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Holiday Sales-Boosting Blog Tip: Write A Gift Guide

Amidst year-end reports, crafting an all-appeasing staff vacation schedule, negotiating with the holiday event planner for that last cheese plate, and scrawling personalized messages on seven-dozen client greeting cards, there’s your business blog, demanding more attention than Santa at the Christmas Parade.  Happy holidays, oh ho ho no!

As if you have time to write blog posts, let alone dream up new material your readers will love.

Relax. We feel your pain. That’s why we’re all about blog content ideas to make the holiday season a little bit easier, such as the all-powerful, easy-to-execute gift guide.

Sit back, and let us show you how to quickly and effectively write a gift guide blog post:

Why Gift Guides?

During the holidays, your customers are busy, too. They’re shopping, finishing up work projects and preparing for time off. This is the most challenging time of the year to grab their attention with social media. Holiday-themed content that addresses a pain point – finding the perfect gift for a loved one – can keep your business top of mind.

Also, gift guides are:

  • Great for boosting search engine visibility for your product pages
  • An appropriate format for positioning holiday offers such as free shipping and discounts
  • Simple to execute. All you need are some product images and a theme to get started
  • Perfect for driving affiliate links

How To Write A Gift Guide

1. Choose a theme

The theme you choose will attract a specific audience, so consider the consumers you want to target and the products you want to promote.  What is the age, gender or interest you need to appeal to?

After deciding on your product selection and target audience, step outside the standard “For Him/Her” formula to make it unique and ultra-share-worthy.  Check out these titles:

“The Best Gift Guide For The Teen Novel Addict In Your Life”

“Top Gifts To Assist Your Endearingly Disorganized Sister”

“25 Gifts To Make You The Secret Santa Champion”

“17 Gifts No Okanagan Wine Lover Could Resist”

As marketing expert Heidi Cohen suggests, gift guide content is best when “fun and not salesy” – let your creativity and knowledge of your audience guide you

Oh, but you think your company is too “boring” for a gift guide? Think again. From the Ontario Greenbelt to oral hygiene products there is no “boring” where presents are involved.

2. Optimize for social media

Include attractive, high-quality product images with each item on your guide for sharing on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Try to take original pictures instead of using stock product photography!

Try to emphasize what differentiates you from your competition. Challenge your readers to answer a question. Create a contest or survey. Try to drive engagement, instead of only sending 1-way communication during this vital time of year for shopping.

Include social share buttons on your gift guide blog post to allow readers to quickly and easily pass it along to their friends and followers, and encourage readers to share!

Once it’s published, announce it across all of your social media profiles for maximum exposure. If you’re featuring products or services from various companies, ask them to share it too! Include a link to the page in subsequent social media updates and emails, and invite feedback and invite suggestions from followers for other gift guide ideas. That’ll make your next one that much easier.

3. Optimize for higher sales

Use calls-to-action to promote offers such as discounted items, free shipping, two-for-one, or holiday packages.

Write original, holiday-oriented product descriptions for each listing. These don’t have to be long – 50-100 words per piece works just fine.

Include product keywords in your descriptions to expand search engine visibility with your fresh content.  This is a great place to include affiliate links to services or products that pair well with your gift guide offerings. You can also tie-in customer testimonials, tips and how-to’s to help increase conversions.

Conclusion

The season is chaotic, but your content marketing schedule doesn’t have to be. Craft a gift guide (or series of gift guides) to deliver value and attract customers without breaking a sweat.

Have some funny gift guide title ideas? Share ’em with us in the comment section below!

CC Photo Credit: Flickr User Dave_B_ [ http://www.flickr.com/photos/daverugby83/6635066979/ ]

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