#280: Holiday Marketing Tips that will Increase Sales with Ashley Alderson, Founder of The Boutique Hub

It's time for episode number 280, and if you are planning for the holiday season today, it's you and me, babe. It's a solo episode and I want to talk to you about three ways you can start to plan right now for the holiday season, plus the five customer types you are bound to encounter over the holiday season. Get ready to take tons of notes. Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works, from mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem system behind it. How do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts, and strategists that actually make it happen. I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub, and I can't wait to chat. Hey, guys, get ready for, let's just say, hand cramping, note taking time. If you are out on your morning run or you're putting your makeup on, make sure you've got a way to maybe verbally take a couple of notes in your phone or jot down some ideas, because I think this is going to be the episode for you. You know, it is time for the busiest season of the year, and I feel like there's always a little panic that happens this time of year as everyone thinks about what am I going to do for the holiday season? How am I going to make this not just one where I crush records from last year, Right? Everyone's chasing the gross sales numbers. But there's two important things I want to make sure you're more importantly excited about this year, and that is profit and peace. You know, it's all too often that I hear boutique owners at the end of the season say, you know what? I hustled so hard for these amazing sales numbers. But when I really, really sat down and analyzed my profit, I was left with far less profit at the end of the day. In fact, once I covered all of my overhead and paid my staff and looked at the inventory that was still on hand that I now have to mark down in January, I really didn't do that well this season. Not only that, but I was so busy that I didn't get to enjoy seeing my kids experience their Christmas season or their Hanukkah season, I didn't get to spend time with my family or my friends or attend the holiday events I wanted to because I was so busy working this season. So don't let that be you. This year. I want you to chase profit and Chase peace. And today I want to give you a few tips on exactly how to do that. Plus five customer types I want you to prepare for to market through throughout this entire holiday season. Plus, at the end of the episode today, I know you're going to be thinking, my hand is hurting, Ashley. But I know you've got even more tips and I'm going to tell you how to access even more strategy that we have prepared for you. So let's start here. Each year, it is so easy to chase. What did I sell last year? My overall sales number. Right. And of course, yes, that makes a beautiful Instagram photo telling your friends that you broke records. But really what matters? Did I really put money in the bank? Did I pay myself? Was I able to employ others? Was I able to give back to the community around me? And was I able to experience peace this season? And one of the fastest ways to erode profitability is this. And that is planning a blanket sale. So tip number one is make sure as you are planning out, what are my sales going to be? There's really two ways to think about this. And that is am I going to run a sale or am I going to run a promotion? Because they're two very different things. Keep in mind, money follows eyeballs, right? Wherever your customers feel like they are seen, heard, understood. They feel like they have a relationship with you, they're excited to shop with you, they're inspired by you. Money follows eyeballs. So the more we can get them in and get them engaged with our content, get them excited to at least come through the door, right, With a bogo or a bonus or a gift with purchase, which these are all promotions versus a blanket 30% off sales store wide. And I know what it's like after you've been through, let's say a VIP event that you've hosted, and then you get to Pink Friday, which the hub is hosting, and then you get to Black Friday. By the time Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday roll around, it's easy to say, you know what, I'm out of my creative juices. So here's 20% off store wide. And anytime we run a blanket sale, what happens is we throw out the diamonds in the dirt, right? We hope people pick up the dirt, the onesies, twosies, the items on sale, the things we really do need to move that are overstocked or that have been age. But what happens is people want the new. And so they go to your new arrival section and they take 30% off of everything that's brand new. And at full wholesale value. So think specifically this year about am I going to run a sale or am I going to run a promotion? And specifically, there's over four types of sales and promotion categories that we could go into and then create like a really specific offer from there. Or am I going to get into my numbers and get into the retail scientist part of my brain and really analyze what's turning for me. What can I buy at a great deal? Where can I build the most margin if I run a bogo? Am I going to run it in such a way where I can still receive margin at the end of the day and not just give away free product? Where are the numbers telling me are the best places to run my promotions this time of year? So that's question number one. No more blanket sales. How do I go into sale versus promotion? Because money follows eyeballs and people just want to feel good in your space. Deal. Shoppers aren't loyal. Right? People that shop at Walmart and they want a price match from your store that are really hunting a sale, they aren't loyal. So dig into who is your customer and how does she need to feel because people remember how you made them feel versus what you made them or what they bought