4th Quarter Primer: Getting ready for the most important time of the business year.

The last quarter of the year is that magical time where events get crazy, consumers have additional spending motivations, the hours get longer, and the length of days/weather can drastically change your outreach strategy. With everything going on, it’s easy to forget some of the basics necessary to enhance your sales and traffic. Let’s cover some foundational elements for your check list this year.

Start with your physical space:

1. Conduct a walk around your building.- When we see something every day we start to become oblivious to issues or opportunities. Walk around your building. Take a look at your storefront, alleyway, sidewalks, and signage. Make sure that your building looks attractive, welcoming, and clearly defines what you do to pedestrian traffic.
2. Get lit.- As days get shorter it is vitally important for businesses to enhance lighting. Framing windows with light, executing external elements of your building with strands of bulbs, and appropriately lighting displays will draw the consumer’s eye and let them know you are open for business.
3. Have a plan for windows and decor.- Holiday window planning can attract consumer attention and traffic. Form a plan that emphasizes what you do/sell in the theme of the time period/holiday that you are focusing on. Covering your street facing windows with excessive posters or other elements that can block views to the interior can deter would be shoppers. Replicate your window decorations throughout your interior as you set the mood for the season.
4. Alter your cleaning schedule.- Fall weather brings an increase in leaves, wind, and pedestrian generated trash. Make sure your inside cleaning schedule is robust, and add an outside component
5. Prepare for weather enhancements.- Rain and wind will eventually be a part of the fall season (not for a while here) but it’s good to have a place to store umbrellas or other weather related attire. This is a great time to start caulking windows to prevent energy loss (and higher energy bills) as the weather eventually changes. Additional maintenance should include changing out HVAC filters and conducting basic systems maintenance.

What is going on? External events matter:

1. ESU Homecoming, October 5th.- This weekend, Emporia State University will host their homecoming events. Some extra buzz surrounds this year’s activities with the football team performing well and an increase in enrollment. Show your Hornet pride with black and gold decorations, enjoy the parade on Saturday, and use your signage and media outreach to welcome alumni, current students, and fans to your business.
2. Veterans Banners, mid-October through mid-November.- Veterans banners typically go up in mid-October throughout downtown, on ESU’s campus, and south towards the All Veterans Memorial. A significant amount of people use the banner period as an excuse to host family reunions. They often get together for lunch, coffee, shopping and dinner. Emporia Main Street will have a map of general banner locations after all banners are placed. We will post the map online, and you can use the information to communicate with supporters of the project.
3. Enchanted Emporia, October 12.- If you haven’t noticed, downtown Emporia has become very family friendly over the past few years. Imaginarium, Middle Ground Books, local martial arts facilities for kids, downtown music lessons, the Emporia Arts Center, kids activities at the Lyon County History Center, new gaming centers for youth, and shopping opportunities for families are driving traffic downtown. Enchanted Emporia is another great family activity that is both fun AND engages businesses/organizations in ways that enhance traffic, awareness, and (potentially) sales. For more information on this October 12th event, CLICK HERE.
4. Downtown Trick or Treat, October 26th.- October 26th will bring a BUNCH of costumed kiddos and families downtown. Establishing positive traffic patterns as we enter a prime shopping season is important for our businesses, and this event gets those positive vibes going as we head into November. This is your opportunity to introduce people to your business interior, or at least promote who you are and what you do. If your business/organization isn’t downtown and wants to participate, we have areas that we can help you “pop up” upon request.
5. Dia de los Muertos.- Day of the Dead is the last large outdoor booth festival of the year, and it also contains elements like a parade, entertainment and more. The traffic generated downtown is helpful, but the event specific merchandise that can be sold provides a unique opportunity for area businesses.
6. Veterans Day Activities, Freedom Fest is November 9th.- Veterans week activities bring people into the core of the area and around the core several times over a week. Last year’s Freedom Fest brought several people from out of state, many of whom which stayed for lunch and other libations. Veterans week also allows Emporia Main Street to engage in soldier care package drives, which highlights all the cool things that local businesses have to offer while supporting our deployed troops. Understanding the basics of the activities can help your business decide how to capitalize on crowds and support our veterans.
7. Thanksgiving, November 28.- The biggest “take-out” night of the year is the day before Thanksgiving. For entertainment venues, the days leading to and immediately following can help drive “reunion” traffic for friends. For retailers, Thanksgiving serves as an opportunity for people to develop “wish lists” that can support additional shopping. For service providers, the Thanksgiving holiday provides a chance to supply information to families making decisions about their future. It’s a huge and underrated holiday for businesses, and those that can execute targeted plans can grow as a result.
8. Small Business Saturday, November 30.- Emporia Main Street has highlighted Small Business Saturday every year since its inception as a way to highlight shopping and support of small businesses. This year’s “Elf Hunt” will encourage traffic among several entrepreneurial shops and restaurants while emphasizing local options for the entire Christmas shopping season.
9. Holiday carriage rides.- Thursday night carriage rides will take place on December 7, 14, and 21. These rides allow families, couples, and individual Christmas lovers the ability to experience an old fashioned horse drawn carriage while looking at local storefronts. Participants often grab a hot beverage, dinner, and do a little shopping while they are downtown. If your business is north of 8th Avenue, this is an opportunity to market to carriage riders through store front adornments. If you are a business person anywhere, there are opportunities through Emporia Main Street to market to participants as they wait for a carriage or once they return from a ride.
10. Staff Christmas Parties.- Most offices and corporate groups are looking for ways to host holiday parties during the 4th quarter. Developing easy information that allows a point of contact to book a facility is important. Is your facility for rent? How much do you charge? What comes with the rental (access to food, multimedia, decorations, etc.)? It is important that you start marketing your rental services now. For retail businesses or “maker” businesses, staff Christmas parties offer the opportunity to sell “favors” for staff members in bulk. Planning in advance for what you can offer, and reaching out to potential buyers, can help your business succeed.
11. Holiday late night shopping.- The late night shopping event for Emporia Main Street will be held on Dec 12th. Providing consumers with extra shopping time in a fun environment is important for our local businesses. Mass business participation, individual marketing/advertising for businesses, and establishment of “lead” items and/or services that help draw crowds to your business (and your neighbors) is important as we facilitate the push towards Christmas.
12. Christmas.- Obviously Christmas is on the 25th, but the important thing for businesses is understanding where the holiday falls in the week. This year, Christmas hits on a Wednesday. Obviously that means that most businesses will close early on Christmas Eve (Tuesday), and that puts the last full day of shopping on a Monday, which can have the effect of pushing people out of town as they finish up shopping the weekend before. For businesses, this means it is vitally important to start advertising earlier in the season so that sales are pushed before the 20th of the month.
13. New Years.- The end of the year can kind of turn into a forgotten holiday for businesses, but this can be your last big push of 2024. Catering to New Years parties, hosting New Years events at your venue, or offering categorized experiences that are prepared well before Christmas can lead to late year success. Think about your target market. How can you create a special experience for them (even if it doesn’t run until midnight)? A mid-week New Years celebration can offer some alternatives that benefit your business.
14. The VOID.- That weird time between Christmas and back to school.- Year end close out sales, events, appeals to spend gift certificates at your businesses, and simply offering things to do beyond staring at a computer screen in your PJ’s is important for families and friends during the “in-between” time. Again, working on messaging and outreach can help you close 2024 on a high note and start 2025 with a solid foundation.

