Holiday gift guides arouse festive feelings, inspire images of presents under the tree, and most importantly - to retail business owners - stimulate the start of the most important selling season. In this article we’ll suggest how you can build a perfect Holiday Gift Guide, implement it on your website and set it up in your store front, so that your business can increase holiday sales to a whole new level. We’ll also suggest how you can find a graphic designer if you don’t already have a relationship with one and show you how to promote your gift guide to customers. Have we got you excited about holiday sales yet? Let’s get started!
Loved by All
Every group of consumers appreciates a holiday gift guide. Hobbyists adore seeing the latest tech and hope there’s a chance to snag some at a special price. Those who pride themselves on great gift giving view them as invaluable inside information, like the statistic laden sites dedicated to fantasy sports followers. Even those who despise shopping appreciate them because it guides them on attaining maximally appreciated presents with minimum effort. Salespeople might appreciate them the most because customers come in already sold and knowing exactly what they want, providing quick and easy sales.
They also appeal to every demographic. An effective and interesting guide will be divided into key demographic categories and provide gift suggestions targeted towards them. This helps direct the consumer towards a focused selection of options chosen specifically for their particular loved one. A comprehensive guide should include a selection of gift ideas for him, her, students, and those that the entire family can enjoy together. Let’s take a look at the types of gifts that are likely to resonate best with each consumer group.
Perfect Gifts For Him
For him, feature the classic components that repeatedly appear on his list to Santa year after year. He’d undoubtedly appreciate a surround receiver that immerses him right into the crowd of his favorite sport team’s venue. A new pair of high performance loudspeakers would complement the new receiver and breath new life into an existing system. And if the family doesn’t share his taste in entertainment, new over the ear headphones would ensure peace and happiness for all.
Perfect Gifts For Her
For her, provide options with a little more consideration towards style and décor. A pair of discrete bookshelf speakers in Satin White or a wireless pair can offer all the performance of his traditional receiver without the wires, keeping the space clean and full of feng shui. The kids probably feel the same way about her music as they do about dad’s, so a nice pair of earphones or small headphones would be unanimously appreciated. Smart displays are a hot new product category and also a perfect gift idea for women. Smart displays are essentially smart speakers with touch screens attached to them and ideal for the multitasking, hard working modern woman. Who wouldn’t want that?
Perfect Gifts For the Student
Student lives revolve around their laptop and phone so their gift suggestions should as well. A portable Bluetooth speaker pairs with either and allows them to bring the party wherever they may go. Gift cards for their favorite streaming service ensures they can binge video and blast music to their heart’s content. If the blaring isn’t to everyone’s content, inexpensive earphones - because they’re going to break, lose, or want to upgrade them soon anyway - are another “can’t miss” gift idea.
Perfect Gifts For the Family
Gifts for the household are big ticket items so the family members are thrilled to receive them, and the retailer should be thrilled to suggest them in a gift guide. Big screens, projectors, and complete home theater systems would be immensely enjoyed by all. If the family shares chores, a robot vacuum would ease the burden of everyone’s lives, and free up time to enjoy their other gifts.
Lifestyle Focus Gifts
To maximize the engagement of your gift guide, we strongly recommend including a variety of lifestyle products that go beyond the traditional audio / video categories. Traveller? Noise cancelling headphones will drown out the plane or train engine, an e-reader provides plenty to read without the bulk of books, and a portable charger ensures all will stay powered for the whole journey. Teleworker? Whole home mesh Wi-Fi packages ensure your Zoom won’t drop while tabletop powered speakers guarantee you hear every syllable clearly. Health conscious? Wearable health trackers like Fitbit watches are must haves for those on the go, as are true wireless earbuds.
Price Range
Sort the items in each category from most affordable to most expensive, allowing the desire - and hopefully the budget - to grow as they dive deeper. Be realistic with how much money most consumers spend on gifts and cap items in the individual and lifestyle sections at $500. Ideally most of the products in these sections should fall in the $100-$200 range. The Family section can peak at $3,000 but offer most products in the $500-$1,000 range. And just in case some might be on Santa’s really good list, showcase a luxury item in each category. After all, it’s prime selling season and customers are in spending mode so tempt them with the best of the best while they’re exceptionally receptive.
Marketing Muscle
Once you’ve made a list of the items to feature in your gift guide, it’s time to flex your marketing muscles by creating themed images that masterfully combine the holidays with the selected gifts.
You can start by reaching out to your suppliers to see if they have any digital assets you can use. Kevro has a great Images & Assets page that includes various product and lifestyle photos, print ads, social media ads, and more. We also create marketing tools to use with our various promotions.
If you don’t have a marketing department, we recommend finding a freelance graphic designer on www.fiverr.com. Here, you’ll find an array of affordable, talented designers who can provide content that will give you the appearance of a marketing juggernaut.
Online Marketing
Once your gift guide images are ready, the gift guide can be brought to life and unleashed to reap its benefits. The first step is prominently displaying it on your website. All gift list items should also have a special mention on their product page, highlighting it as specifically chosen from among countless others. Everyone wants or wishes to give the hottest gift. Include a gift guide link on these product pages so they can receive your helpful gift suggestions for others on their shopping list.
Next, get the gift guide in front of your existing clients and followers via online marketing. It should be all over all your social media, and a small investment towards cranking up its visibility by advertising on all the platforms is well worth it. Also featuring the gift guide in your email newsletter blast ensures it’s seen repeatedly and consistently by all your followers.
In-Store Marketing
In-store marketing should be consistent with online marketing. Assemble a high-energy, holiday-themed display that highlights as many items from your gift guide as possible. Include a selection from each gift category to convey that great gifts for everyone can be purchased right here, right now! Dress up the storefront window with artwork from your gift guide and include a message like “Find the perfect gift at www.website.com.” Including a large QR code in the store window will allow clients passing by outside of store hours to scan it, peruse the gift guide on their phone, and easily purchase online. No missed sales opportunity!
In Conclusion
You will be as thrilled with the impact your gift guide has on sales as your customers were in receiving it. The investment is low, the returns are high. Don’t limit this marketing magic to the winter holidays, consider the same approach for father’s day, mother’s day, and many others!
If you’d like to learn more about how to increase your sales as an audio retailer, check out our growing list of marketing articles in our Tips & Guides section of our Blog page.