5 Holiday Marketing Strategies To Captivate Your Customers

A lot of work goes into holiday marketing strategies, particularly those online or on television, but what about those for your brick and mortar business? Your in-store holiday marketing strategy for this time of year should consist of more than a few printed ads dotted amongst some decorations.

The festive season ignites a mixture of emotions, from excitement and happiness to warmth and nostalgia. A smart approach appeals to these emotions, which can encourage your customers to make your business a part of their holiday season, ultimately driving more sales and revenue.

When you’re building out your in-store marketing plans this Christmas, it’s important to pay extra attention to the emotional appeal of the experience you’re creating for your customers. We’ve outlined 5 key holiday marketing strategies designed to captivate customers within your physical business.

Get Them in the Mood

It may sound simple and easy to do, but there’s more to inspiring people around the festive season than you might think. This time of year can be particularly difficult for many people, with it being tied so much to memories and family, as well as being a stressful period for all those involved (except the kids maybe!).

Creating an inviting and engaging environment can go a long way in getting your customers in the festive spirit, and ultimately helping them recall your business as a place that made them feel great. But it’s not quite as simple as putting up a tree and playing some well-known Christmas classics. In fact, it can be very easy to aggravate customers and employees alike with incessant “cheer,” or to unwittingly play a song that is culturally insensitive.

Think carefully about the music you’re playing, or better yet, work with a professional music supervisor who can do the thinking for you. To learn more about the importance of fine tuning your in-store holiday music strategy, make sure you check out our 5 Tips for Striking the Right Tone This Holiday Season.

Another simple yet effective way of evoking positive emotions in your customers during the holiday season is through the use of scent marketing. As the strongest sense tied to memory, scent has the power to trigger memories but also help forge new ones. According to the National Candle Association, approximately 35% of candle sales occur during the Christmas/Holiday season, so finding that perfect seasonal scent is clearly a big deal.

Perhaps you’d like your customers to feel fuzzy and warm thanks to notes of Spiced Apple Cider floating throughout your store, or maybe you want to encourage sales of your baked goods with whispers of Gingerbread leading the way: whatever your goals may be, scent marketing solutions are a fantastic, and much safer, flame-free, method of getting your customers in the mood for any occasion, in any industry.

Offer the Very Best Customer Experience

While the holidays are often a joyful time of year, they are also notorious for creating stress, particularly when it comes to shopping for gifts and groceries. It’s also an extremely busy time of year for healthcare professionals. Your business can help alleviate consumer stress by providing valuable information, having approachable friendly staff and making your customer experience as seamless as possible.

Employing digital signage solutions in your brick and mortar establishment such as wayfinding boards, interactive touchpoints, digital menu boards and quick check-in/checkout options, is an invaluable way of lightening the load for your consumers this season, providing efficient, convenient and stress-free experiences and the tools they need to take control of their customer journey at a time when they are needed most.

Similarly, overhead messaging can be used to educate the consumer on what’s available to them in your business, to communicate promotions, important store information and holiday greetings in a friendly and forthcoming manner that helps put customers at ease and provides them with valuable information on-the-go.

Go Beyond Expectations

Consumers are expecting more from brick and mortar businesses right now, and that doesn’t stop around the festive period. In fact, one could argue that consumers demand even more at this time of year. They want to be entertained, to learn something new and to experience more from your business than a simple transaction.

Live events in your store or restaurant are a fantastic way of going above and beyond for your customers and offering them something a little different this holiday season. With the right audiovisual systems in place, your business has the potential to function as a fully-fledged event space to accommodate whatever you have in mind for your customers.

Another great in-store holiday marketing strategy is to engage the senses. Tasting sessions, live cooking demonstrations enhanced by a scent solution and in-store DJ sets are all great ways to influence purchase decisions and inspire your customers this season, inviting them to consider your business beyond the holiday season.

Show Gratitude

The festive season is also a time to focus on the most important aspects of life for many people: spending time with family, sharing gifts, giving to those in need and practicing gratitude.

Showing gratitude to your customers and employees alike should be daily, weekly, and year-round behaviour, but should be especially highlighted during the holidays. This can be done through the use of digital signage, both front and back of house.

Digital signage allows you to continuously share and refresh words of motivation and encouragement, as well as offering thanks and appreciation to your team or your customers. With the ability to quickly update content through an easy-to-use CMS, the messages you share can be used to acknowledge loyal staff and customers and to celebrate different holidays, special events or seasons.

Not only is the festive season a time of increased spending across all industries, they are also an opportunity to make every moment more personal, every experience more engaging. In a period where all kinds of emotions are running high, it’s crucial that your holiday marketing strategies are channeling, alleviating and embracing those feelings. Your customers will reward you for it.