We’re all using the same marketing theme this year: Shop Indie Local. When we work together to spread the word, we’ll multiply how many customers we reach.
Learn more from AMIBA, the Shop Indie Local lead sponsor.
Plan this one ahead: Share your holiday traditions
Customers are busy beyond belief during the holidays. Rather than talk about your business the days right before the big day, put the focus on you as a person.
Plan ahead for the busy week of Christmas: Tell about one of your family’s Christmas or holiday traditions.
It will help your customers see you as a whole person and to see you as like themselves. So even if your family traditions aren’t anything unusual, that’s ok. It will make it easier to empathize with you.
Having trouble thinking about your family’s holiday traditions? Here are some starter ideas to kick off your thinking:
- Do you have special Christmas ornaments you always use at home?
- Do you have decorations or items handed down to you from family members? Something you remember as a child?
- What are your favorite foods at holiday dinners? Since I lived in south Texas as a kid, pecan pie would be a bonus!
- Are there special holiday items you get from another local store? In my town, Whittet’s Meat Market always carries special candy around Christmas, a tradition Doug Whittet picked up from his father who also ran a meat market.
- Do you have a favorite holiday movie or show you watch as a family?
Remember, even if these sound normal to you, that’s all the more reason to share them. You’re not just a faceless business owner; you’re a real person that customers can understand. No online store can ever be so human.
Share a photo, too. Maybe a photo of your family during a previous Christmas.
Make sure you mention the #ShopIndieLocal tag. You can do this as a post or story on Facebook or Instagram, or in print ads you’re planning to run. For bonus points, do this as a live video on Instagram, TikTok or any channel you like to use with customers.
Check your fellow local businesses online. Look for their holiday stories and cheer them on with likes, shares and comments.
See the whole series:
Read all our articles in our Shop Indie Local series.
Learn more from AMIBA, the Shop Indie Local lead sponsor.
Reprint or share this article:
Shop Indie Local is our group theme for holiday marketing this year. You have my permission to forward these articles to your local retailers, merchants association, chamber of commerce, downtown development group or any one else you think would benefit from them. All you need to do is list the author as Becky McCray of SmallBizSurvival.com and then let me know who you are sharing with.
- How small town businesses can market to remote workers and turn them into new customers - May 15, 2023
- Survey of Rural Challenges 2023 results - May 8, 2023
- Rural and small town ideas from the OU Placemaking Conference IQC 2023 - April 5, 2023
- Rural tourism trends say small towns are still cool - March 27, 2023
- Move Your Money and Bank Local - March 22, 2023
- Using a building as a warehouse or storage in a small town? Put up a sign - March 13, 2023
- How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores - February 19, 2023
- Check your small business website for outdated pandemic changes, missing info - January 31, 2023
- Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors - January 15, 2023
- 2023 trends for rural and small town businesses - December 26, 2022