from you at the end of the day. Tip number two is let's talk about planning your assortment because it's easy to think about, okay, I need all these new arrivals that are cute and trendy, plus I need some gifts. Well, what else might you be missing? And there's really four places that we really want to have stocked well in our assortment when it comes to the holiday season. Piece number one is where are our margin builders? What are the pieces that we've gone to the off price show or off PriceShow.com now their virtual trade show to buy pieces that are 50% off of wholesale. Or what vendors am I spending a lot with throughout the year? You know, some of my most trusted biggest vendors that may have closeouts then maybe in the month of July or October, August rather earlier in the year, we're saying, hey, what do you have on clearance from the summer? What could I pick up for five bucks that I can then save and run on Black Friday? So where can I find pieces that are off price? The Immediate Resource center in Dallas. That's another great location. That is a hub member that you have access to if you're a hub member. Those are our margin builders that we can use as loss leaders to drive traffic for those sales and doorbuster items on Black Friday or Any of our promotion days. The second bucket we're going to pull from are what are our bread and butter items. So where are we digging into our reporting and going? You know what, this is the classification, this is the vendor, and this is the size that sells the best for me. And this is what I known for, right? My store is known for a great denim selection. My store is known for mugs that have the F word on it. My store is known for having great faith based items. Whatever it is, what's your bread and butter? And where are you going to dig deep and not wide into buying that assortment? The third bucket is what are my upsells? And the holiday season is the season of upsells. So where are my gifts? What are my collections that are coming in for New Year's Eve and Christmas Day and Christmas pajamas? Like all the things, what are the things people are going to add on to a regular sale? Beauty, decor, stocking stuffers, that sort of thing that are great upsells this time of year. And then finally, the fourth bucket is trends. And depending on where you live and depending on who your customer is, you probably have a different affinity toward trend, meaning how deep you will go into buying trends. Some of you love trends, your customers love trends, some of you are a little bit more conservative on trend. So knowing what your reports are telling you, that's how deep you're going to go into trend. So four buckets you're going to make sure you pull from. All right, the third tip I want to give you in terms of what to prepare for the holiday season is start your marketing calendars now. And if you're members of the hub, you guys have access to so much of this. You have monthly content calendars, monthly promotion ideas. You have engagement libraries that are posted and updated every single Sunday of the week. So start by working your calendar backwards. What are the biggest days you're going to celebrate throughout the year? Whether that's hosting an event or a holiday or anything else you're going to promote, that are the big items. I want you to circle those on your calendar and then start to work your way backwards. So from there, for those big events, what are the emails I'm going to send, the texts I'm going to send, the photo shoots I'm going to host? Where do I need to make updates on my website to collections, where do I need to update my graphics inside of my Facebook group? All those big things, right? And then we're going to take it a step further before you're like how do I plan social media for all these things? Once we have the big items laid out and a really key messaging theme for every week from now until Christmas, then we're going to work backwards into social media content, right? So we know on these days we need to have engagement posts and on these days our new arrivals are going to drop. And on these days we're going to push these certain collections and these gift guides and whatever other content we're creating. Then you can just at least put it on the calendar so that when you sit down to batch create that content on a Monday morning, it's all there for you and you don't have to sit there and stare at the screen and go, what am I going to post this week? Because we're so busy. I know you guys are so busy during the entire holiday season. No one has time to be creative at the drop of a hat. So the more we can pre plan this and take it off of our plate, the easier the season is going to be. All right, so those are three quick things to make sure you have prepared for the holiday season that are going to help you find more profit and more peace. But now, second to that, I want to give you this idea and that is, are you prepared for the different types of customers that are going to walk in your door or they're going to land on your website? So there are five basic customer types that are going to come to your business over the holidays. Number one is the deal finder. And I also like to call if you're in the hub, you know, I like to call the deal finder Discount Debbie. And I say that because right now you are thinking of a customer that you know is your discount Debbie. Right? And as much as sometimes we're like, oh man, she's here again, right? We need her, we need her in our business. We need someone to come in and grab up all the deals, grab up the onesies, twosies, right? Because that's overstock and that's age that we have to move out the door. That's cash coming back into our pocket. So how do we market to the deal finder to make her feel special? Now, if you're advanced with email marketing strategies, something we do at the hub is we try to segment our customer types so you can tag. I know this is a discount