Faire Report #21: It's holidays chat from here on.

What’s on my brain this week?

Get used to us talking about Christmas.

Outside of Faire feature updates, most of what we're going to be talking about over the next few months is Q4 and the holiday season.

And that's because retailers need to be thinking about it constantly too.

Keep reminding retailers that Christmas is coming

By mid-September, we're already at roughly 100 days until Christmas.

That gives you a really simple content moment: remind your retailers.

Remind them that Christmas is getting closer. Remind them when they need to order. Remind them of your shipping deadlines. Remind them if certain products are likely to sell out.

Don't assume retailers know your deadlines or have your brand at the top of their list. They're juggling dozens, sometimes hundreds, of suppliers. Your job is to keep showing up.

Give them a reason to buy now

A looming deadline is useful because it creates urgency without you having to manufacture it.

If you have a last order date for guaranteed Christmas delivery, talk about it. If you need pre-orders placed by a certain date, talk about it. If stock is limited, talk about it.

Retailers are far more likely to act when they understand why waiting creates a problem.

Help retailers merchandise your products

Another easy piece of holiday content is showing retailers exactly how your range can be merchandised in-store.

Don't just show them individual products. Show them the finished display.

That could be a Christmas gift table, a stocking filler display, a counter-top stand, posters, shelf signage, gift bundles or a complete holiday collection merchandised together.

The easier you make it for a retailer to imagine your products in their store, the easier it is for them to buy.

Make everything feel like Q4

For the next few months, if it's relevant to the holidays, it should probably be somewhere on your Faire account or in your retailer communication.

Your banners, imagery, collections, messages, product descriptions and brand updates should all be doing some of the work for you.

You don't need a completely new marketing idea every week. You just need to keep giving retailers useful reasons to think about your brand while they're buying for the biggest season of the year.

Final thought

Q4 isn't one campaign. It's months of repeatedly showing retailers that you're ready for the holiday season.

Keep reminding them of the dates, keep showing them what to buy and keep showing them how to sell it.

See you on the marketplace,

Andy