Christmas Archives - American Quilt Retailer

There’s a reason why Q4 is referred to as the “Golden Quarter” in the retail industry. Make the most of the lull before the Holidays by beginning your social media marketing strategy to plan the best content at the right time.

Rules to follow

Facebook and Instagram are essential. Posting frequently on both of these channels is just as important, but don’t worry, you can repeat what you post on these platforms.

Think of social media as an extension of getting customers to your store by word of mouth. If all you’re posting about are sales, you’re going to have less online engagement. Instead, follow the 80/20 rule of content, meaning 80 percent of your posts should be unrelated to products or deals.

Further, stay engaged. The highest times of social media engagement are at the beginning and end of each day, which means checking your social media content frequently between 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily is a safe bet.

On top of that, you should interact with your followers. This means liking their posts, replying promptly to comments, and following similar services to what you provide.

Content for the Holidays

Update your website to include a gift giving guide. Take it even further by incentivizing customers who visit and utilize this page with a discount or gift card.

Also update your social media profile photos with something that reflects the season. Throwing in holiday related hashtags and reusing words like “Christmas,” “Holidays,” “Santa,” and “Hanukkah,” will help with your content engagement as well.

We’re well into October; what are you waiting for? Get a head start on Holiday planning today.

Inspiration for this post came from Social Marketing for the Holiday Season by Rich Kizer and Georgeanne Bender.

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As pictured in AQR’s October article Holiday Glam by Anna Woodward, we compiled step-by-step instructions, complete with photos, for fat quarter Christmas trees and stars pictured in the article. These small gift giving items make perfect last minute pick-me-ups for the sewer that “already has it all.” Customers will be scrambling for those last minute gift exchanges and this will be the perfect gift. Be prepared with this easy how-to!

Triangle – Start here for both the star and Christmas tree

Fold Fat Quarter in half lengthwise, otherwise known as the “hot dog fold.” Repeat. (Photo 1)
Fold the bottom left corner up into a triangle. The triangle should be slightly higher than half-way. (Photo 2)
Fold down the top left hand corner to meet the bottom fold line. If your triangle isn’t looking quite like a triangle, you’re right on track. Go to the next step. (Photo 3)
Begin to mimic flag folding by folding the bottom left hand corner up to the top fold. Try to keep your corners as crisp as possible. Now we should be looking like a triangle. Continue to fold the top left corner diagonal to the bottom fold. Then take the bottom-left hand corner up again until you no longer have enough fabric to make triangles. (Photo 4)
You will reach a point where you have only a small tail left. This can be easily tucked inside the triangle. Repeat. Christmas trees will need two more. Stars will need one more. (Photo 5)

Stars

Place one triangle on top of another alternating points. (Photo 6)
Tie ribbon around to secure. (Photo 7)

Christmas Tree

Fold Fat Quarter in half lengthwise, otherwise known as the “hot dog fold.” Repeat. (Photo 8)
Fold the left side into the center. Repeat with right side. We do not want any raw edges to show. (Photo 9)
Repeat to make slender tree trunk. (Photo 10)
Slide top point of triangles inside of each other. After the third triangle slide the tree trunk inside the fabric to complete the Christmas tree shape. (Photo 11)For more display ideas and to connect with Anna Woodward find her on Instagram @AnnaWoodwardRetailDisplay and on Twitter @WindowsWork.

Tag: Christmas

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