December is upon us and the mad scramble to organise everything for Christmas is well under way.
Don’t panic. Work through our quick (and fairly painless) Christmas checklist for businesses below and you’ll be relaxing before a metaphorical roaring log fire, cup of cocoa in hand, before you know it.
Show appreciation for your clients, co-workers and suppliers
Make a list of these very important people and send them Christmas cards or gifts, if your budget allows. Consider throwing a Christmas party or mulled wine fuelled mingle for a more personal touch.
At the very least pick up the phone, prepare an e-card or send a holiday email newsletter to show you care.
Finalise your high level marketing plans for 2015
Don’t put it off! Get the main objectives, strategies and activities you plan to complete next year down on paper. Read this ‘Marketing Planning’ post on LinkedIn for some tips on where to start if you are stuck.
Plan content marketing themes and ideas for January
Make the return to work after the festive season little more joyful by preparing your January content themes in advance. Brainstorm with your team and note down themes and ideas to help soften your web visitors’ January Blues.
Organise the staff calendar
Make sure everyone is clear on who is scheduled to work over the holidays and on what terms. Circulate a simple excel spreadsheet or mark a wall calendar with names and dates. Establish whether team members can work from home or leave early. Make sure your customers are aware of planned office closures and reduced services.
Obviously, if you are a team of one, this won’t apply to you. Why not spend this time crafting a creative, entertaining out of office email reply? Check out these examples on the Hubspot blog for inspiration.
Review paid search and social media accounts
Put the correct spend and creative in place on any paid search or social media advertising campaigns you are running over the Christmas period. For example, if you sell products to consumers online, you might want to increase spend during the big sales dates and tailor ads to specific keywords or Christmas related topics. Big dates to watch out for include:
- Black Friday: 28 November
- Cyber Monday: 1 December
- Last Date for Shipping/Post: 17 December
- Christmas Day: 25 December
- Post-Christmas Sales: 27 December
- New Year’s Day: 1 January 2015
If you work in B2B, it might be worth pausing campaigns altogether until potential clients and customers are back at their desks.
When you’ve done all of the above, it’s time to start looking forward to the festivities and a few days of well-deserved rest!