Thanksgiving is behind us as well as Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, three of the major shopping days of the year. I hope these events were successful for your business. Now is no time to rest and coast through the last month of the year when it comes to finishing out your holiday season marketing. By making email and online marketing as part of your marketing campaign, you can easily create new and easy ways to market your business.

Here are 12 ideas to make these last weeks a success.

1. Last minute gift guide. Help your customers find that perfect gift with a last minute gift guide. Make it easy by suggesting gifts for mom, for dad, for your kids. You get the idea.

2. Reward cards – Reward clients to draw business after the Holidays. Reward people for shopping in your store by adding a bonus like a gift card or gift certificate. Offering a gift card as a bonus can increase sales during the holiday season, and can also help introduce you to new customers in the process.

3. Have a sample sale. Showcase some of the different products you offer with a holiday sample sale. For a business like a bakery shop, a sample sale lets customers experience their different recipes and share with holiday guests. Think of ways you can let people sample your products and services this holiday season.

4. End-of-year update. One of the best ways to celebrate the holidays is to reflect on all that you’ve accomplished in the previous year. Share a special connection with your customers and they’ll be happy to hear about all of your success.

5. Send a Happy New Year card. Use the holidays to say thanks to your loyal customers and give them something to look forward to in the New Year.

6. Naughty or Nice. With so many businesses vying for your customers’ attention throughout the holidays, you’ll need to come up with creative ideas to get your marketing campaign noticed.  Consider using humor to make a lasting impression, while also promoting your holiday special like a Naughty or Nice List. Naughty might be that the 15 percent off one item they keep for themselves. The nice list might be that they pass along the 15 percent off one item to a friend and in return you give them a surprise of 15 percent off one item after the sale.

7. Countdown to the New Year. Create your own countdown to the New Year. Maybe it could be a countdown of your clients, featuring their businesses in your email newsletter or on your social networks. They will love you promoting their business and you’ll be thought of as one of the businesses who creates connections.

8. Holiday video. Add some personality to your holiday marketing with a special holiday video. You can showcase your employees or just use the video to say thanks for a great year.

9. Tie in social media. Offer people multiple ways to connect with you this holiday season. Use social networks like Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to showcase your different gift ideas. Even now, consider creating a special board of gift ideas on Pinterest and promoting it to your email list.

10. Look ahead to the New Year. If you don’t have a lot going on during the holidays but have big plans for 2015, you can use the holidays to promote your upcoming activities. Use online registration to make it easy for people to sign up in advance.

11. Holiday event. Hosting a holiday party is the perfect way to thank employees and customers for their continued support all year long. After all, they are the backbone of your business and you want them to know just how much you care.

12. Photo contest. Everyone is into selfies, create a fun photo contest like the  “12 Days of Ugly Sweater” contest or the “Best fruit cake Ever” contest. Make them fun and engaging.

As you can see, these 12 easy ways will wrap up a great holiday season. They aren’t too difficult to implement and may have been something you did in the past. I hope they help you to finish out a successful 2014.

From the staff of Interlace Communications, we wish you a joyous holiday season.