With Thanksgiving just behind us, holiday marketing is already in full gear. If you haven’t started already, you’re late. That doesn’t mean you don’t have time to pull together some powerful marketing ideas for your local business. If you really want to grab some attention, these tips will help.

Adjust Your Target Audience

One thing many retailers forget to consider during the holiday season is the major shift in buyer personas. While your products may be created with a particular target audience in mind, during the holidays, people don’t often shop for themselves. Instead, spouses, moms, dads, siblings, grandparents, and friends do the shopping for their loved ones.

Your marketing must target those who are planning to make the purchase for someone else, and that means you must be ready to change your ad audiences, educate these potential buyers, and provide ample return and refund information.

There are a few key ways to get this information to the right audiences, and we’ll discuss those next.

Video Marketing

The best way to make the target user for a gift clear to the person planning to buy it is through video. Within a few seconds of viewing, gifters can get a sense of who the gift could be for, how it might be used, and even perhaps how it is delivered. Video is also a great way to help recipients learn more about their gifts.

The holidays aren’t the only time video is useful for retail and ecommerce. Surveys show 96% of consumersappreciate video marketing efforts when choosing products. Even more importantly, 99% of consumers actually like watching branded videos, so some may not make a purchase the first time but you could eventually convert them.

Create Gift Guides

Another way to present gift possibilities to givers this year is with gift guides. These can lend a high-end feel to any brand, while showcasing your most popular products. Gift guides can come in various forms, such as the videos we mentioned earlier, or as download options from your ecommerce site for lead capture information.

You may also seek out local organizations that create gift guides in partnership with businesses in your city or town. For instance, local banks might present gift guides as part of their service to banking customers. Some non-profits in your area may also organize gift guides to share with their donors. These are great options for spreading awareness beyond your current audience.

Local Influencers

While mega-influencers and celebrities may come to mind when you consider an influencer marketing program, the real engagement comes from micro- and nano-influencers. That’s perfect for small businesses, as local influencers often fall into these categories.

You may expect to pay for an influencer’s services, but many who fit the target audience you’re trying to reach will gladly accept sample products in exchange for posts and reviews. Whether you pay for the service or the influencer offers a trade, your best bet is to allow the influencer to use their own creativity to create the posts.

Influencers will share where they believe your business will receive the best exposure. TikTok may be the hottest social media platform right now, but remember that you’re trying to reach the givers and not the recipients during the holidays. Influencers understand their audience, and they’ll know that to reach grandparents who are choosing gifts for their grandkids, Facebook and Instagram are a better fit.

As always, we’re here to help you reach your buyers during any season. Reach out any time to gain access to our experienced marketing team.