Outdoor temperatures may be hitting record highs in some parts of the world right now, but retailers and wholesalers are already watching for early signs of activity that indicate the yearly shift into an approaching winter holiday season. There are lofty goals ahead, as the holidays have traditionally been a time of capturing critical profits for the year, but this year will be especially important for businesses that want to see positive numbers for 2010. There are some proven techniques available in this story that might be valuable for sellers who are not quite ready to start the busy planning and preparation that comes with a successful holiday season.

Besides the inventorying and ordering issues that come with bulking up for a busy holiday season, there are a number of preemptive tactics to help shape up the marketing aspects of a sales drive. Online marketing is more important than ever before, and seems to be branching out into new and unexplored avenues, as technology and advances in communications close the gap on advertising and shopping.

Some of the best methods to maintain high visibility during the holidays are broken down into  major categories; with reaching out to consumers directly being one of the most effective, and augmenting an existing marketing strategy to fit the special needs of the holidays also being a time-tested method.

Reach Out to Consumers When They Need it Most

Simply increasing advertising is not the solution; a new and updated strategy must be put into play every year, and new channels for promotional content are emerging just as quickly as methods are devised to follow them. Growing an existing customer base, and taking advantage of the shopping frenzy of the season is a prime time to encourage referrals from customers. Rewarding customers by giving them incentives to bring friends along for the experience can net huge results.

Super-charge Emails and Newsletters

There is a time and a place for multiple language support, and this is one of them. Besides adding thousands of recipients to customer e-mail lists, adding optional language support for non-English readers could be the one step missing towards bringing in customers who would otherwise remain oblivious to special offers.

Make No Assumptions

In digital marketing, less is often more. However, during the rush of the holiday season, there is a tendency for retailers and wholesalers to exclude new and first-time customers by not giving enough information, or by providing only hints about services and products that regular customers already know about.

Learn to Earn

With increased traffic, both in physical locations and online, there are more opportunities to gather important data about your customers than most of the year. Making the most of the sales rush means creating surveys and queries that will keep the flow of information relevant and useful for later marketing purposes.

No Mixed Signals

Signaling is still a basic and fundamental part of making holiday sales, and that means making sure that customers know exactly what is being offered as a seasonal or holiday promotional item. Even if the goods are not discounted or priced differently from the rest of the year, it is important to give every person the impression that the holiday season is a part of everything.

Spend Money to Make Money

Budgets are not always set according to what is really needed, and the past year’s numbers may not be the best indicator. Reviewing and revising online marketing will undoubtedly reveal new figures, maybe even exposing areas where savings could be made as obsolete methods prove to be less than satisfactory for the investment requirements.

Clicks and Ad Rates

For many retailers and wholesalers, this is an area  that requires expert advice. While the prices for click-rate programs and banner ads may be higher for seasonal categories, there could be some special applications worth investigating.

Know Thy Enemy

While keeping an eye open for the competition’s weaknesses is always a good idea, so is accepting the possibility that a jointly-coordinated sales effort with the same competitor could net results for everyone, without putting pressure on either side. In some instances, products and services that are exclusive of one another could be interwoven to create a promotion that really stands out as inventive and valuable to consumers. Of course the possibility of continued partner programs later exists, and that is never a bad thing in a highly competitive industry.