9 Ways to Prepare Your Brand for the Holiday Season

The holidays are finally here! If your first instinct as a business owner is to freak out over everything you need to do, then we strongly encourage you to pause, take a deep breath, and slow down. After all, the holidays are supposed to be FUN, and not just for your customers and clients. It should be fun for you and your business! 

Instead of hunkering down and just getting through yet another busy season, why don’t you take the time now to figure out how to make the most of the holidays? What are some ways you can ensure that this busy season will be not only a successful one, but a joyous one?

As always, Dox Design is in the business of opportunities, and when we think about the busy holiday season, we see potential. Here are 9 ways you can prepare your brand for the holidays:

1. Get a Plan in Place

Let’s be real for a sec: once the holiday shopping season hits, you’re not going to have time to make any significant changes in your business. Now is the time to plan ahead. If you’re considering any fresh changes that will bring in more audiences and revenue or streamline your business, implement those changes now. It could mean social media or website updates, a change to behind-the-scenes protocol, or finding extra help with design and marketing. Whatever it is, take some time to plan and do now!

2. Make Sure Your Team is Ready and Consistent 

The last thing you need within your team is last-minute confusion. Consider even miscommunications around time off and vacation policies! But beyond that, you really want yourself and your staff to all be on the same page around objectives and goals for the holiday season. Establish clear boundaries and policies (and make sure your team also feels supported!). Make sure your team is up-to-date in their training. And you may also consider hiring seasonal workers or seasonal freelance assistants to help ease the burden for your full-time staff.

3. Consider Branded Wrapping Paper and Gift Bags

Branded swag is THE way to go when it comes to providing your clientele with something useful that will also show off your brand. Exploring holiday-related brand swag is brilliant: it’s seasonal, it’s branded, and most importantly, extremely useful! You’ll want to get a head start and promote early so that people have time to buy your paper and gift bags in time for the holidays. Do some research, check out Digiwrap, or get in touch with us for help!

4. Consider a Holiday Box

Subscription boxes are all the rage these days! They’re low-effort and convenient while being personal to the receiver. Consider how many different kinds of subscription boxes there are. It seems there is a subscription box for any and every interest out there. 

What can your business offer as a holiday gift box? Perhaps you won’t go as far as to create a subscription service, but one-off gift boxes are a great way to take advantage of the holiday season. Get imaginative, think about what your business can offer, and promote your perfect brand-centric holiday gift!

5. Update Your Graphics (be on brand but still holiday focused)

It’s kinda weird when it’s the holidays and you go to a business’s website or Instagram and it seems like they’re not acknowledging Christmas or Hanukkah at all, right? It’s like nothing has changed for them. Whether you, personally, are a fan of the holiday season, you need to get with the program. Everyone is getting into “the spirit,” whatever that means for them. Come December, the whole world is all about the holidays. 

Don’t miss out—update your graphics. Stay on brand, but be holiday focused. It doesn’t have to be big. Your graphic design doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel for the season, but your brand, at this time, should definitely represent holiday cheer where possible!

6. Get Your Client and Customers On Board

This one is pretty significant in preparing your brand and business for the holidays. You do not want dissatisfied or unhappy customers when it comes to any holiday changes, policies, or delays. 

It’s best to start communicating with your clientele as early as possible. Send those emails out, hop on social media, and send the message out multiple times about whatever changes may be occurring. This could be about holiday rates, or clients needing to book ahead of time, sales and items going out of stock, closings… the list goes on. Don’t be shy about being annoying about this—people are busy and are likely to miss the message the first time. Be clear and transparent now to avoid any unpleasant interactions or reviews later.

7. Make it Fun

Um, duh. Maybe we should have listed this as the #1 thing to do in preparation for the holiday season. Add in some fun! Make it fun for you, your business, your team, and your clients. Allow yourself to enjoy the spirit of the holidays! It’s so easy to let the holiday stress overcome you, but imagine the possibilities and success that could come from truly getting in the spirit!

Even the little things can help - Get some holiday music going at home. Come on… we know you can’t resist a good cookie, cozy blanket, and a warm fire. Make it fun for your staff. If it’s a holiday party, a Secret Santa, or even just an extra day off. Make sure your people know how much they are appreciated during this busy and hectic time. 

As for your clients, maybe there’s a holiday giveaway in the works? A heart-felt client appreciation post for the holidays? Some freebies for clients? Go the extra mile for the people who support you most during the holidays (staff and clients alike), and see how they give back in return!

8. Check Out Some Freebies

Speaking of freebies, Dox Design has just the holiday solutions for you! Check out Our Freebies now to get a head start on the holidays. We’ve got plenty of seasonal offerings, and freebies that will help you out as you plan ahead, like our Holiday Social Bundle and Christmas Card Pack. 

9. Schedule a Design Day

Our Design Lab is the ultimate way to prepare ahead for the holidays. If you read this list and thought, “OMG… I want to do ALL of these things!” then Design Lab is for you. Because, guess what!? When it comes to the designs, graphics, and branding, we’ll do it all for you… in one day!

Why not curl up by the fire with your fur-baby and let us take some holiday weight off your shoulders? We recognize that not everyone can have a full-time designer available on-demand, and that’s why we came up with our Design Lab. Whether it’s just one day, or one day of the month for an entire year, our biggest recommendation to you is to give yourself a gift this season. You deserve it. Come up with the projects of your dreams and we will execute them, making sure that we can make your vision a reality. Do yourself the gift that keeps giving and schedule a Design Day now!