Before the holiday hustle starts

We've reached the time of year where I sometimes forget what month it is...

Hi Reader,

We want to enjoy the holidays, but they’re often a busy time for work. With marketing especially, we can tend to be planning so far ahead that we don’t remain present. Reduce that stress and pressure by spending a small amount of time in preparation.

For product business

Double check your checkout process. Place a fake order if possible, made possible by your payment gateway, and check it’s seamless. Proofread all the emails and communications you receive after and see what can be improved.

Come January, you’ll be wishing your sales had turned into testimonials. Automate the ask for that testimonial, either by sending an email after a period of time where they might have used the product. You might also like to do this with Google Reviews through your Merchant Center, so your reviews go straight to the source. You can then copy your chosen testimonials over to your website as needed.

If you offer a subscription, send an email in October or November to remind those who don’t have one to sign up to get that task off their to do list for later in the busy season.

Prepare for the final shipping dates by letting people know when the cutoff is. Make sure that you advertise these and keep them on your banners and your social media. This means you’ll have the information to go back to if you have a customer service request. Reach out to your courier providers and see what their timings are, and then I would estimate that you cut it off a week before that, because you don’t want to guarantee that an item will arrive when it’s on the cusp. You can also frame it as XYZ Couriers have let us know their cutoff is ABC.

In these busy times, you’ll default back on your processes. Make sure they’re up to date, so you can think less while doing more. Figure out how you can pack and ship orders faster without the stress of moving like a bat out of hell. Create canned emails for common customer service queries to speed up your email time. Share social media content and blog posts about those queries too, so people can find the information themselves. See what you can automate via direct integrations or Zapier.

For service based businesses

If you choose to send end of year or holiday gifts to your clients, I highly recommend sending them early in the month of December (or even January). You can miss the rush, and the recipient can find this stands out to them more. They appreciate it, use it more and might have the time and space to share about it than they might once the holiday season is well and truly underway. The word of mouth and appreciation can be savoured that little bit more.

Consider when you might be your busiest, and slowest through this season and plan accordingly. If you have a bit of space right now, start to work on the marketing you might not have time for at that peak. If you tend to have a slow December, reach out and check in with clients mid November to see if they need any extra assistance before they get too busy to ask.

Start to speak with clients about the new year as soon as possible in your everyday discussions as well, so you know what their plans are ahead of time and have time to plan.

Prep your Out of Office message. That email can say more than when you’ll be back into the office. You might like to send a pre-emptive email to everyone who may need you on that final day before you check out, as well as setting up an automated reply. It can also give people other information like where they can keep up with you, or find help information while you’re away. Maybe there’s a certain person in your team that will be available through that time while the rest of your team isn’t available. Maybe there’s a certain thing that people can do like book a call with you for when you’re back, with a calendar link. Maybe you don’t normally provide this but it’s something that’s available only at this time. Give them information on when not only when you’ll be back but what they can work with you on when that happens.

I’ve always preferred to reiterate a few of the frequently asked questions when I’m out of office. This will often depend on who my clients are at the time and what projects we’re working on but it’s kind of like a list of where they can find certain things and links to learning videos that walk them through things that are pretty common but sometimes they just come to me instead of googling it and so that way they get the answer but I’m just not there to give it. For those instances, you can prepare by creating or updating the videos and blog posts and other links that might need to be prepared before your final day.

Review your processes to see what can be improved and automated to reduce your need to rush during this period. That might be updating templates so you don’t have to make the same six changes every time you create a portfolio, or formalising the answer to a question in a blog post so you don’t find yourself typing the same 3 sentences 3 times every week. Maybe it’s creating a handy list of all your common links and other items you send to clients, so you can copy and paste instead. These things take seconds to do every time, but when you’re busy, they kill your flow.

As we head into Q4, I wish you all the best with your marketing plans! I hope you’re able to find moments to kick back and enjoy amongst the chaos. This is my favourite time of year to be super selective, taking things off my to do list that aren’t a priority, whether that’s by automating it, making a process, or just erasing it right off that list. I hope you can find the space to do the same, and give yourself the least chance of tears.

If you’re at a loss as to where to start marketing in Q4, or are dreading the planning for 2024, maybe it’s best we chat.