We’ve avoided saying it for as long as we could, but it can’t be denied any longer - get ready, Christmas is coming!

It comes around so fast every year, I won’t even tell you how many shopping days you have left. But don’t panic, you still have plenty of time to get your business ready for the festivities, but you need to act now! Christmas is a great time to make meaningful connections with your customers and clients as well as a fantastic opportunity to show off your amazing brand with some top-notch Christmas inspired marketing.

We’ve done some of the hard work for you (we can’t help with the Christmas shopping, sadly) and put together a festive filled guide to get your business in the Christmas spirit!
 
Christmas 2023 Marketing Strategy
If you haven't already reviewed your marketing strategy for Christmas then you need to act now:

• Think about how your customers have changed the way they do business with you. If you’re finding they are more likely to interact with your business online then focus your marketing on those online platforms. However, if you’re finding your customers are embracing being able to do more face-face business then you should turn your attention to printed festive marketing materials that will entice your customers.
• Don’t forget to set a budget when you’re devising your plan. It’s so easy to get carried away but be realistic and stick to your budget.
• Market Research - what are your competitors doing? What do your customers expect and how do you plan to meet those needs?
• If you sell products, do you want to provide a wrapping service? Will you need branded/promotional wrapping paper?

Dec the Halls...
If your business has a physical premises where customers visit then you need to be thinking about festive marketing materials such as boards, banners, posters and decals for the windows. Don’t forget twinkly lights, Christmas tree and, if appropriate, music inside.
 
…and the Virtual Halls
Don’t forget the online window dressing:

• If you have a website with an online shop, then make sure you have a Christmas themed online shop front. You could temporarily change your colour scheme to more festive colours, add a Christmas banner to your landing page or some festive decorations to your brand logo.
• Give your newsletter/email marketing campaign a festive flourish. Include lots of details of any Christmas offers/sales you have planned, consider a Christmas countdown and make sure you include links to your social media channels.
• Run a series of Christmas themed social media posts (don’t forget the appropriate Christmas hashtags!)
• Change your profile pictures/backgrounds to a Christmas themed image.
• Create Christmas inspired content.

 
Get Personal
To say thank you to your customers and to wish them well for the new year, why not send a branded calendar, stationary or Christmas card? Handwritten for that extra personal touch.
 
As always Creative Remedy are on hand to help with any of your branded printing materials including calendars and cards as well as your Christmas digital marketing. Don’t forget the more notice the better, we can’t change print lead times unfortunately!

We believe a logo is one of the most essential branding elements when forming your company’s identity. (after all it will be with you for the life cycle of your business).

The best logos are:

• Simple
• Memorable
• Versatile
• Original

The best logo's are usually creatively clever but simple, are designed to appeal to your target audience, and have a story to tell. Your company logo can influence potential customers' expectations of the products and services that your company offers.

Why is a logo important to your business?

1. Good logos make great first and lasting impressions.
2. They help you stand out from your competition.
3. They form part of your company’s brand and ethos.
4. They earn confidence and trust
5. A good logo design will build customer loyalty.

Why do I need a website?
Think about why you want a website (not just because everyone else has one) and then think about what you want to achieve from it. Everyone wants to sell products or services and inform their customer and attract new ones, but other than these reasons why do you want a website?

The answer to this question will inform all your choices about how to develop your website. Always refer back to this when making every decision, having your target audience in mind.

An example
I would like a website to be able to display my finished designs and it needs to let people sign-up for my newsletter.

Q: What colour should my website be?
A: Who is my target audience and how can I appeal to them through my choice in colour?

A good plan to a website that succeeds is broken down into four parts:

1. Website Research
2. Website Build
3. Planning
4. Marketing

1. Website research

• Your target audience
• Your competitors
• Search engine marketing (SEO)

Before you start any business or even begin to think about your website, take a look at your target audience, your competitors and this is the time to be thinking about your search engine optimisation. Any keywords relevant to your industry and service should feature in the written content of your website.

2. Website build

• Navigation
• Content
• Structure (map/tree)

The website structure form the outline build of your website, this includes your navigation (how many pages to feature on your website). A tree or spider diagram can be drawn up to map out all the pages on your website. Your website content needs to be identified, from text to images and other media such as video.

3. Planning

• Design
• Functionality
• Specific requirements

People often make the mistake of starting with the design and shifting the content around to match. A better way is to collate all your content, develop the structure then think about the design when you know of everything that needs to be included. Functionality is anything that has a function for example email newsletter sign-up or a contact form. Specific requirements covers anything that isn’t strictly off-the-shelf e.g. a message board or a booking facility.

4. Marketing

• Publish
• Promote
• Measure your success

You publish your website and promote it through networking, word of mouth, on your business card, you direct people to it through emails but how do you know what content people are looking at and where they are spending their time? We install Google Analytics on every website we build, it is a FREE tool from Google and helps you find out much more than you will ever need to know!

