Business Information for Entrepreneurs by an Entrepreneur

While the holiday shopping frenzy begins the day after Thanksgiving, you should be ready to implement your holiday sales plan. Social media should have a prominent place in your marketing campaign this holiday season. How will you use social media to promote your holiday and end-of-year sales?

Here are five tips for you to consider when using your small business social media accounts:

1. Ask followers what they are shopping for

   You can utilize social media as a market research tool. Casually inquire to your followers and fans what is on their wish list, or what they are considering to buy for others. This can give you some keen insight to immediate sales trends, and it can help you make small adjustments as necessary to meet those demands.

2. Offer "12 Days of Christmas" sales

   Nothing gets shoppers in the buying mode than the feeling of participation in holiday traditions. Consider having a "12 Days of Christmas" sale where you list a certain featured item each day for 12 days as a special discount.

3. Post your sales

   Absolutely make sure that any general holiday sales are posted on your Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media accounts. These are your past, present, and potential future customers who already have a mind to buy from you. Be sure they know about your sales.

4. Give special offers to your followers

   While general holiday sales are nice, it is also nice to treat your loyal followers and fans. Consider offering a very special "fans only" or "Twitter followers" discount. Post these notices liberally each day and watch your loyal customers take advantage of your generosity.

5. Make a video

   In your social media marketing strategy, don't forget about YouTube. You can utilize YouTube to upload creative short video clips that you can share on all your other social media platforms. Consider a short video on how to make a great holiday recipe, how to hang a strand of lights on a tree, or simply safety tips during the holidays. By spreading the holiday cheer, you are also spreading your reach amongst potential customers!

It's now time for the end of year consumer holiday shopping to kick into high gear. It seems that the Thanksgiving turkey isn't even fully digested before people are ready to buy, buy, buy! Are you ready to meet the demand?

It's not too late to market your holiday wares. Here are a few strategies you can implement today as you jump into the holiday sales frenzy:

1. Decorate your website

   Is your website ready for the holidays? Many shoppers like to do their holiday shopping not in the bustle of busy downtown sidewalks where on every street corner they hear silver bells, but rather in pajamas in the warmth of their own home. However, that doesn't mean you should avoid 'decorating' your website with holiday cheer. Even a few icons, graphics, or even a full-out holiday theme on your website could be the difference between a sale and click to the next site.

2. Suggestive products on your home page

   While shoppers are browsing your website, why not put great gift ideas right in front of them on the home page? Be sure to suggest your best gifts on your home page or other landing pages from PPC campaigns.

3. Encourage early shipping

   Most holiday shoppers are good about getting their gifts purchased and shipped well before it is too late. However, you can 'nudge' them as well to get it done early with an offer for free shipping with a minimum purchase. Be prepared also to ship overnight via FedEx or UPS as December 25 approaches.

4. Merchandise budget suggestions

   Many folks have a budget in mind when they shop for their friends and family. They may want to get something "under $20." Be prepared with creative combinations of merchandise that sell for those budgets. An example might be a gift basket for $19.99 or a $40 massage credit for your services.

5. Prepare the Gift Cards

   Gift cards are as popular as ever. They make a great gift and make shopping easy, not to mention your accountant happy before the year ends. Be prepared and have plenty of cards and online 'virtual' gift cards prepared for your shoppers.

If you have taken your business marketing online through search engine marketing (SEM), you probably use Google AdWords as part of your marketing mix. Google has for a long time been the leader in SEM and pay per click advertising, making it easy for small or large businesses to advertise to specific demographics and pay only when their ad is clicked.

However, while Google has made online advertising accessible to the small business, it still has some drawbacks. Small businesses often get outbid for specific popular keywords, and PPC ads may not reach a specific demographic regardless of the keyword.

Say, for instance, that you wanted to target your PPC ad to Google users who are female aged 18-35. However, your keyword may show up for both male and female viewers. You waste precious PPC funds whenever you get the wrong demographic clicking on your ad - until now!

Demographic PPC Redefined

Google has recently announced a new feature for their AdWords advertising program called Demographic Bidding that will soon be available for their advertising customers. This allows you to target your ads to more specific audiences through placement-targeted campaigns.

How is Google able to do this? They are working up deals and relationships with participating publishers and website owners who do collect demographic data. Those publishers lend the demographic data to Google, who in turn are able to target specific ads to web surfers.

Benefits for Your Website

Your website will be able to benefit in a couple of ways. First, you can modify a keyword bid to a specific demographic segment. Thus, regardless if a large corporation has a bid for a specific keyword, you may still get your ad shown to your 18-35 female demographic.

On the reverse angle, you can eliminate groups that you do not want to target. For instance, if your main target is women aged 18-35, you can eliminate all men and women of other age groups.

This type of specific demographic targeting is an important phase for helping small businesses refine their ability to succeed with SEM.