Top 10 Revenue Strategies For Small Businesses In December
Are you looking forward to a profitable end to the year? Take a look at these tips to improve your year-end revenue.
1) Plan early
The best revenue strategies involve careful planning. Let's be honest: Christmas does not come as a surprise. It rolls around every December like clockwork, so you should be prepared for it.
Start planning your promotions for December months in advance. Order any special items, such as decorations or promotional advertising pieces, with plenty of time to spare. By planning carefully, you're more likely to see success at the end of the year.
2) Create a gift guide
Let's start with some tried and tested holiday sales strategies. December is a time when everyone is buying presents - and that's where you come in.
Choose a selection of your favourite products to make a gift guide, which can form the heart of your holiday marketing campaign. Divide it into categories - gifts for him, gifts for her, gifts for Mum and Dad, gifts for the kids, and so on. Set it up on your website and create festive mailouts and social media posts to send your customers to the guide.
To encourage customers to embrace the gift guide, consider adding special deals, like 3 for the price of 2 on your curated items.
3) Sell gift cards
Don't sell physical products? Don't panic. There are still some holiday sales tips that suit small businesses like hair salons, restaurants, and so on.
One of the easiest ways to grow year-end revenue is by embracing the gift card. These can be for a specific item - for example, if you have a spa, you might sell separate vouchers for massages, facials, and other treatments - or they can just be general gift cards.
Gift cards can be physical or virtual. Even if you're selling e-vouchers, you could offer a physical festive card with them. This may make customers more likely to buy them, as their recipient will still have something to open on Christmas Day.
4) Decorate for the season
December is one of the best times to attract new customers. Even though many people prefer to shop online nowadays, December is a month when traditional shopping centres and high streets see much more footfall. That makes it the perfect time to work on revenue growth strategies by tempting customers into your shop.
One of the easiest ways to bring people in is by preparing your business for the festive season. That means cheerful decorations in the windows and some festive music playing. Think about the right decorations for your brand - classy and understated for a luxury boutique or colourful and cheerful for a family-friendly shop.
On a more serious note, remember that Christmas decorations can sometimes create health and safety hazards. Always review their placement carefully so they're not blocking key exits or obstructing customers. Check your legal business requirements so your holiday season doesn't end in tears.
5) Run an end-of-year competition
Take advantage of the increased footfall by following some of our favourite holiday marketing tips. This a great time to run a contest to get more eyes on your business.
Stick up a poster in your shop window to advertise your competition. One of the best ideas is a raffle for customers to win a gift hamper or special prize. To enter, they'll have to buy something from your business; set a minimum spend if you like.
You may want to ask customers to give you their email address so you can inform them if they've won. This can help you increase your mailing list, which is essential for so many small business growth strategies. Of course, make sure you're GDPR-compliant when collecting data, and give customers a chance to opt out if they don't want to receive emails.
6) Make a special festive menu for the end of the year
This is one of the best strategies to increase sales revenue for restaurants and cafés. Don't let shops have all the fun in December - you can run special festive promotions, too.
Your festive menu could focus on traditional holiday favourites, or you might want to put your own unique twist on things. For instance, you could take classic ingredients like turkey, potatoes and cranberry sauce and combine them in fresh, exciting ways. If you have a café, it's easy to make unique Christmas-themed coffees and hot chocolates. Add some gingerbread spices and a few festive decorations. Christmas biscuits and other sweets are always a welcome treat, too.
7) Focus on group bookings
December is a month when a huge number of people want to eat out, either on organised occasions like an office Christmas party or in more casual settings when they catch up with old friends. Take advantage of this by encouraging group bookings. You don't necessarily need to focus on big nights like New Year's Eve, as people will be looking for festive meals all the way through December.
As with most of the best end-of-year revenue strategies, you should start advertising early. Remember, many companies will be looking for a venue for their Christmas meal in November or even October. To keep marketing costs down, advertise on your own social media pages. You can also set up splash pages on your point-of-sale display units to plant the idea in your customers' minds.
If it's your first time trying to encourage group bookings, consider offering a special discount. This should get the ball rolling, encouraging more people to book in future years.
8) Plan your inventory carefully
Expecting to shift a lot of units this December? You should have a clear idea of what sells. Look through performance stats from previous years and highlight your bestsellers.
You may have new products that you want to encourage customers to buy. Think about how you can use your old favourites to nudge them along. Perhaps you can create gift sets with a combination of your bestsellers and some new items, or you could offer a free gift of a new sample when customers spend a certain amount.
Ideally, you should end the Christmas period without a huge amount of stock left over - but equally, you shouldn't run out of your most popular products. This can be a delicate balancing act and may need careful planning.
9) Lean into your USP
The best business growth strategies for small businesses often focus on your unique selling point. That's something you need to think about when you plan for the holiday season.
What sets your business apart? Is it your locally sourced products and ingredients? Is it your high-quality craftsmanship? Is it your low prices? Think about your business values. December is the perfect time to communicate them to your customers. Your marketing, branding and festive decorations should all reflect them.
December isn't just about getting as many people through the door as possible. To encourage long-term growth, you want them to step out of your door with a clear idea of what your business stands for and why they should keep using it.
10) Embrace the Boxing Day sales
Finally, don't forget about the post-Christmas period. Many small businesses devise a complex marketing plan for the run-up to Christmas but don't think about what happens next.
In the UK, the biggest sales of the year traditionally start the day after Christmas. Yes, Black Friday may have stolen a bit of Boxing Day's thunder, but the post-Christmas sales are still big news - and they offer another opportunity for you to get more customers through the door.
Think carefully about how you'll approach the post-Christmas period. This is the prime time to move end-of-the-line items you don't want to stock anymore as you prepare to restock with new, fresh products for the upcoming year.
Again, you should plan your sales strategy. You don't want to be slashing prices randomly; instead, you should have a clear idea of how you will reduce prices. Many businesses like to run sales in phases, starting with a certain level of discounts and then increasing them as the sale continues.
Stick to your plans throughout the festive period. With a bit of careful strategy, this can become one of the most profitable times of the year - and the ideal moment to encourage new customers and grow your business.
