It’s the season for business all around Nigeria to see the bottom line on their income statements and determine if they’ve made a profit or loss this year. The ending of the year is when reports have shown that Nigerians spend the most on shopping. So how can business take advantage of this and reel in some of that Christmas shopping money to their business?

Determine the channels that matter

With so much going on during the holiday season, it’s important to have a strategy for getting the word out about everything you have going on. It’s not enough to talk about your business in one place and hope a lot of people are going to see it. You need to leverage the right channels to get in front of potential customers in the right place, at the right time.

This will include:

• Email: Email allows you to create a series of timely messages to announce your holiday plans, remind people about important dates and deadlines, and thank people for shopping small during the holiday season.
• Social: Social media allows you to tell your story in different ways, across a variety of channels. You can create a posting schedule before the season arrives, and use these different platforms to connect with customers and keep them engaged throughout the season.

Think about the different channels you have available. When it comes to your email marketing, you can save time by using holiday templates and scheduling your email announcements and reminders in advance. On social, you can easily tweak your strategy to include shareable holiday content, and even give your pages a holiday makeover.

Figure out how people are finding you

The ways in which customers find your business have changed a lot in recent years. While word-of-mouth referrals will likely still be your biggest driver of new business, there are also new platforms like social and search that help you reach new customers every day. In order to find you, shoppers will ask for recommendations on social media. They’ll search for your business on a search engine like Google or Bing. And they’ll use listing platforms and mobile apps like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and YellowPages to read reviews and get details about your business. Making it easy for them to find the right information will offer a huge advantage when it comes to bringing new customers through your doors. So you need to make sure all the information a potential customer would need to find and visit your business is accurate and up-to-date.

Create an holiday offer

If you want to get people into your store this season, you need to make sure you have a compelling offer to get them to act. The type of offer you create will depend on the audience you’re trying to reach and the type of results you’re hoping to achieve. Here’s a look at the different types of offers you can create:

• Offer a coupon: You can easily add a coupon to an email that customers can print out or redeem from their mobile devices.
• Host an event: Hosting a holiday event is the perfect way to thank employees and customers for their continued support throughout the whole year. It’s also a great opportunity to bring customers into your store and provide a memorable holiday experience.
• Add value: If discounts and sales aren’t the right fit for your business, there are a number of other ways you can add value during the holiday season.

Think about an offer that got people excited in the past. Even if it wasn’t during the holidays, chances are there are certain details about the offer that stood out and could be used to your advantage.