It’s hard to believe, but we’re already into our second week of September. The best time to start planning your holiday marketing strategy was months ago, the second best time is now! Here’s 10 tips to get you started.

1. Go Beyond Goals & Identify “Solvable Problems”

I remember a workshop where the speaker argued that needing more sales is not a solvable problem, it’s just a never ending need.  He suggested framing your goals so that they are solvable problems.

For example, if you’re selling online maybe you need more traffic to your website, that’s a solvable problem.  If you have lots of traffic but it’s not converting into leads or sales, that’s a solvable problem.  Or if you don’t get enough repeat business, that’s a solvable problem.

We all need solutions for more sales, and it starts by framing what the problem is.

2.  Use Landing Pages for Increased Conversions

I recently blogged about why it’s important to use landing pages for pretty much any marketing campaign. No matter if you’re sending traffic from an email, PPC campaign, or a link from your website, landing pages allow you to keep your visitor focused on taking action.

Whether it’s to call a number, complete a form, or make a purchase, landing pages can help you increase your conversions.

And when you want to see more conversions, they also let you test different elements of a page such as prices, headlines, images, and form fields for best results.

3.  Remember the 3 “R”s: Reviews, Referrals & Retargeting

Reviews, referrals, and retargeting are three of the most overlooked marketing tactics.

Research has shown that people are more likely to buy from you if you can demonstrate social proof and credibility.  Create a measurable program to garner reviews and testimonials that can be used on your site or third party sites like Yelp, Google My Business or TrustRadius (bonus: this will also help your SEO).

Similarly, also implement a measurable program for acquiring referrals – complete with an incentive (e.g. money, discounts, swag, charitable donations), email and social media components.  For referral platforms check out Ambassador, FriendBuy, ReferralCandy, or Referral Saasquatch.

Finally, remember to retarget this holiday season.  Retargeting allows you to remarket to those visitors who leave your website or landing page without converting when they visit Facebook, Twitter, or another website in a publisher network.  Just make sure to offer them something different than what they’ve already seen, whether it’s a discount on a product they’ve looked at, or simply pitching a softer sell like an eBook or white paper as opposed to a webinar, demo, or consultation.

4.  Align Social, Content, Email & Influencers

Yes, the holiday season is not unlike any other marketing campaign, you need cross-channel alignment.

What social media platforms will your audience be on?  What types of content (blogs, images, videos) are they sharing?  How will you be syndicating the content you produce?  How can your influencers help you reach your audience and better engage them?

Whatever your answers to these types of questions, just make sure your team of writers and bloggers, email marketers, graphic designers, and social media managers are all on the same page.

5. Plan Post-Holiday Season

Marketing is not a campaign, it’s a commitment.  Once the holiday season is over doesn’t mean your marketing stops.

Come January you’ll hopefully have a lot more email addresses, referrals, followers and prospects, so you’ll want to take full advantage. It’s probably not a bad idea to take stock of any reviews, social comments, or customer feedback to help you plan for 2016.  And if you’re lacking these things, simply create a survey.

For your new prospects the key is to keep them engaged.  Answer their questions with blogs, create a useful guide or eBook, engage with them on social media and don’t forget about a monthly email to keep your company top of mind.

Bonus! Hire Help

Yes, I’m biased but hiring a marketing agency can help you achieve your marketing goals this holiday season and beyond.

Smaller or boutique agencies can be more affordable, and can complement your existing marketing team (or become one).