Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, and we’re in the midst of a holiday shopping frenzy. However, you can still get your share of online holiday sales. With the right strategies and creative ideas, you still have time to attract online visitors to your website.
Here are a five advertising and promotion ideas that can help increase your chances for jolly holiday sales for 2009:
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Blog Posts
If your small business has a blog, use it to its full advantage this holiday season. Be sure to post frequently, and if possible, daily.
Your blog posts should be insightful, helpful, and full of special deals for your readers. Although promoting your own company sales is a great idea for your blog, spread your sales pitches among other posts that include helpful shopping tips, decorating ideas, gift ideas, tips on staying sane with relatives, etc. The additional helpful advice and insightful articles read by your audience will keep them coming back for more.
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Guest Blogging
Don’t overlook the possibility of writing a guest post on another popular blog. Many popular bloggers love to have guests write an article for their readers. You might make a pitch to local bloggers or even nationally known bloggers, and ask to write a targeted post to their readership. Don’t forget to include a plug and a link to your website.
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Product Reviews
Offer free samples to third parties who conduct product reviews and posts them online. Bloggers are famous for product reviews, as well as website owners who strictly conduct product reviews and promotions. Ask what it would take to get your product reviewed and posted. Sometimes it’s merely a free sample, but the more widely known promoters may ask for a fee to review your product, or even a cut from sales resulting from their promotion. However, that may be a reasonable advertising expense to acquire more sales.
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Banner Ads
Banner ads have been a part of traditional online advertising since the internet became popular. Like an ad in a magazine or newspaper, you pay for advertising space on another website. You create a banner ad that is a specific size determined by the host. The host displays your banner ad for the amount of time agreed, which is usually about a month. Their readers then can click on your banner ad if they are interested in your offer or want to find out more information.
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Joint Ventures
Ask to partner up with another website owner to share costs of advertising, share email lists, and swap links. Joint ventures are easy to set up and organize if you only wish to do cross-promotion. You save money, get access to a wider market base, and have the potential for larger holiday sales.
With the 2009 holiday sales season winding down quickly, you need to get on board the holiday promotion train and attract your share of sales right away. These are only a few ideas to get you started. Read our other holiday marketing articles to learn how you can promote your small business before Santa arrives!
