Cyber Tip - Holiday Marketing West Coast Cyber Chick

Well here we are again, the holidays are about to go into full swing.  Actually to me it feels like we skipped Thanksgiving and went straight to Christmas.  I admit, I've been listening to Christmas music and watching the Hallmark Channel since the beginning of November.  Guilty.  This time of year seems to go by in such a rush and I find myself "trying" to slow down and enjoy it a bit more.  So the whole feeling of moving past Thanksgiving might be a little self-induced.  Sigh.
So that said, what are your holiday marketing plans?  We don't need charts and graphs to know that this is by far the biggest shopping season of the year.  Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday... and by the looks of it, Black Friday started a week early this year. (Justifies my Christmas music in November habit...)
You should have your marketing strategy in place by now, but in case you're running behind, I've gathered up a few tips so that you don't miss the opportunity to reach out to your clients and prospective customers.
Holiday Email Marketing  You know how I feel about the importance of email marketing.  If you don't, you haven't been listening!  It's by far the easiest and most effective way to reach your audience. 
Now there are a lot of what I'd call "micro-strategies" in managing that email campaign and the list(s) that go with it. The reason I call them micro-strategies is not to diminish the importance of them, but rather because many of you don't even have an email strategy.  I don't want to overwhelm you with some of the more advanced options available when you don't even have an email list to begin with.  Your eyes will glaze over and that will be the end of it.  We'll have none of that!
So I'm not going to get into the nitty gritty email campaign tactics here (drop me a note if you want to learn more though!), but here are a few advanced email campaign strategies to consider once you've got that list going:
List segmentation with differing offers Sale Previews Countdown Timers Email Automation vs Behavioral Triggers Basic Holiday Email Marketing Ideas
Ok now the basics.  We've got this!
Share information about upcoming sales, promotions or specials Post your holiday hours and availability Gift ideas Upcoming local events Thank them for their business - ALWAYS thank you customers for their business! Wish your followers Happy Holidays (or Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, New Years - whatever is appropriate) Purely my opinion here, but don't overthink the political correctness of whichever holiday you're wishing happiness for.  Let's focus on spreading some gratitude, joy and kindness.  I am not offended if you wish me a Happy Hanukkah (especially if you come bearing latkes!) and my Jewish friends have no issue with me wishing them a Merry Christmas.  The point of the season is peace and love.  Let it start with us.
Social Media for the Holidays Which social media channel do you find works best for you?  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest...? If you're anything like me, you're probably finding it a bit overwhelming to keep up with them all.  But that said, one or two of them are probably better and more effective channels for you than the others.  Part of it depends on your business and part of it depends on your followers. Well chat about that at another time.
So given that we're already busy (read overwhelmed) with family dinners, shopping, increased workload and traffic, let's narrow down just a couple of social media channels to focus on.  We want to enjoy this time of year too, right? It's why I start in November.  Just sayin'. 
Create posts (images and video), like your email messages, that speak to your audience and promote your offer.  Which of your products or services do you think they'd be most interested in?  Shoes (that would be me), massage (ok also me), electronics, holiday-themed gifts... Get it out there. Use relevant hashtags lik