It seems as though the entire world has changed in 2021, which requires new strategies for businesses. Business owners who want to thrive in the holiday season need to adapt to the ‘new’ way of marketing and growing, even if it seems totally different than the ways of the past.
We spoke with dozens of marketing and business experts, and compiled the best advice for marketing during the 2021 holidays. Please share this article with a business owner who needs support and guidance.
1. Know, Like & Trust
“Businesses looking to grow in Q4 need to be building their brand awareness with the Know, Like and Trust Factor. Bypass some of the iOS14 challenges by using Video View Campaigns to build your brand awareness, then retarget those audiences with your offers.
Add an extra layer by using engagement campaigns to build your Facebook and Instagram followings which have become increasingly important for retargeting efforts.
Get back to basics in terms of audience building and brand awareness. Stop making the sale the most important thing.”
2. Visual Search Engine
“Q4 is the perfect time to start investing organically in a platform that will reach your audience when the New Year ball drops. Pinterest is the perfect visual search engine with social media capabilities to build brand recognition, find new clients and position your product or offer at the very initial stage of decision making.
Pinterest is entering the busiest traffic season, making it the perfect time to plant seeds that will blossom in 2022. Create your business account, connect your website, learn what your competitors are doing and implement a strategy that will increase your website traffic, overall social presence, and sales.”
3. Play Chess
“A visionary brand could skyrocket its’ 2021 Q4 sales beyond target projections were they confident enough to opt for innovation for the betterment of the marketplace at large, whilst maintaining allegiance to the heart and soul of their company’s mission.
This tightrope of balancing a granular approach to productivity, sales quotas and imagination could be realized with an early adoption of YouTube shorts as the boldest stealth chess move today, bolstered by the gargantuan $100 Million Dollar Creator Fund by Google, which beckons a frenzied influx of talent, and by proximity, zealous holiday consumers.
The unspoken partiality benefit of SEO bumps from Google becomes a natural catalyst, which accentuates not only large volume sales, yet also formulates a company’s long tail positioning for Q4 2021 heading into Q1 2022. The already proven successful short video strategy on other platforms, (namely TikTok by Bytedance and Instagram Reels by Facebook), would catapult their first-to-market You Tube Shorts into an extraordinary (Queen’s Gambit) leadership play on this digital chessboard to engage their audience’s top-of-mind attention cementing their brand as the only choice at the digital cash register.”
3. YES media
4. Leverage
“In 2022 the businesses who will stand out absolutely will be the ones who leverage search based content through YouTube and multiply that through content repurposing. Consistently clear messaging amplified will overtake the haphazard noise with this strategy and be the difference of 6 figure businesses and 7-8 figure movements.”
5. Fearlessly Visible
“Businesses who are looking to grow in the last quarter of 2021 need to have a plan in place. The businesses that will see the most success in this last quarter are the ones who are getting fearlessly visible and providing intense value. Another thing to consider is openly sharing your values and beliefs in an honest and integral way, not just on special holidays. People today want to feel connected to each other and who they’re purchasing from and the businesses who can do that will find loyal customers.”
Christa Bybee
Christa Bybee Virtual Solutions
6. Video, video, video
“The best advice I have to grow in Q4 is to get on video – short form, long form – it is essential. Be sure to show up authentic and consistently. For content watch the questions your ideal avatar is asking, use platforms like Google and Answer The Public to get insight.
Audrey Muller
Owner of Two Five Eleven Co LLC
audreymuller.co
7. Respect the inbox
“Consumers anticipate flooded inboxes around the holidays from brands/retailers, but that doesn’t mean they’ll have more flexibility in reading emails. Anticipate that flood by investing in strategies like SMS or Messenger-based campaigns to stay top-of-mind and in front of consumers in other places beyond email. Just remember: don’t flood these inboxes too!”
8. Get on TikTok
“Companies that want to grow this Q4 should join the TikTok wave, with a good conversion funnel, a good sales strategy and a great desire to provide valuable content.”
9. Learn and engage more
“Businesses looking to grow in the 4th quarter of 2021 need to learn more and engage more with the clients and customers. Continually focusing on the “know, like and trust factor.”
Put together a strategic plan to become visible and provide amazing value. People today want to feel that your business has best interest in what they do.”
10. Think of Q1!
“If you’re looking to grow in Q1 (yes, Q1!) organizations need to stop chasing every new and shiny marketing tactic in the hopes of growth. So many businesses are executing a laundry list of marketing activities that aren’t working together or even working at all.
While not glamorous, taking a step back in Q4, doing an audit of activities, understanding who your audience is, what their pain points are and building a marketing strategy and plan that will send the right offers to the right people at the right time, will ultimately allow you to grow and scale at pace.
If you were lost in the jungle and someone offered you a map, wouldn’t you take it?”
11. Build a Community
Communities are absolutely invaluable to the success of a business, especially a small business. Whichever platform you decide to use to grow on in Q4, build a community around your brand.
