It seems way too early to be chatting about Christmas, right?! We’ve barely even had summer! But, when you’re a business you need to be thinking about these things before the average consumer. Why? Because if you’re not thinking ahead you won’t be prepared, you’ll miss out on sales and you’ll lose here are the chance to make relationships with customers.
So, besides actually making your stock, here’s 5 reasons why product-based businesses need to get their Santa hats on now… (plus 3 extra reasons why you need new product photographs this Christmas)
1.
People start shopping early
Consumers aren’t waiting until late December to do their Christmas shopping, they’re planning and purchasing before that. On average people start thinking about a specific holiday or celebration three months before, so a lot of people will start their Christmas shopping in September and October.
2020 has been a strange year all round, and it seems that it’s having a big impact on the way people shop for the holidays - Pinterest has reported over a 60% increase in searches related to Christmas since March! Which shows that this year, people are starting their Christmas shopping way sooner than normal.
If you aren’t ready, you’ll miss people at their prime buying phase which means you’ll lose out on sales and customers.
2.
You get a chance to build those relationships
Getting your products out there in Christmas surroundings before your audience has really started actively shopping means you can capture them at the first stages of their buying journey. That means that when they do start shopping, your business is going to be at the forefront of their mind.
If you can capture them at the start of their journey it will be easier to build a strong relationship with them and strong relationships lead to purchases and repeat customers.
3.
You can plan your content
Content creation is like a whole job in itself for small businesses isnt it! The sooner you’re prepared for the festive season, the more time you’re giving yourself to get organised and plan. You’ll have plenty of time to get your email campaigns, social media graphics and shop listing pages created, scheduled and published.
Providing regular touch points for your audience will strengthen their trust and confidence in your business - reinforcing those relationships. Being organised with your content means that you can be confident and consistent in showing up. You won’t be rushing, and can create clear and consistent content that shows off all of your Christmas products, features and info off at its best.
4.
You can build up the anticipation
A great way to build up hype and excitement around a product line, especially new products, is by setting a launch date and doing a countdown. Having your products, photos and content ready in advance means that this can be a really simple thing for you to do. It’s an easy way to create content that has structure and interest. It helps to get your audience excited for what’s to come and eager to buy.
5.
It’ll be less stressful for you and for your customers
While the Christmas season is enjoyable, for a lot it does have an overwhelming sense of stress. Especially when you’re a business owner. You’re having to think about creating stock, updating shop listings, creating content, organising packaging and more, and often doing all of that in a very short space of time. Thinking about your Christmas products now means that you can reduce that stress because you know you’re organised in plenty of time. You’re not doing things in a rush, you’ll be able to enjoy the festive period as well as doing well in your business.
You can also make things less stressful for your customers. This is especially important if your items are personalised or made to order. If you don’t give customers much notice, many of them will miss out on the chance of purchasing from you, which will frustrate them and have negative impacts on your relationship. You don’t want them to not come back to you next year because they’re upset that they missed out. Planning early on means that you can regularly remind customers of last order dates and lead times and set expectations, boundaries, and lessen the chance of customer disappointment.
A big part of getting ready for Christmas is your photographs. You need Christmas themed images because
People won’t buy what they can’t see
You might have the best most perfect product for the festive season, but, no matter how brilliant it is, if your audience can’t see it, they won’t buy it. High-quality images are one of the most important things to invest time or money in. If you’re launching new products or if you haven’t had images taken of your products before, the festive season could be the perfect time to start.
Fresh photos help renew interest in your business
You’ll often have photos of your products in the same setups that you share regularly. And while they might show your products off well and strengthen your brand recognition, adding a new set of images into what you’re sharing can catch people's eye and create new interest in your products. Even if your audience have seen your products before, seeing them in new situations might give them refreshed ideas for why they need them or why they’d make the perfect gift for someone else.
Seasonal images relate more to your audience
Your audience wants to interact with things that they can relate to, things that they are experiencing. So creating seasonal images can massively help with that because it ties in with what your customer is going through. When you’re trying to market a product at Christmas, make the job easy for your customer - show the product in a festive setting and they’ll more easily associate it with the season. They’ll quickly understand that your product is what they’re looking for, that it works well for the holidays or that it would make the perfect gift. Your images will stand out because they make sense to your audience at that moment.
Want to find out more about how Personal Branding and Product Photography can boost your business? Pop me an email lucyhannahphotography@gmail.com