With November starting, most of us are painfully aware that we need to start holiday shopping. Likewise, most businesses are aware that they need to start advertising for the season. However, many don’t know if they should start with Facebook ads or promoted pins or a good old fashioned newspaper ad.

In order to properly structure your holiday marketing strategy, you need to take time to sit down and plan it out. I know, I know. I’ve been suggesting a lot of boring stuff (like data cleansing) lately. But taking the time to do this once will save you time in the long run. No running around like a chicken with its head cut off for you!

So, you want to create a strategy for your holiday marketing. How do you go about doing that? It’s simpler than you might think.

1) Set a budget It will come as no surprise to you that setting a budget is the first thing you must do. This is the first thing you must do when buying a house or planning an event. It’s no different when it comes to your holiday marketing strategy. Know how much you want to spend and how much you’ll need to sell in order to offset those costs. Know your break even.

2) Determine your target market Are your potential customers spouses or parents or college kids? While you should know your audience any time of year, what specific group you focus on at the holidays may be different than who you target the rest of the year. For instance, you may sell bed and breakfast packages year round to many groups of people. Yet, at the holidays, you may decide to target empty nesters looking for a relaxing weekend rather than trying to woo parents who live on the school schedule and have a more difficult time vacationing during the winter.

3) Use a mix of media Don’t blow your entire budget on Facebook ads. Or newspaper ads. Or billboards. Use a variety of methods to reach as wide an audience as you can. In this day and age, some people shop exclusively online. Others never check their email if they can help it. You need to reach both these groups – so make sure you allocate your budget accordingly.

4) Plan your promotions If you want a specific product to be on sale for Black Friday but something else to be highlighted on Cyber Monday, you need to know which products will be highlighted, when. You also need to determine if website updates need to be made to reflect these specials, if newsletter should go out promoting them and which ads will run in advance of these specials. Often throwing something on special at the last minute does not generate the interest you hope.

Have you sat down yet to think through your holiday promotions? If not, it’s time to get cracking. There’s less than 8 weeks until Christmas (and even less time until Chanukkah!)

If you’re still not sure where to start with your holiday promotions, don’t forget to give us a call. We can help with your marketing strategy questions in a short consulting session.