12. Accessibility
“In 2022 you’ll be left behind if voice and video aren’t a major pillar in your marketing strategy! Q4 is a great time to speak to an accessibility expert about how to make your content searchable by voice (yes YOU can show up when people ask Alexa or Siri for help!) More interested in DIYing it? You’ll want to use conversation style writing, with question-based long tail keywords, and you’ll need to address the technical side too by restructuring your content for web crawlers, making your site load lightening fast, and optimizing your content for Featured Snippets on Google!”
13. Give Value
“Don’t let the overwhelm of the holidays keep you from sticking to your strategy. I see it all the time, social media is the first thing to drop off when business owners get busy during the holidays. Stay consistent with your social media presence and continue to tell your brand’s story – don’t just SELL, give value that keeps your customers hungry for more!”
Allie Martin
Fame and Fortune
14. The 4 R’s
“My advice for businesses looking to grow in Q4 would be to Reflect, Recalibrate, Reach, and Rate.
It’s important that as business owners, we are not afraid to;
– Reflect on our progress – what worked and didn’t, so that we will be able to
– Recalibrate our decisions for growth,
– Reach our goals through proper execution of plans, and
– Rate our performance through our clients’ experiences and the relationships we’ve built.”
15. Focus
“According to different reports, during the holiday season, businesses are more likely than any other time of year to be given an opportunity for growth. With this in mind, you must take advantage and do your best. In this last quarter of the year, it is crucial to stay focused on what matters.
A) define your goals (S.M.A.R.T. goals aka Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Based) and make a plan;
B ) take action and go all-in! In this last quarter of the year, it is crucial to stay focused on what matters. You can’t afford any distractions, or you might lose sight of your goals and will never achieve them!
C) use all the opportunities for building relationships with your potential client. Build trust, communicate with your audience so that you can create the base for your selling process. In this period, with Black Friday, Christmas, etc., people are ready with their credit cards, so you must be prepared for it!”
Sabrina Colnago
16. Increase output
“If you’re looking to grow your business in Q4 2021 then you need to increase your content output, especially short videos for TikTok, Reels or YouTube Shorts. Besides that, you need to stay consistent with your content and start your Christmas preparations much earlier, since many buyers plan their purchases at least 2-3 months ahead. This could be a huge advantage, especially for smaller e-commerce businesses, since shoppers are more open to trying new brands and to shop online, according to a study from Google/Ipsos. So, consistently being visible and expanding your following early will be key.”
17. Visibility
“The holidays can be a tough time to be seen amidst the noise of everyone trying to sell, sell, sell…use this time to leverage your visibility.
Can your competition out-video you? Can they out Tik Tok you? Think of ways to leverage and show up bringing massive value before your call to action. Don’t overproduce it, use selfies and video that you create from your phone and add in some fun colorful props for a quick pattern interrupt.”
Crissy Conner
The Visibility Queen
18. Stand out
“If you are looking to stand out from other businesses this holiday season, you need to be on video, whether you start with reels, YouTube, YouTube shorts, or even TikTok, being on video will help your ideal client start to know, like and trust you. Building brand presence is essential to reach a diverse demographic of potential clients. Getting started on video during Q4 will help build momentum into Q1 which can be a slower time of year for some businesses. This small change could make you stand out from the competition, so get started today!”
Sunni O’Maley
Vibe Social Branding
19. Brand awareness
“If you want to grow in quarter 4 in 2021, businesses need to focus on building more brand awareness – get your message seen and heard by your target audience in a way that makes THEM feel seen and heard. If you’re not being consistent on a video-based platform, DO IT NOW!”
Caitlin Johnson
Caitlin Audrey Creative
20. SEO Strategy
“Given the way the current word is today, internet use is at the highest it has ever been and proper SEO is essential. As a business owner it is imperative to have a solid SEO strategy in place to not only grow your organic traffic but your business as a whole.”
Desiree’ Grimaldi
1×1 Impression
21. Mobile first
“This Q4, if you want to grow your business, you must have a presence on Facebook & Youtube as part of your Organic Social Media Strategy. *The #1 & #2 traffic platforms in the world. You must create video content- YouTube Shorts are literally on fire right now! You must optimize your content for MOBILE. Over 53% of the world’s internet traffic is being consumed on mobile devices. Make sure your customer can see your content! Don’t forget to have fun with your customers online during Q4 too. Look for posts that make them laugh and engage with your content.”
22. Value vs. cost
“To grow revenue in Q4, create incredible value with your offer(s) – the perceived value should be much higher than the cost. In addition, aim to increase the average cart value by including must have add-ons with the initial purchase and in many cases adding one time offers they REALLY won’t see again. Utilize TikTok and YouTube to connect and engage with your ideal customers adding so much value they can’t resist clicking the link in your bio.”
This is a Contributor Post. Opinions expressed here are opinions of the Contributor. Influencive does not endorse or review brands mentioned; does not and cannot investigate relationships with brands, products, and people mentioned and is up to the Contributor to disclose. Contributors, amongst other accounts and articles may be professional fee-based.