The most awaited season of the year has already started. The ‘ber months,’ which starts from this month to December, also marks as a shopping season where consumers are eager to spend their money to organize extravagant parties, grand get-togethers, charity works, and gift-givings.

According to Philippine Statistics Authority, Household Final Consumption Expenditure or HFCE increases by 20 percent every 4^th quarter of the year, driven by Filipino purchases in categories such as alcoholic beverages, tobacco, food and non-alcoholic beverages, communication, recreation and culture. There’s also an increase by up to 46% when it comes to revenues of retail chains and malls.

Given the vast opportunities for this season, entrepreneurs should learn how to maximize the ‘ber months’ to increase their profit and social impact. Make the most out of this season and game up your business with the following tips:

1. Identify your business goals for the season
Before jumping to selling your products or services, make sure you are on the same page with your team when it comes to your goals. Is it to increase sales by 100 percent? Is it to expand market reach? Share the bigger picture with your team and discuss the strategies on how you can achieve your targets within the season.

Your team should also be ready to accommodate more customers during the peak season. Implement proper rotation of your employees and ensure that you streamline workflow processes.

2. Understand your customers’ seasonal behavior
Learning to adjust to your customers’ seasonal behavior can prevent you from trial-and-error strategies to gain potential clients and keep your loyal customers. For example, Google trends shows that there has been an 85% increase in mobile searches during this season with a bulk of searches for “where to buy.”

With this behavior, you can check if your website is mobile responsive. You should also ensure that your online store is mobile-friendly. To keep your business aligned with the season, you can match the season with the design of your physical or online store. Pour out your creativity so that your customers can feel the holiday season. 

3. Offer exciting holiday promos
Begin your ‘ber’ months with exciting promos to entice your customers. As early as this month, you can offer special discounts, rewards, and holiday coupons to attract more customers. Remember, it’s best to always stay ahead of everyone especially your competitors.

Also read: 4 ways to drive e-commerce sales for the holiday season

4. Create season-related content
Planning ahead to create season-related content will save you from the hassle and stress that the busy season will bring. You can start by crafting a content calendar for the rest of the year. Keeping this ready will help you focus on much more important aspect of your business – generating sales and keeping your customers happy.

Are your marketing collaterals ready for the season? If you’re looking for reliable printing services, HP Print Trader Inc can help you with your publication materials.

5. Leverage your company’s uniqueness in your holiday campaign
What makes your business unique? Leverage it and create a holiday campaign around it. Starbucks’ #GiveGood campaign was a huge success because they managed to involve their loyal customers. The clever initiative encouraged Starbucks fans to “make the holiday cup their own” and to show off on their social media accounts with the #GiveGood hashtag.  It also encouraged to do good and to contribute to society as they committed to sponsor fundraising events, tree planting initiatives, etc.

Like Starbucks’ success, you can also leverage the spirit of giving in this season and connect your campaign to making positive change.

Also read: 5 keys to Airbnb's marketing success that you can learn from

These are some of the ways to maximize the holiday season. Apply these tips so you won’t miss the great opportunities in store for your business.