Ah, the holiday season. We know… upon initial reaction, it seems a little bit premature to be talking about the fourth quarter. Heck, it’s not even July. But as a business owner, you’re hyper-aware that Rome wasn’t built in a day.

In addition, summer tends to be a slower season for most industries. That leaves an opportunity to capitalize on the extra minutes in your schedule (what is “free time”, anyway?) and make the upcoming busy season as streamlined as possible. The TLDR? Get control of your business.

Start planning for the holiday season.

(Read on, your future self will thank you.)

Here are 9 things your business should be doing now to prepare for the holiday season:

1. Create a Content Calendar

While not every piece of content can be mapped out this far in advance, you can get a rough idea of the general campaigns you’ll be running. Spend time landing themes and create a tentative schedule for your holiday marketing.

If your business runs separate B2B and B2C campaigns, be sure to consider both channels in your planning.

2. Reach Out to Partners

Publishers, bloggers, and influencers are also starting to prepare for the fourth quarter. NOW is the time to get your name out to potential partners and ensure your business receives placement. Think micro-influencers all the way up to established publishing houses.

3. Compile Creative

If you need creative assets for your holiday campaign, start prepping for your photoshoots now. This will help with the above outreach to partners and will allow you or your team to create content before things get BUSY. You’ll thank yourself later when you’re not creating social media assets while simultaneously deploying them.

4. Plan Employee and Client Gifts

Get ahead of employee and client gifts. Solidify inventory. Get peace of mind. Our sales team at Greetabl is happy to help automate your sending so you can have this task completely off your plate. Our holiday assortment is ready for your preview, so let’s knock this to-do out NOW!

5. Automate Where You Can

Invest in social media planning tools like Later or Sendible to create easy, automated campaigns. With several options on the market, these tools are relatively low cost and will help you work smarter (not harder!).

6. Refresh FAQs and Macros

Generally speaking, the increase in traffic means an increase in customer inquiries or issues. Be sure to write your holiday FAQs and customer service replies before you or your team get inundated. This is also a great time to review and refresh policies.

7. Gather Reviews and Referrals

Glowing customer reviews are worth their weight in gold. Did you know over 90% of young consumers trust product reviews and consider them before purchasing?

Pinpoint the places in your marketing and branding where you can leverage your customer’s praises. By doing so, you’ll be well on your way to increasing consumer trust.

8. Consider Creating an Affiliate or Ambassador Program

Your brand’s raving fans are among your most effective marketing efforts. As everyone is looking to make a little extra coin during the holiday season, why not incentivize your best customers with commission-based selling? The risk is low; the potential is high!

Consider this: advertisers generate between 15% to 30% of sales from affiliate marketers. That’s not a bad lift, business owners!

9. Remember to be Flexible

We’re harping on you to plan, so this might seem a bit hypocritical. Just remember that things change and the ability to adapt is important. If 2020 taught business owners one thing, it’s that. Yes, still plan and prepare. But know, it’s okay if some things need to change!