How to Market Online Discounts For Your Products During The Holidays

The holiday season is a big time of year for many businesses – by some estimates, small and mid-sized retailers do up to 40 percent of their annual sales in the last two months of the year. In order to take advantage of the season, many businesses offer online discounts for their products during the holidays. But offering discounts is only the first step; you need to effectively market them in order to reap the benefits. We’ve put together four tips for the best ways to do that.Take Advantage of Social mediaIf you have a social media presence, use it to let people know what you’re offering. Contests on Facebook and Twitter using a clever hashtag and incentive - like a discount you want to promote - can help you highlight your brand and engage customers. It also helps to tailor social media campaigns as specifically as possible. Online marketing that links to “12 Days of Christmas” or the idea of New Year’s Resolutions will catch more attention.Use Your Email ListIt’s not the newest technology out there, but email is a great way to keep in touch with existing customers. Keep your email marketing limited to people who have done business with you, and keep it simple. A short message and a link to the online discount you want to promote will make it an easy process for your customers. The message line should also be clear and succinct, along the lines of “A holiday offer to thank you for your business this year.”Tap Into The CommunityYear-end holidays are a time when people think about giving and helping others, and the business community is often a key player in charity. As a business you can collaborate with nonprofits or other companies involved in charities. That action could be tied to a promotion – e.g. your company donates a certain percentage of all sales made during a time period on your website. Or, you may choose simply to promote your involvement in the organization or charitable event you choose to support, which will in turn raise awareness of your company.Create Meta Tags Specific To The HolidayMeta tags determine how your site shows up in search engines and describe your site in search results. Changing your business website's meta tags to reflect a specific holiday can help drive more traffic to your site. A homepage that says “Check out our online discounts” will not get as high a click through rate as “This New Year’s Day take advantage of our online discounts.”