SMBs: Drive Sales & Get Noticed This Holiday Season

According to the Constant Contact Annual Holiday Survey, 52% of small businesses, who participated in the Small Business Holiday Outlook Survey, expect their holiday season sales to improve over last year. Last year, only less than a third of business owners were as optimistic. Constant Contact, a leading provider of marketing and survey tools for small organizations, said that many respondents expressed overall optimism about the state of the economy.

If you own a small or medium-sized business, chances are you are anxious about your own holidays sales, regardless of what your outlook on the economy is, here are some tips and recommendations for improving your sales and getting your company noticed, this holiday season:

1. Get Your Customers Involved - Survey your customers to find out what they'd like to see go on sale and use social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook to reach customers and potential customers. If you decide to let a popular vote determine your sale products, chances are customers will pass the word along to friends and family who can also vote, in turn, getting the word out about your company.

2. Brand Yourself - Make sure you have a good company logo and use it everywhere, along with your name, message and tone. Consistency in communication is key and will help reinforce your brand.

3. Link Yourself - Have a company website? Company Blog? Company social networking accounts? If not, consider getting them and putting a little time and effort into them. Customers will use them to find out more about your company.

4. Host a Holiday Event - Show your customers how much you appreciate them by hosting a holiday-themed shopping event with discount incentives. Make sure you market and promote your event via social networks and other outlets.

5. Don't Forget Last-Minute Shoppers - They're out there. Don't stop marketing a few days before Christmas. Many people wait until after the holiday to their shopping, in hopes of getting great deals and customers are usually loaded with Christmas money or gift cards after the big day.

6. Remember Why You Stand Out - Do you customers return because of your excellent customer service or because you offer services that other businesses do not? Remind your customers of that every chance you get, through emails, your website, and any other marketing tools you use. Remember, not every customer is looking for the best deal.

Throwing Your SMB Holiday Party on a Budget

With the economy slowly climbing out of a recession and the holidays right around the corner, many SMBs are debating what to do for their annual holiday parties, or even whether or not to have their parties at all. According to Newsday.com, only 62% of companies plan to have some sort of celebration this year. That's down from last year's 77%.

But even if you're on a tight budget, you don't want to do away with your company's holiday plans. A little creativity goes a long way and a it's always a great idea to let your employees know how much you appreciate them. Some companies are allowing their employees to have their parties, if the employees will pitch in. For example, having a potluck luncheon, where every employee brings a different dish.

At Super Enterprises, a company based in Melville, New York, the company opted for a lunch instead of an extravagant party. Managment cooked the food in rented ovens for the entire team. As a matter of fact, keeping your office party on-site is a great way to save money. You can let your employees decorate the office and hand out gifts instead of renting a facility for a night.

Another way to keep your holiday party relatively inexpensive is to switch up your menu. If you usually serve steak or fish, try grilling hamburgers and hotdogs or even a breakfast buffet. Or maybe even skip the real food all together and just have dessert. A sundae buffet is a fun idea for your employees. Any kind of buffet verses a full course meal is sure to help save money.

If you do end up renting an off-site facility, there are still a few ways to safely stay within your budget. Forego the full bar and serve wine or a smaller selection of drinks. Also, you can limit party guests to employees only, or insist employees bring only one guest.

No matter what you end up doing for your holiday party, just keep in mind that the important thing is to have fun and let your employees know how much they mean to you throughout the year.