December…

… It’s that time of the year again.

If you live in the western world you cannot miss it. You cannot avoid it.

Festive decorations in homes and the High Street. Christmas songs playing on every radio station. In every shop, in every cafe.

If not everywhere, then it certainly feels like it.

And it’s a time of year which appears to split the nation. Most love it. Some hate it. Few are indifferent to it.For businesses, of course, December is a month that cannot be ignored.

For the retail sector it’s more than an important time of the year. It’s a critical time. For some, make or break.

One good Christmas (and New Year) can lift the spirits – and deliver a reassuring boost to the bottom line.

One poor-performing Christmas can undo all the good work of the previous 12 months. For the big names it can lead to serious questioning from shareholders. It can unsettle your place in the markets. It can result in the need to revise strategy – just when you thought everything was on course.

In the most extreme cases, it can signal the imminent demise of a brand. It doesn’t matter how big your name or how long you’ve been trading. Just think of the names disappeared from our High Streets in recent years.

For the smaller retailer, the impact can be equally pronounced and damaging.

The Importance of The Message

Even more reason to understand the value of marketing and the importance of the messages you are sending out to your audience during December and beyond.

The big players are big advertisers before, during and after Christmas. They know it’s important to be seen and to keep their brand in the public eye.

There’s always something the entrepreneur and small business owner can learn from the strategies and tactics used by household brands.

In some professions, trades and markets there are those who describe December as a ‘quiet’ month. They assume it will be that way each year. They just accept it. Do little or nothing to alter the status quo.

Others see December differently. They view it as a month as good as any other for generating new business, clients and customers.

Which way should you go?

It’s down to you and how you want your business to be.

If you work hard all December you could test taking a break… thus creating some extra scarcity and time-pressure for your products or services.

If you treat the month with a bit of slack, you might want to consider doing a bit extra one year… and see what difference it makes.

With all the automated marketing software out there, it’s very easy to set up campaigns in advance and let them run either on auto pilot or with very little extra effort.

However you’re playing it, it’s worth trying something different. You might find the extra break gives you renewed vigour and energy for the new year ahead. You might find additional hours spent on your business reap dividends with huge reward.

And if you need a hand with your messages in December or beyond, I’m pretty good at that.

A conversation costs you nothing.

All the details are on the contact page.