successful december

The holiday season is prime time for businesses to show their stuff. Consumers are ready and willing to buy; you just have to know how to get their attention and lure them away from competitors.

For your company’s 12 days of Christmas, use these 12 steps to have the most successful December yet.

1. Set Goals

Every successful campaign starts by setting SMART goals. Your goals should follow this pattern:

  • Specific – a clearly defined goal.
  • Measurable – your goal should be quantifiable, so you know when you’ve reached it.
  • Achievable – be realistic when setting your goals.
  • Relevant – does your goal help your business? It should.
  • Time-bound – with a deadline, you’ll be more motivated to pursue and achieve the goals you set.

You can use last year’s numbers as a benchmark. Maybe you want to exceed that sales count by the end of the year or double your average monthly revenue for the year. Whatever your goal is, use it to plan out your holiday business efforts.

2. Plan in Advance

Now that you have a goal in mind start planning for it as soon as possible. The earlier you can get started, the larger your window of opportunity.

For example, many companies will likely be increasing their demand for materials and resources as they gear up for the holidays. This could lead to shortages and backorders that can leave you high and dry. Plan to make large orders in your online calendar before this rush, and you’ll be set up for success while others struggle.

3. Do Your Christmas Shopping Early

Does your business have a Christmas list? Consider doing your holiday shopping early to facilitate a successful December.

The Christmas list could be new pieces of equipment or software that can help you end the year on a high note on your company. Better tools enable you to close more sales and do more work before 2021 hits.

4. Practice a Safe Holiday

Nothing will bring your business to a standstill like COVID-19. No matter what you plan to do, plan to be safe.

Ensure your business property is up to code, and you’re encouraging customers to social distance and practice COVID-19 safety. While it might be inconvenient, the pro of staying in business for the busy holiday season heavily outweighs the cons.

5. Give Back

The holiday season is all about giving back. Take the time to spread some holiday cheer to your local community. This will bring a smile to your face and the faces of everyone involved, and customers will support your efforts and give back to your business.

You can gather your employees to volunteer at a soup kitchen or local charity, provide groceries for families in need, or donate money to an organization with a strong campaign going on for the holidays.

6. Hire Seasonal Staff

Are you experiencing hire than normal volume for orders, calls, and other business needs? Look to hire some seasonal workers to take control of the influx.

Several workers in your area are looking for some extra holiday cash who will be willing to help out. Send out applications for temporary jobs and get to hiring that needed help.

7. Use Slow Days to Your Advantage

Some companies don’t get as busy as others during the holidays. In fact, it can be quite the opposite. Using slow days to your advantage can still make for a successful December.

On slow days you can work on company infrastructure, organizing, or planning out the next year. Use your online calendar to really tackle these days with diligent time management and your December will act as a springboard into 2024.

8. Be Careful With Budgeting

Just like the consumers you focus on, a proper budget will prevent a holiday overspending disaster. It’s unfortunately easy to go over your budget with so many enticing products and brilliant marketing campaigns tugging at your wallet.

You might feel tempted to overdo it on your marketing campaigns or pushing out an excessive amount of products. Stick to your budget and plans, so you don’t create a snowball effect that makes for a slow start next year.

9. Add Holiday Themes to Marketing

Marketing is all about sending relevant messages to your customers. What’s more relevant this time of year than the holidays? Your content calendar could use some extra festivity.

While a holiday spin isn’t anything new, it will strike a chord with your customers who are itching to shop till they drop. Leverage your social media to spread unique content for your business with holiday messages to increase your exposure and engagement.

10. Review Your Website

Is your website prepared for heavy holiday traffic? Is it in need of some Christmas decorating? Add a date in your online calendar to audit your online system to prepare for the end of the year.

The more time you give your team to adjust your website, the cleaner, it will look. Visitors will notice a hack job, and you can increase engagement by drawing attention to a holiday website launch.

11. Capitalize on Trends

Each Christmas brings new consumer trends. Taking note of these trends so you can incorporate them into your business plan sets the stage for a fantastic Christmas season.

For example, this year, the trend is online shopping and contactless delivery in the wake of COVID-19. If you enable those features into your business and improve what you already have, you can attract more customers and increase your sales by a significant margin.

12. Take Care of Employees

Your business could not survive the Christmas rush without your diligent team. Be sure to spread some Christmas cheer to them; they certainly deserve it.

You can reach out to your employees by giving presents, Christmas presents, or throwing a Christmas party. Whatever you choose to do, take the time to make it personal for each member of your team. This will make the Christmas season more special for everyone, and a more successful December for the whole team.

After a challenging year, Christmas is a time to celebrate and make it all better again. Use these 12 Days of Business to get your organization up and running again for a much better 2024.

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