How to Jumpstart Sales in the New Year
With the new year right around the corner, now can be an ideal time to start planning how your small business can generate more sales after the holiday rush. While every small business is different, and some sales-boosting tactics might work for some and not others, there are some universal strategies that your small business can incorporate that can not only increase brand visibility, but also strengthen and widen your reach, attract more of your target audience, and jump start your sales.
Create timely promotional material
Every time January 1st rolls around, the idea of a fresh start pops into many of our minds. As a small business, recognizing this and taking it as an opportunity to meet your customers’ needs and interests can be a great way to generate attention to your products and/or services, and produce more sales.
For example, if you are a small business that offers cleaning services, you could create print or digital promotional material to highlight your services in a way that emphasizes a “refresh” or include copy such as “make your home feel brand new for the new year.” If you have a wellness-focused business, emphasizing the health benefits of your products/services can be a great way to promote yourself when wellness is top of mind for many people.
You can still keep your same general messaging and promote the same products/services, but fine-tuning your promotional copy to be timely can help potential customers view your business in a new light.
The idea of aligning your sales strategy with what is currently happening around you can be a great way to stay fresh, relevant, and relatable. In this case, the start of a new year is a relatively collective experience, and creating timely content and promotional material around it can be a great way to meet your customers where they are.
Increase your engagement and stay active on social media
Social media can be beneficial for small businesses, as it can help you build a brand voice and connect with current and potential customers. When you post organic social content to your followers, you are helping create stronger customer relationships, while also generating conversations about your business. Through this, your small business can gain greater visibility, which can help increase conversions. You are also helping boost the chances that someone outside of your follower list will see the content you are posting, which helps broaden your customer pool.
Creating content about the products/services your small business offers, sharing customer reviews, and posting video content – there are so many possibilities to consider when carving out a social media strategy for the new year that can help boost sales. Since 75% of internet users use social media platforms to research brands, having an online presence where you are actively posting content about your products/services and responding to users, can help illustrate that you care. In turn, this can translate into a more engaged audience who can be more willing to find out more about your business, which could lead to sales.
Implement print marketing
Focusing on the digital side of marketing, albeit important, is not the only way to help promote your business and boost sales. Print marketing can be a great way to target current and potential customers in your community while increasing visibility at the same time.
After the rush of holiday shoppers, there may be a noticeable drop in sales come January, as gift-giving is not necessarily top of mind anymore. This is why it can be a great time to remind your community at a local level that you are there. Utilizing print marketing could be through posters and banners, storefront signs, flyers, direct mail, or even business cards that customers can take with them that can provide a visible reminder of your business.
Opting for refreshed print materials in the new year can help reignite that spark in your business and community, while also helping to further establish your brand identity. For example, if you are offering a great sale, rather than only promoting online or inside your store, create flyers around town or display a poster outside of your store letting the public know about it. These extra details may be the push your small business needs to get a jump on sales.
SEO optimize your website
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a powerful tool when it comes to digital content. If your website is not getting the attention you want, prioritizing SEO strategies in the new year can help get your website on potential customers’ screens.
There are many ways SEO can help drive traffic to your website, but one of the main goals to focus on is boosting sales. Therefore, you will want to consider your page speed, how easy it is to search for products on your website, the metadata you have inputted, and that the copy used on your website includes keywords that match what people are searching for. For example, adding a blog to your website that highlights topics related to your business can be an effective tool to turn to, especially when you want to boost SEO efforts, as search engines can direct searchers to your website since it can appear like you are subject matter experts.
When a potential customer searches for a product or service online, 75% will select one of the top three results that appear on Google. To get your website to those coveted spots, you need to implement a strong SEO plan. In turn, this can translate into greater brand visibility and potentially more sales because of it.
Enter the new year with The UPS Store
Growing your small business and applying new ways of boosting sales can set you off to a great start in the new year. Small Business Solutions at The UPS Store can assist in your new year game plan by offering printing and packing and shipping services. Be sure to check out a location near you to get started.