Creating and selling products during the holiday season can be a stressful time, so making sure that you’re in gear before going ahead with your marketing efforts is incredibly important.  

It definitely pays to be prepared during the festive period, and planning out creating and selling Christmas products will benefit your business in the long run. So, how can you ensure that your products stand out among the cacophony of everybody else’s Christmas marketing?

Plan Your Products

If you’ve marketed previously, it’s a good idea to pay attention to your best selling products during the Christmas season. If not, don’t worry, it’s easy enough to pick out some top selling Christmas products based on competitors or asking your customers what they would like to see. 

Perhaps you could look at your general stock and adapt certain products that sell well into a more festive theme? Or maybe you’d prefer to bring in an exclusive, limited Christmas range of products? 

Whatever you decide - don’t go overboard! The last thing you want is to spend time and money on products that just won’t sell, or a volume of stock so large that you can’t shift it. Create a manageable amount of products (stocking fillers are easy enough and often sell well) and make sure that each product ties in with your usual range and carries your signature style. 

Create Your Christmas Range

Once you’ve settled on which products are going to make the cut for your Christmas range, it’s time to get creating! 

Figure out how many festive-themed goods you’ll need to create and make them well in advance; many people will start their Christmas shopping early, and most companies Christmas marketing efforts will kick-off towards the end of October, so we would recommend having the bulk of your products ready for the rush. 

It’s important that you consider your packaging, stocking fillers and those all-important extra touches in advance too. A quick, simple and cost-effective means of doing this is including custom made products. At Zap! Creatives we can whip up festive charms, keyrings and pin badges from our workshop in a flash and have them sent to you in time for your Christmas marketing.

The sooner you make your products, the more you can concentrate on selling them during the festive season!

Plan Your Promotions

Consulting a calendar, sitting down with your team and planning out any Christmas promotions is another important step towards successful festive marketing. You should consider: 

• Discounts and offers: what kind of discounts, offers or products are you willing to give away?
• Personalised products: if you’re offering personalised products, do you need more time to create them?
• Black Friday promotions: how will any additional Black Friday deals work alongside your Christmas marketing?
• Advent calendar-style codes and giveaways: what products are you giving away, and what will the codes grant customers?
• Christmas competitions: how long will the competition run and what prize(s) will you include? 

Social Media & Online Promotions

If you’re planning any offers and promotions online or through social media platforms, it’s also a good idea to get these in place well in advance. 

Be that Christmas offers and newsletters through email marketing or competitions and giveaways via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, Christmas themed subjects and content as well as dedicated artwork will make all the difference, drawing customers attention to your products and/or services. 

It can also be a good idea to reward your social media following; releasing exclusive offers and giveaways to social media platforms can be a great way to say thank you as well as increasing engagement and boosting your brand’s image - it’s win-win! 

Do you have any Christmas marketing successes and stories? Why not share them with our community on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter! For more helpful hints and advice, check out our Zap Blog.