The holidays are really one of the busiest times of the year but also the best times to gain extra revenue for your business. While you need to have some pre-planning and creativity, you can ensure a profitable marketing campaign to roll out on your day-to-day operations.

Maximize your online marketing this holiday season with these 5 marketing tips:

1. Make Your Product or Service the “Best Gift” Ever

Look for creative ways to turn your products or services into the best gift a family or friend could ever receive. Some ideas:

• A massage or spa treatment makes the ideal gift for a busy mom or teacher that spends a lot of time taking care of others but often forgets themselves.
• An hour conversation with a business consultant would make the best gift for a friend that is thinking about opening a restaurant.
• A premium ball of yarn is a perfect match for grandma’s new knitting set.
• A gift card to an online men’s clothing store makes a thoughtful gift for that husband who’s been working so hard for the family.

What do you have that the big companies don’t have? Highlight what makes your product unique in your marketing campaigns. If you’re a small business, emphasize quality, customer service, and experience if you can’t compete on pricing.

2. Be the Holiday Hero

Think of the holiday scenarios and use them to your advantage. If you have any product or service that people can use more during the season, be the holiday hero. Pet boarding businesses can offer holiday travel specials while financial planners can provide budgeting consultations for the next year. Promoting specials that make your customer’s life easier during the holidays is a great opportunity to take advantage of seasonal spending.

Organize your online announcements in your website by designing a one-pager that lists everything as well as an email you can send to customers with a quick “Take a look at our holiday specials” message.

3. For E-mail Marketing, Timing is everything

Bring out the best of e-mail marketing this holiday season. Send multiple emails or holiday cards announcing your sales and special promos. HubSpot’s brand new data reveals the best times to send one-to-one emails during holidays.

HubSpot conducted a study of over 20 million emails delivered over a 10-month period to find the ideal time to send an email. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday had the highest volume of email opens. Tuesday appeared as the best day to send an email with 20% more opens than average.

Here are the best days and times to email:

A. Thanksgiving – Send emails 24 hours before Thanksgiving eve or one week after the holiday.
B. Christmas – Send emails one week before Christmas Eve.
C. New Year – Send emails 4 days after New Year’s Day.

Quick tips:

– Send emails during the beginning of the work week at 11 AM to increase the chances of getting your email opened. If you have to send email on the weekend, send it on Sunday night

– Send emails between 10 AM and 12 PM to increase the likelihood that the recipient will open and respond, to your email. If you’re catching up on emails over the weekend, we recommend sending emails on Sundays between 8 and 10 PM.

4. It’s All About Giving

First, plan for a giveaway that works for you financially but is also attractive enough that people will want to put effort to enter. Then promote it everywhere – on your website and social media accounts. Make sure that all holiday specials and packages are in front of people’s eyes when they enter the contest.

• Create time-limited offers to encourage customers to buy now
• Include add-on incentives, such as a vacation drawing entry with every purchase of your product
• Treat your old customers in a new way – run exclusive email campaigns for the customers who have purchased from your site before
• Consider sending promo codes or giving actual money like $10 credit for purchases above $50.

A successful holiday contest or promo will help you build a new customers list and will help market your services or products.

5. Increase Exposure Using Social Media

Make sure every customer receives a flyer or brochure with information about your upcoming holiday sales by posting them in your social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Feature your holiday specials on your blog and boost the reasons why it’s better to buy from you than your competitors.

Start planning your main campaign right now so you’re ready to launch well. For products, ensure that gift cards or certificates are available. For services, share examples of one or couple of hours of service to customers who want to try them out first before purchasing a subscription.

Finally, all of your holiday marketing efforts must be measurable so you can track your return on investment and plan for an even more profitable campaign next year. When you plan your marketing campaigns early you will not only maximize your profits, but you will also get some free time of your own to enjoy the holidays with friends and family members!