Every year, businesses – both brick and mortar, and e-commerce outlets – prepare for the busiest time of the year. Long-established companies know what to expect usually, as they should: many companies earn up to 50 percent of their revenue in the final three months of the year. Unfortunately, many newer brands and businesses make the mistake of thinking they have more time to begin organizing their holiday offerings, marketing and solicitation. As we now enter the final few months of 2014, it is high time that you begin organizing your efforts to increase conversions in November and December. Below, we’ll talk about a few simple techniques you need to use in order to be ready and effective during this year’s holiday shopping cycle.

Be Stocked

In order to serve the masses, you’ll need a mass amount of product. This isn’t to say that you should sink your entire year’s profits into buying unsold merchandise, but an uptick in sales is bound to occur for those businesses that market themselves effectively. By buying in bulk and having more products in stock, you’ll not only be able to offer lower prices, but you’ll also be able to fulfil orders effectively and quickly.

Hire Part-Time Help

If your brand has an extensive online presence in regards to customer service, you may need to temporarily expand your customer service staff. There are a plethora of freelancers and staffing companies based all over the world that can offer extremely competitive rates for these services. In order to fulfil your expected demand, you’ll first need to be able to convince those with questions that you are the right source to do business with.

Clean Up Marketing

You should develop a completely new marketing strategy for the final quarter of the year. Even if you have been pinging for SEO successfully in a variety of niches, competing for holiday shoppers is a completely different ball game. Begin now by diversifying your advertising campaigns, seeking out competitive keywords and hammering away with both quality content and paid marketing efforts.

Email Your Users

As we’ve learned over the past several years, the holiday season seems to arrive quicker and quicker each year. Because of this, it is never too early to begin targeting your mailing lists with future offers and deals that will be available in the holiday season. You will of course need to remind them later – when the actual promotions begin – but you can secure additional business by letting people know that the products they wish to buy will be available through you at a specific cost. Sites like BlackFriday.com have been quite successful at convincing businesses to release their Black Friday deals weeks, or even months, in advance.

Conclusion

Succeeding in the holiday season isn’t just about pinging for SEO – it’s about being prepared. You’ll need to take a variety of steps in order to be ready, but a few simple strategies can go a long way. Make sure to revamp your marketing campaigns in search and social media, target your loyal customers with news about upcoming sales, hire help as needed, and make sure to have access to plenty of product in anticipation. These four strategies will go a long way toward increasing your revenue this holiday season!