Debbie, right? And when you have her tag, you know, you can market to her your flash sale Fridays and your sale collections and really make her feel special or some of the strategies big box stores obviously use for the Discount Debbie, because she's huge. This time of year is when you have gone and bought something off price, let's say at the off price show, for example, and you come in and you lead with 70% off chunky sweaters, right? Because you've already bought them at 50% off of wholesale. So once you do the math and you still have your full markup, you still are left with profit. At the end of the day, she's going to be caught by that eye catching headline of 70% off this specific category. It's not store wide, but it still gives you that marketing juice to catch the eye of discount Debbie to get her in the store. And then once she gets in the store, she's like, oh my gosh, I got such a great deal on these chunky sweaters. Of course I'm going to go buy these really easy grab and go gift bundles for teachers or for my best friend or for my sister or for my mom or whoever else you are creating gift guides for. So number one's the deal finder. Number two is the early bird. And we all know the early bird, right? She's got half her Christmas list done by the 4th of July. Like she is prepared. She's been on Pinterest, she knows what's up, right? The early bird wants you to start planting the seed as early as possible, giving her ideas and confidence that the things she's buying will fit into her gift list. So immediately. Maybe you don't have all of your Black Friday deals and all of that ready. That's fine, really. Holiday marketing starts in August and it's your opportunity to plant the seed of. Oh my gosh. This would make a perfect stocking stuffer for someone. This would make a perfect care package for someone at college. This would make a wonderful idea for a teacher gift. Whatever it is, plant the seed. So the early bird feels like she knows because she already trusts you. She's your customer. She trusts your voice, she trusts your opinion. She wants to shop with you. But you just might be getting beat by Amazon who's already marketing early in July, right? So how do you get to her a little bit earlier by planting that seed. The third customer type is the self gifter. And I know you're probably with me on this one. I think every single one of us are going to be a little bit of the self gifter in 2020, right? We're all more so celebrating the fact that 2020 is going to be over than maybe even the holidays themselves. So when it comes to the Self gifter. Think about how you are pampering your customers with items like really fuzzy and warm robes or blankets or beauty items or self care items or wonderful candles or gourmet foods. How are you making the self gifter feel confident and beautiful in the things that you're already stocking and give her permission to spl on herself. And maybe that's by adding some type of like bogo or free gift with purchase free gift over a hundred dollars, like whatever that is to make that self gifter not feel like she really has to splurge. But it's a more natural thing that she she should be doing anyway. All right, the fourth customer type is the host. And you guys all know the hostess with the mostest, right? She is like the party planner. She wants to be seen. She's on Pinterest. She wants to share her like grandma's recipe for sugar cookies because it is the best. She's going entered in your ugly sweater Christmas party that you're going to host in your Facebook group. Like she's all over that. And so I want you to think about how do I collaborate with the hostess with the mostest, right? How do I run engagement threads in my group to get her active and talking and sharing her recipes, sharing her Christmas tree decorating tips. How do I get her where she gets some time in the spotlight, in the marketing channel that I've created this community right around my boutique so that my other customers feel inspired and excited right along with her. I make her feel special, but I'm also providing a lot of value to everyone else in my group with the hostess with the mostest. All right, and the last shopper type is the last minute shopper and the last minute shopper. I'm just gonna be honest. That's probably me out of everyone. That's probably me because I feel like we're always running like crazy and we travel for the holidays and so sometimes there's just not enough time to get it all done. And so the last minute shopper really val use things like you having preset gift idea lists, gift guides where you're giving her ideas of what she could buy for teachers gifts or you're creating bundles so she knows she can go to your website and she's like, you know what? I don't have time to look for all these things. Show me what you've got for teachers in three different price points. Show me what you have for my best friend in three different price points as a bundle. Or she might like prepackaged Things that she can have shipped directly to someone else. And she can check an option on your checkout site or on your checkout page that she would like gift wrapping before this item is shipped to somebody else. Or the last minute shopper may be someone who comes in and she, she's buying after the USPS cutoff date. And so she needs very, very, very clear communication from you what that cutoff date is so that she knows she's either going to receive her items in time or if she knows she needs to opt for something like a gift card or if she needs to do curbside pickup or in store pickup or whatever the other opportunity is you're going to give her. But there are so many women and so many men, especially men, who fall into this last minute shopper category. So don't stop pushing the sale after that USPS cutoff date goes. There's people shopping right up until New Year's Eve. So make it as easy as possible for them. All right, guys, that was the five different types of customers