Marketing tips for autumn and Christmas sales: Reach the right audiences, boost your sales and build your reputation

The first tip is to plan! Nothing ever gets done that well in marketing without planning, so put aside some time.

Planning your marketing will give you the sales boost you’re hoping for – and it’s not too late to start.

There are 4 things that need to be thought about:

Your content – what you need to say

Timing - when you need to say it

Audience – who you need to say it to

Where – the place you need to say it (email, socials, advertising, etc)

Plan your content, timing and place, so that you’re ready to go.

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TARGET AUDIENCES AND KEY MESSAGES

Who uses your products/services and why? Each target audience will need different messaging – don’t go general, go targeted.

What does your product/service give them, and how does it solve the problem they have – in a different or better way than the competitors?

Think about what each target group wants from your products/services. What problem can you solve and what’s the outcome once they’ve bought from you?

Tell them, because if you don’t, they won’t know.

Use customer feedback – what have existing customers said they like – use this in your marketing.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Choose the best platforms – where your buyers will see you. Think about your target audience again – where are they? Online, offline, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn etc?

You most likely don’t need to do all of them. If your audience isn’t there, you’re wasting your time.

Use a mix of images and videos that show the product/service in action, used by the different target audiences, including the relevant key messages for each. Post demo videos, ‘how to’ information, flash offers and previous customer reviews.

You can say all day long how brilliant it is but much stronger than that, is other people saying it!

WEBSITE

Make sure the customer has all the information they need to know and that the buying process is quick, easy and secure.

Do you explain what it is, what it does, how it does it, why they need it, and what the outcome is once they have it?

If it’s not all there, you might lose them to someone who has told them.

EMAIL MARKETING

Plan targeted campaigns – you will need to segment your audience for this to be really effective so that you are telling the right people the right key messages.

Don’t panic – it’s easier than you’d think and can be done at a fairly basic level to start to work.

You could look at what products they’ve bought – if you have something else that will work well with it, send those people that message.

Don’t tell all the people all the messages – you’ll start to look like you don’t know what they want, or know what they already have, which is terrible for making them feel important to you!

Plan a sequence, so that they are sent a series that makes sense, moving them closer to a purchase. Remove those who have already bought, into a different audience and send different messaging. Add some FOMO – don’t miss out, it’s selling out, here’s what others said, limited offer etc…

And always ask for a review – because this can be used to sell to more untapped potential customers, or even convert some who had previously been on the fence.

ADVERTISING

Digital advertising can be fairly instant, but print advertising needs to be booked ASAP – publications close to adverts 2-3 weeks ahead of distribution, some even further in advance.

The big brands even buy ad space they won’t use – to stop their competition but we can’t all do that.

But be careful – only advertise where your audience will see it. Don’t respond to ad reps telling you ‘Let me know by tomorrow so we can get you booked in’ – if it’s right, the next edition will be fine, rather than rushing into this one.

Think about your spend – you want it to come back, or work towards building your reputation and if it’s not going to reach people who might want to buy it, it’s wasted.

If there’s a place you want to advertise, think about it soon – ask for what space they have, costs and deadlines – and do try to haggle!

If you need help to plan your autumn marketing content, just get in touch.

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izzypr.co.uk

[email protected]

07748 631100

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