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.
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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.
- About the Author
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Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