again. The deal finder, the early bird, the self gifter, the host and the last minute shopper. So today's episode is going to be short and sweet because here's what I want you to do. I want you to go and start planning how are you going to market to these five different types of customers. And then I want you to snap a picture and shoot it to me over on Instagram. Jalderson or Heboutique Hub on Instagram. I want to hear what your plans are. Because like I told you at the beginning, there is two hopes I have for you for each and every person in our industry this time of year. And that is for profit and for peace. Right? I want you to enjoy this season that you're in. So a lot of you have messaged me and you've asked, how can I get even more tips like this? Like, I know you have a program, tell me more about it. There's got to be more that I can do now to prepare. And so I want to give you two things that we're doing inside of the Hub right now that may be beneficial to you. Number one is we are big on themed content at the Hub. So every month we release a new bundle of content that is going to speak to a specific topic. And October's theme is holiday marketing. So in holiday marketing there, or I'm sorry, in October, there is an entire module on holiday marketing inside of the training library for all members of the Hub. And the theme for November is planning because our Boutique Boss Planner releases and will be shipping in November. So between holiday marketing and planning and productivity hacks happening in November, plus more holiday strategy and end of year strategy coming in our bundle in December, there's tons and tons of tons of things for you guys to take advantage of in the Hub. So make sure you've checked out the bundles that have released and you've entered into our monthly challenges where we're holding you accountable to take the action, just like I'm asking you to do today inside of the hub. The second thing I want to tell you about really quick is something really cool that we've come up with this year that has never been done before and that's Pink Friday. Pink Friday is hosted on November 20, which is the Friday before Black Friday. And we're inviting all members of the boutique hub, all boutiques, all wholesalers who are part of the community to join us in collaborating on that day. So we have maps of where to shop on shopthebestboutiques.com we have deal lists of where to shop online boutiques on shopthebestboutiques.com we have gift guides, we have different collections that consumers can shop, we've got tons of giveaways, and we have all kinds of content that our entire community will be sharing to raise the voice of shopping small first. Shop small first. Before you get to Black Friday, before you get to Cyber Monday, make sure the small business is the first one you go to to check off your list so you can learn more about Pink Friday at theboutiquehub.com pinkfriday and again, that's just for members, but more information will be coming soon for everyone. And finally, third little tip. I want to give you an opportunity to grow your business. This season is the Holiday Marketing Masterclass. And I'm sure if you've been listening for a while, you've heard me talk about it and I've got it linked up for you in the show notes. But the Holiday Marketing Masterclass is something we've done for I think this is maybe our fourth or fifth year now and it's our high level training all about holiday strategy. But I'm telling you it goes quite a bit in depth. Beyond that, in fact, I would say the most common piece of feedback I get is this training actually was something I used 12 months out of the year. Yes, there's a lot of holiday specifics, but really when it comes to conversion rate optimization, e commerce email flows, how to train my team, how to set up these marketing calendars. All these things actually will impact your business all year long. But inside of Holiday Marketing Master Masterclass we do go over seven modules to really prepare your business online in brick and mortar and your team for the holiday season so that you can have more profit and more peace in the season. Plus it comes with some really cool bonuses like a complete holiday engagement library and content calendars, 100 plus holiday hashtags, a holiday offer funnel guide so you can really get a great email marketing funnel and Facebook ads funnel going collections guide, an event planning guide, a team meeting checklist plus tons of other content to get you ready for planning, gift guides and collections and e commerce strategy for the holiday season. Plus we go into the difference between sales and promotions and the four different types of promotions that really work and convert this type of season and then nine events that are perfect for both brick and mortar and online boutiques to run throughout the season. So that can be found at Holiday Marketing Masterclass. So you guys, hopefully you got tons of value today on our 5 customer types and 3 ways to prepare your business right now for the holiday season. And like I said, I want to keep it short and sweet this week. So hit me up on the gram at ajalderson or at the Boutique Hub. Let me know what you learned and let me know what is your strategy going to be for these five customer types because I want to see you put it into use. All right, you guys have an awesome week. We'll catch you back here next week with another guest on Boutique Chat. But I am wishing you a season full of profit, full of peace. Hey guys, thank you so much for listening to this episode. We hope that you loved it. Don't forget to hit subscribe and leave a rating and review down below for a chance to be one of our featured listeners each and every week. For more information on our spirit of community over competition and how to access complete show notes and bonus downloads from our guests, head on over to the boutiquehub.com and join the community. We'll see you next week.