Last-Minute Holiday Ideas for Your Small Business

We heard a rumor that it is somehow mid-November. However that happened, you could definitely be forgiven for not having holiday marketing plans sewn up this year. Here are a few quick and fun ways to participate in the spirit.

For any type of business

Give back to the community
If you look after your community, your community will look after you. There are plenty of charitable organizations working for families to have a better holiday season. Could you donate your time, products, or services?

Support a local artist
Commission a holiday postcard from a local artist and use Moo or Vistaprint to personalize them with addresses to your most loyal customers.

Make a holiday playlist to share through your Instagram stories
You know your audience well. Where would they sit on the Handel to Ariana Grande Christmas music spectrum?

Have a fun Zoom bakeoff with some people on your team
Record the competition in the style of Great British Bake Off, and get a freelance video editor to cut it into a cute four-minute feature.

Run a Christmas competition
Ask your followers to take photos in front of your city’s most notable Christmas landmarks to be in with a chance of winning a gift card or product bundle.

For a product business

Create a basic 12 Days of Christmas email template
Promote a discounted product each day, or give your audience fun tips on the things important to your category (sustainable home habits, pairing the perfect wine, or ways you didn’t know you needed to look after your tech.)

Create some bundles
Bundles are a great way to use what you already have to create something new. Could your food co-op put all the ingredients for shortbread cookies together in a rolltop paper bag? Or perhaps your hair care brand could bundle a stocking stuffer special with miniatures of your most luxurious products?

Partner up
Use Small Business Saturday (the day after Black Friday) to join together with other small businesses and promote a bundle, do an Instagram giveaway, or just hype each other up with a local online gift-giving guide.

Make the most of remarketing opportunities
Convert your hard-won website visitors to customers by ramping up your remarketing efforts at this significant time for online shopping. Add a reminder of the last day they can order to get their items before Thanksgiving or Christmas, and maybe a festive message or discount.

Offer a gift-wrapping service on your website
If it’s possible to squeeze in ordering some perfectly-sized gift boxes, a low-effort wrapping service could be just the thing to help save your customers’ time and also keep your branding under the tree in homes.

For a services business

Support your local hospitality business
Buy drinks or meal vouchers for your top clients and help your local hospitality sector in the process.

Send silly white elephant gifts to your clients who are missing their holiday party this year
Recognize the strange times we’re in by giving your clients some typical end-of-year folly.

Make some predictions for what will happen next year
Recap industry news from this year and make some evidence-based predictions for trends next year in a simple branded white paper.

Do a Live Q&A
Expertise is the cornerstone of service businesses. What questions can you answer while mulling wine, baking cookies, or wrapping gifts?

Make your customers stars
This might only work if you have <30 customers, but make some paper cut-out Christmas stars with their names on and hang them on a tree in your office. Send them a photo of their name on your tree with a special message of thanks for supporting your business this year.