Have you found any useful tools that could help others, plan, organise or build their website? Share your finds here:

Through discussions on business development at the local Jelly networking/ co-working event recently in Peterborough, the conversation turned to blogs and what would make great reading topics for the following months.  ​

I am a fairly private person and it was felt I could share some knowledge about myself… a sort of ‘Meet Your Consultant’. So here are a three and a few more things you may not know about me…

1. Vrruuuummm vrummm….
I ride a 600cc motorbike. About two years ago I passed my motorcycle test with a clean sheet. I do enjoy finding any reason to nip out for some milk! I have come a long way… thinking back to about 20 years ago when it took me three tries at passing my car driving test. With 28 minor faults on my first test, I remember clearly trying to do a hill start in neutral… I was that nervous.

2. Self Defence and Yoga
I am a 2nd degree Black belt in Tae Kwon Do and training for my 3rd Dan. I have been training for 16 years and attend 1-2 sessions a week. I help out at interclub competitions and teach at my local club. I officiate at two competition a year, one local and one national and attend black belt sessions across the UK. I am first aid qualified. This is my club: Annabel Murcott Schools of Tae Kwon Do

I attend Yoga about once a week, Hatha yoga is the style I practice, I have been doing this for about 4 years now. My instructor is Helen who adds a balanced mix of mind, body, theory and humour. Yoga gives me space to think, breath, time to focus on me and not take life too seriously. It has significantly changed my wellbeing over the years. The classes I attend are here: Equilibrium Yoga & Well-Being Centre 

3. Family life
Ben is my partner of 14 years, we have two girls of pre-school age who completed our family through adoption. We jointly share the care of our children which means we can both continue to work and pursue our interests.

And a few more things...

• Favourite drink: Ben tells me that he wouldn’t be confident ordering me a drink at the bar because I always choose something different dependent upon my mood!
• Likes: Snowboarding but not any good at it.
• I need: 8 hours sleep to function properly
• TV Programmes: The Mentalist, Six Feet Under, Dexter, Game of Thrones
• Music: Pink, Sia, Alanis Morrisette, Lissie, Celine Dion, Shakira, Lana Del Rey, Beth Orton
• Favourite food: Thai food
• Love: Technology and gadgets
• Jobs while studying: Nut sorter, melon grader, gala pork pie creator, flower wrapper
• 5 mins of fame: Songs of Praise and Trisha (in the audience)!
• Last book I read: And Then There Were Four by Emma Sutton
• Dislikes: Creatures (insects), kidney beans
• Best achievement: Tandem skydive for a charity
• Worst job: Phone box cleaner
• Pets: One beautiful Weimaraner called Kia
• Countries I’ve visited: Prague, Austria, Ireland, Poland, France, Spain, Italy, Tunisia
• What makes me laugh: Random things, Sarah Millican, the dog
• My friends know me for: My plinky plonky music
• Who inspires me: My children… observing their view and understanding of the world.
• Places I’d like to visit: Canada, Norway, Greenland, Korea, New Zealand
• Favourite colour: Purple, Pantone ref: Ultra Violet 18-3838
• Favourite films: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Lord of The Rings Trilogy
• Aspiration: To write a book

If you find a good graphic designer who is qualified with lots of experience, they can be an invaluable asset to your business. Often knowledgeable about business, technology, trends, online tools and business processes.

They are usually multi-skilled individuals with expertise that cover many disciplines in design, marketing, advertising, digital design, web, print, SEO and photography.

1. Save time
Why struggle with ideas, creativity and technology if it isn’t your forte. Hiring a good graphic designer will save you lots of time. Lots of your time that you could spend on other areas of the business, the parts that you are good at. We all don’t like to admit defeat especially when we are close to a solution, but there comes a time… when there is limited time left to work on your business.

2. Save money
Saving time is saving money. If a graphic designer can do these jobs quicker, it’s a no brainer!

3. Consistency
This word is essentially OCD for designers! They know your brand inside out because they probably created it. Consistent design and messages means adhering to a strict set of, often unspoken rules in a small business. Visual communication that is the same everywhere you see it, across all platforms. THE most important first rule in branding.

4. Boost your brand
Good design is often underestimated in value. Good design has longevity it can be effective, clever, striking, make an impact, evoke an emotion and even tell a story. Great design stands you out from a crowd, from your competitors, makes you memorable and converts to sales.

5. Problem solving
Graphic designer’s objective and out-of-the-box thinking will benefit any business. A good graphic designer will ask lots of questions and help you understand what you need for your business. Graphic designers are hugely creative people. If you have a problem, they are sure to solve it in truly unique ways.