As the end of the year draws near, so does the largest shopping season for retail. As a franchisee, you will benefit from your franchisor handling all the national marketing campaigns and promotions, but that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook in preparing for the holiday marketing season.
Use this as your checklist to ensure you’re prepared and ready to make the most of this holiday season!
1. You’ve Lined Up Your Promotions Calendar
Whether your franchisor dictates what products go on sale or whether you get to decide, it can help you get organized to look at it in terms of a schedule. Likely you’ll be pushing major promotions for Black Friday, and then might have specific products marked down in the following weeks.Looking at a calendar with all promotions on it, you can plan in advance to ensure that you’re well prepared once it’s time to start a given marketing campaign. If you need to, for example, print signage or promote on social media, add these tasks to the calendar so you don’t miss a beat.
2. You’ve Beefed Up Your Staff
If you run a retail franchise , you’ll want to ensure that you have adequate staffing for the holiday season. Why? 1) You will have more customers to serve than any other time of year and 2) some of your staff will want to take time off during the holidays.Hiring temporary help can ensure that you streamline the checkout process, provide ample customer service, and are never understaffed.
3. You’ve Festive-Ized Your Marketing Collateral
Your franchisor might provide holiday-themed brochures and displays, but you can go even further to add a sprinkle of holiday magic this time of year. Add a snowman image to your Facebook cover photo, or other holiday-centric image to your monthly newsletter. Just a little reminder that ‘tis the season may warm up your customers to come spend money with you.Also: decorate your store! It’s a fun way to put shoppers in the mood, as well as subliminally remind them that time is short before Christmas! They better get their shopping done quickly!
4. You Have Your Content Marketing Plan
Content is one place you can really get into the holiday spirit. If you have a blog, include a few themed posts like “10 Gift Ideas for Dad” that will drive searchers to your website, and then to your store. For your social media profiles, focus on sharing season-appropriate content to get followers excited for the shopping season.The sooner you start planning for the holiday marketing season, the more stress-free and profitable it will be for your franchise.
Susan Guillory is the President of Egg Marketing & Communications, a marketing firm specializing in content writing and social media management. She’s written three business books, including How to Get More Customers With Press Releases, and frequently blogs about small business and marketing on sites including Forbes, AllBusiness, The Marketing Eggspert Blog, and Tweak Your Biz. Follow her on Twitter @eggmarketing.