The summer’s winding down and parents everywhere are on the hunt for the best deals on back-to-school shopping. You know what that means: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are right around the corner. Back-to-school is the perfect time for small businesses to get a jump-start on their holiday marketing – especially when 15% of consumers start their holiday shopping as early as July.
Here are some ways you can get an A+ on your back-to-school marketing:
Don’t miss the first day of school. As you’re reading this, your customers have already started shopping. In fact, according to Google Trends, “search interest started trending up a week earlier than last year and a whole three weeks earlier than 2013.” Make sure your online properties – your website, Google My Business listing, and social media profiles – are updated to showcase what you have to offer.
Do your homework. Remember when you had to do summer reading homework to prepare for the first day of school? As a small business owner, your summer assignment is to study what your customers are searching for on Google Trends. This will help you stock and advertise your products accordingly – and even help you get ahead of the curve for the holiday season. For example, according to Google Shopping Data search results, combat boots are out and Disney Vans are in. (more…)