what you’re offering, they can’t buy.

If you want to write content that will turn subscribers into customers, I can help.  I’ll write blogs, posts and emails to engage your audience and encourage them to buy. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

Do you want useful hints and tips that help you write engaging marketing content, straight to your inbox? Sign up using the form below. I don’t do spam and I’ll never share your information with anyone else.

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Digital product marketing: the basics

Working out how to do digital product marketing

Digital product marketing is the same as any other kind of marketing, but it has its own quirks. I won’t be talking about getting to know your audience here; hopefully, you’ve done that already. Analysing your customer base and thinking about the type of products they need helps you ensure you create the right digital products.

Here are a few things to think about when you’re marketing your digital products:

Create a compelling product description

Good product descriptions help your customers understand what they’re buying and what they’ll get out of it. They’re typically relatively short and are designed for people with a good idea of what they’re looking for and need to know if your product fits the bill. You can offer technical information if relevant but put most of the effort into telling your customer what your product is and helping them imagine using it.

Write a landing page

A landing page is a standalone page on your website focusing on one product. They’re great for digital products as they allow you to expand on the information you provide in your product description for people who might not be sure whether your product is for them. Where product descriptions are for people who know roughly what they want, landing pages help people who know what problem they need to solve but not how to do it.

Plan your launch

Even if you think big launches are too stressful (I agree), setting a target for getting your digital product out into the world is a good idea. It stops you from faffing over whether your product is perfect (there’s no such thing). Even if you choose a random date, it helps you work backwards to build up excitement before it becomes available. You can plan your marketing around your product to educate your audience and build excitement by sharing what’s going on behind the scenes.

Tell a story

Storytelling is a great way to market anything because it helps your audience engage with what you want to tell them. It shows them you understand what it’s like to be in their shoes. For example, a post that tells a story about the lowest point in your business journey and the revelation that helped you solve it is far more powerful than “I’ve got this brilliant new product, and you need it”. You can use storytelling everywhere: your product descriptions, sales pages, posts and emails. Highlight the pain points and benefits but make it fun.

Think about platforms

If you want to sell products, you need to make it easy for your customers to buy. You can send them to your website or create a shop on Facebook (unfortunately, Instagram only lets you sell physical products just now). You might want to go to a third-party site such as Amazon or Etsy.

The platforms you choose will influence the type of marketing you can do. You’ll have more freedom on your website, but each third-party site has its own rules.

If you plan to add digital products to your business, I can help you create and market them too. I’ll write blogs, emails and product descriptions and repurpose them to make your content go further. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

If you want to add digital products to your Christmas shop, sign up for festive marketing emails here. You can also sign up to receive my monthly emails packed with helpful content writing and marketing tips using the form below.

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The building blocks of your Christmas marketing plan

Do you have a Christmas marketing plan yet?

Creating your Christmas marketing plan as early as possible is a good idea, but where do you start? Your festive marketing will work best if it’s consistent with your existing brand, but you may also need to make a few changes. Here’s my guide to the building blocks of your Christmas marketing plan.

Who are you talking to?

Whenever you create new marketing, the people you want to talk to must be at the front of your mind. What do they want or need, and how do you help them? This can shift at Christmas, especially if you sell gifts. Think about how you can attract someone looking for a present for your ideal customer and how you’d describe them.

What does your audience need at Christmas?

It’s fair to say that people get a bit stressed at Christmas. (OK, understatement of the century.) What does that look like for your customers? Are they freaking out because they’ve got their extended family descending and have no idea what to cook for a vegan, or are they doing Christmas shopping between the office party and endless school events? Address their Christmas-specific concerns, and you’ll be onto a winner.

What can you offer existing customers?

If you deliver excellent service at Christmas, you’ll have fans for life. Ask yourself what you can offer your existing customers to thank them for their business during the year. For example, you could offer a discount or free delivery if you sell gifts. If you don’t, consider sending your regular clients a Christmas card or present.

How can you attract new customers before things get busy?

If you want to increase your sales during the golden quarter, consider ways to attract new followers to your business before your Christmas marketing starts in earnest. A lead magnet with valuable hints and tips can be simple to create and encourages people to sign up for your marketing emails.

What products are you focusing on?

When you sell conventional Christmas gifts, you’ll probably focus on your best sellers. However, what if you offer alternative gifts or ways to make Christmas more special, such as a Christmas mini photoshoot to get cute pictures of your kids? It’s a good idea to think laterally. For example, a recipe book or meal kits could be ideal if people are feeding a crowd or want something easy to eat in that netherworld between Christmas and New Year.

What if Christmas isn’t about sales?

Christmas might be the golden quarter for many businesses, but it can be quiet for the rest of us. Your Christmas marketing can help to raise awareness of your business so people get in touch in the new year. For example, I once wrote a blog for a bathroom designer offering advice on sharing your facilities with guests over Christmas, including tips on adding an extra shower room in a small space!

Think about content types and platforms

Adding new social media platforms or marketing channels at Christmas creates a risk of spreading yourself too thin without reaching a new audience. Instead, focus on the platforms and content types that work all year round, but do more of them. Thinking of ways to repurpose your content can help with this.

Make sure you have any new branding across platforms

Christmas branding can make your leaflets, emails, and social media feeds more festive and draw your audience’s attention. It’s vital to keep elements of your existing brand and keep it consistent across all your platforms so your followers will still recognise you.

If your Christmas plan involves creating a lot of new marketing content, I can help. I’ll write blogs, emails and product descriptions and repurpose them to make your content go further. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

Alternatively if you want some Christmas content inspiration to help you create your own festive marketing campaign, sign up for my email list here. You’ll receive a copy of my eBook ‘Christmas content ideas to fire your imagination’ as a thank you from me, and you can unsubscribe whenever you like!