Tackling The Fourth Quarter

Christmas is next month. Can you believe it? NEXT MONTH! Time truly does fly. And when you’re a business owner, it often feels as if it goes by even quicker. Entrepreneurs generally see a year cut up into four parts. So naturally, they take a look at how their sales fluctuate from quarter to quarter.

The fourth quarter of the year is the most important for many business owners. Of course, it’s the last quarter of the year so they naturally want to end the year off strong. But because of the fast-approaching holiday season, business owners need to ensure that they are prepared for the holiday rush.

We have mentioned in a number of our recent blogs that today, being the first of November, generally is the beginning of the holiday season as far as business are concerned. If you haven’t noticed them yet, holiday decorations are bound to start appearing in shopping malls everywhere very soon.

Along with the decorations, however, come a number of discounts, displays and other special features exclusive to the season. Businesses will be clamoring for the attention of consumers to ensure that their holiday shopping is done at their establishments. And why wouldn’t they? The fourth quarter of the year is the busiest for shoppers.

An article by Paula Polman from About.com outlines a five step marketing plan that helps for small business owners to focus on ways to – as she says – “explode” their holiday sales, especially through online marketing. She insists that by following these steps, you will have a very effective holiday marketing campaign that is bound to boost sales.

The first step is “defining your customer”. Doing so is important to knowing how to properly market your products and services. Ask yourself what your “perfect customer” is like. Male or female? Do they work outside or in the home? Are they executives or homemakers? What is their net household income? What is their level of education?

In fact, answering these and other questions will help you to pinpoint your target customer base year round and not just during the holidays. Of course, when you are able to speak directly to your target audience, the chances of them being able to relate to your brand are bound to increase.

That being said, Polman insists that your “choose your targets”. Focusing again on online marketing, she writes: “A coordinated effort across several sites and venues commonly frequented by your customers is the most effective marketing campaign. If you are seen in several places your visibility and retained message is much stronger…Holiday specific sites that are well promoted are excellent areas to consider.”

We will continue to take a look at Polman’s five step internet marketing campaign to improve holiday sales in tomorrow’s blog.