During the holidays, retail sales boom like crazy. However, for many B2B businesses, the holiday season is pretty slow for sales. People are focused on consumer purchases and winding down for the new year. Budgets may be tight as the quarter is coming to an end and the decision maker’s focus is all over the place. While the month of December might seem like a wash, there are a few ways your sales and marketing team can pivot their focus to offset the sting of a low sales month. This is a great opportunity to invest some effort in both relationship building and long term sales efforts. You can use some of the following tactics to get the most out of the slow holiday season and continue to sell into the new year.

Run a holiday sale or a special

If your goal is to make sure sales keep closing through the month of December, a great way to entice customers to sign their contracts is to run a sale or a special. When quoting your product or services with the holiday season approaching, offer businesses a little discount if they sign with you before the new year. If you already have open quotes out, you can add on the discount offer after the fact to encourage people to close the sale.

Utilize email marketing to stay top of mind with prospects

While there may not be a lot of closing sales during the holiday season, you can use this time to invest in your email marketing efforts. Email is a great tool to make sure your foot stays in the door with your prospective customers. It keeps your business on top of their minds, allowing you the opportunity to make sure they stay aware of everything you have to offer. Your business can use the holiday season to build out a strategic email marketing plan to keep potential customers excited about working with you.

Arrange a social media competition

Another great way to keep your business top of mind and even attract new customers is to run a social media competition. Offer participants some sort of prize for sharing, commenting, and following your social pages. This can help your business to expand your network and encourage people to start a conversation about the products and services you have to offer. 

Utilize brand awareness ads

Ads on Google and Bing geared towards brand awareness are a relatively inexpensive way to ensure your business stays top of mind among your competitors. While closing sales may be slow, potential customers are probably still going to be browsing around for companies they want to work with in the new year, so you want to be certain your company gets the attention you deserve. 

Send gifts and cards to potential customers to encourage holiday sales

Sending gifts and holiday cards to both current and prospective customers lets them know your business is thinking of them. Small acts of kindness and thoughtfulness could be just what someone needs to take the leap in the new year to establish a business relationship with you. If you’re planning to send any kind of gifts or cards, make sure you

Incentivize your sales reps

Setting goals for your sales rep to achieve before the new year can really help boost your company’s sales. Incentivizing your reps to reach certain sales amounts helps them get creative in the things they’re doing to close sales during the holidays. 

Utilizing these tactics, along with other digital marketing services, can help keep your business top of mind during the holiday sales season. If you’re interested in implementing a digital marketing strategy to help lead generation year round, reach out to our team today and let’s get started!
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