Always be marketing, is what some experts will tell you. But Christmas, along with a few other sacred holidays, can be tricky.
On one hand, the Christmas period is a great time to market your business while your neighbourhood is likely to be in a community networking kind of mood, but where do you draw the line and give people a break?
Here are some ideas that may inspire you to promote your business in a tasteful way.
Community events
Holiday time is also the time when your neighbourhood will usually be thinking about community get-togethers*. With COVID-19 restrictions beginning to ease in some places, this may be back on the agenda for some of you if you can provide a COVID-safe environment.
If it is, offer to help the organisers set up and possibly also offer (with your great real estate marketing skills) to get the word out to the community about the event through some Facebook Live Videos and maybe even through a little COVID-safe door-knocking.ย
Holiday-themed competitions
Use your social media accounts to run a holiday-themed competition with prizes (like a Christmas Hamper). Ask homeowners or those who have listed homes to send in photos of their Christmas decorations and post pictures, then your followers can vote for the best one.ย
Or you can have a โBest Christmas Treeโ competition with your followers sending in pics of their own trees to you. Keep in mind, it is not just current clients you are targeting but your entire neighbourhood.
Decorating (without damaging) tips
One of the things people appreciate around this time of the year is advice on how to put up decorations without ruining the paint, the woodwork or other aspects of the homes.
Offer Christmas decoration tips and advice on your social media pages that people can use to keep their homes shining bright but without damaging the property (particularly if itโs rented). That is sure to garner a lot of interest in your pages. Share advice about what kind of decorations cause the least impact on the property too.ย ย
Thank your customers
Holiday season is a great time to thank your customers too. Simply call the people that youโve done business with this year to thank them – and see how they are. You may want to go that extra step to send a personalised gift or card to show folks you remember them and value your relationship with them.ย
Add value ideas
The holidays may be just the perfect time for your neighbours to pick up that home improvement project theyโve been delaying all year. If you have a blog, this is a good opportunity to think about value improvement kind of posts, for example remodelling, new materials, successful renos in the neighbourhood, before and after shots on your social media.
Get hyper-local (1)
Depending on your suburb, the folks in your neighborhood are likely to be interested in knowing more about the place they live in. Seek out some images of landmarks and buildings in the area throughout Christmas and post photos on your social media with a cool yarn or two.
Get hyper-local (2)
Curate a list of local businesses for Christmas shopping, and encourage the community to buy local. DiJONES’s Drought Drive is a great example of this.
Film a video
Film a festive video โ it can be a great way to connect, show how personable your business is and introduce your team. Get creative and come up with something fun showcasing the local area.
Add some AI
There are plenty of simple photo-framing apps that use AI to christmas-ify your Facebook and Instagram snaps. Powderkegwebdesign.comโs Christmasify is one of them. Santa yourself is another.
Open your office – within COVID guidelines*
Get folks to come to you โ where possible. Maybe itโs some socially distanced Christmas nibbles, a colouring contest for the kids, or even dress up someone from your office as Santa (but no closeup photos this year!)ย
*This article was updated in 2020