There's no rest for the business blogger...
especially during the Christmas holidays!
That's because Christmas is still the best season for giving and you'd want to take advantage of this opportunity to grab a bit of the Christmas spending pie for your business.
Christmas Spending Statistics
You've probably seen in past years how sales picked up at a furious rate during the holiday seasons so you won't need convincing but just for fun, let's see what's in store for online marketers this Christmas 2012:
- US shoppers plan to spend an average of $854 for gifts this holiday season, up from $646 from 2011.
- From these, 45% will buy gifts online, planning to spend $1,245. Forty percent will shop from catalogs and other direct marketers and they plan to spend about $808.
- Most shoppers surveyed will wait for sales (54%) but 18% says they'll pay at full price while 28% will do either depending on what kind of gift or how much it'll cost.
- In 2011, about 90% of consumers shopped online, spending $52 billion from November 1 to December 16, 2011.
- Last year, online shoppers bought the following things: clothes and electronics (51.4%), toys (32.6%), gift cards (23.1%), and home décor (21.3%).
Top 12 Blog Posts for This Christmas
If you let last Christmas slide by your business blog unnoticed--except maybe for that one Christmas Day greeting card posted on your site--then this season, resolve to blog more frequently on Christmas-related stuff.
Here's my top 12 blog post ideas for Christmas:
1. Top 3 (or more) Christmas gift ideas from your online store/business.
You have the statistics of what items or products sold really well for the previous years' holidays (Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas) so I suggest you start featuring them in a blog post or press release. Include interesting tidbits about the gifts, like why they sold really well and any discounts or special offers that go with the products this year.
2. Focus on product or service testimonials.
Highlight what your happy customers have been telling you about your products or services. To make it more appealing (or entertaining, as the case may be), talk about the alternative uses that your customers and clients have found for some of your top-rated products.
3. Highlight a Christmas giveaway.
It's the season for giving after all so this is the time to share a little bit. Offer a product or service for free on your blog or website…for a limited time…and to a limited number of people. (See our post on marketing fails for additional guidelines.) It won't hurt if you can get a testimonial from it, too. ;)
4. Announce a Christmas contest.
Host a sweepstakes or contest and let your market know about it through a blog post. To make it relevant, one of your products should be the prize. Better yet, offer something extravagant to the contest winner--a tablet, a one-night-two-day weekend trip, or an after-Christmas dinner for two in a classy restaurant. And if you're going to add contest guidelines, use plain English please--spare your blog readers from all the fine print gobbledygook.
5. Offer a Christmas coupon, sale or discount.
If you've got a special offer from your online business or ecommerce site, let your blog readers and visitors know about it, too. Don't forget to upload a nice coupon that they can print and use if they're going to buy from your brick-and-mortar store.
6. Feature a happy customer.
This may take some research and persuasion but it'll be a plus if you can get an interview from one of your loyal customers (or blog fans). Stuff to talk about: how they became your customer, how long they've been a customer, what their buying experience from you was like, and how they were served, among others. I'm sure there's a lot of things you'd want your most satisfied customer or fan to say about your business that you'd like potential customers to know. If you're stumped for what to ask, click here for some great ideas from Social Media Today.
7. Christmas shopping tips.
You've been in the business or niche for a long time so you know what's best and what's not when shopping for gifts from your space. Only an insider can tell shoppers where to get great bargains and what deals aren't so good this Christmas so don't hesitate to share them. Your customers and blog readers will thank you for it.
8. A Christmas list for your readers.
As they say, it's not the gift but the thought that counts. Since we can't give all our customers and blog readers something for Christmas, the top 3 (or 5 or 7 or 10) gifts that you'd like to give away--and why you'd want them to have it/them--is the next best thing IMHO. Of course, including some of your top-selling products or services in the mix won't hurt either, heh.
9. Top One tips from the Top Guns.
Interview the top influencers in your niche and ask them for the One Best Advice they'd give to consumers in your space…and make sure to link to their blogs. Include your best tip as well.
10. "This time next Christmas…"
This blog post idea is for you or your business. I'm sure there were some stuff you learned while doing business and marketing online this Christmas. Or there were some things you wanted to do this Christmas but hadn't had the time or the preparation to make them happen. List these best practices or Christmas To-Do's for next year and post them on your blog. Make sure to revisit the post and do them come Christmas 2013…and then later link back to this post, too!
11. Greet your customers and blog readers with an eCard.
Even if you'll email an eCard to your lists, make sure you also upload one on your site. A simple "Merry Christmas!"or a graphic on Christmas Day will do.
12. "12 Days of Christmas" series.
So there you have it, the top 12 things you can write about on your business blog this Christmas holiday. I'm hoping that until the New Year, you won't be running out of ideas. ;) If you have more blog post ideas for Christmas, please share them with us on the comment section below.
Oh, and here's some Christmas inspiration to get you into the Yuletide groove...just in case you need it:
Statistics Sources: American Research Group, Inc. & Statistic Brain
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