Internal operations:

1. When to extend your hours?- Consumers are pressed for time during the holiday season. If you aren’t open when they want to shop, they may go somewhere else or shop online. Promote your hours and highlight the time period where you extend hours to accommodate shoppers. Generally, businesses start extending hours and days of operations around Thanksgiving and hold the new hours through Christmas. If you have online sales conduits, be prepared to ramp up marketing to direct traffic all of the 4th quarter.
2. Traditional media outreach.- Radio, newspapers, and their respective websites serve as a fantastic conduit to the regional buying public. Develop a budget, hone your message that resonates with your clientele, and reach out to local media reps. If you are having trouble with identification of messaging that motivates your target audience, contact Emporia Main Street. We have technology that can help.
3. Staff training and incentives.- The quality of your staff training will directly correlate with the amount of sales and repeat traffic your business generates. Are they greeting people promptly? Can they provide great customer assistance? Are they familiar with all your technical systems? Do they understand what is going on in your business and in the community so they can effectively communicate with customers? Can they provide additional services (gift wrapping, delivery, etc.)? Do they know what products or services (like gift certificates) to highlight? If they work hard and do everything right and it results in increased sales/profitability, what is their reward? How do you recognize high performers during the holiday season?
4. Internal promotions.- We have talked about a lot of activities going on outside your four walls, but what are you doing inside your four walls for your customers? Are you developing a Christmas Open House? Do you have an activity to show appreciation to your top customers? How are you coordinating with your neighboring businesses to offer special experiences this holiday season?
5. Social/nontraditional outreach.- Yes, social media is important. Lean into video to gain more traction with a broader audience, but mailers and other types of low tech outreach that highlights specific consumers can be equally effective. Ask yourself how you are making your customer’s life easier, better, and/or giving them the ability to experience new things? What makes your business different? Why should consumers care? Notice that I didn’t say a single thing about price… Your outreach strategy should motivate your target audience to visit and spend, but competing on the basis of something other than price is critical to long term profitability.

The 4th quarter of the year is here. It’s time to up your game. If you have questions, you need supporting data, your business needs access to additional technical information, or you just want someone to bounce ideas off of, please contact Emporia Main Street for assistance.