Traditionally, the holiday season is a time for reflection, family, and rest. But any business owner knows it can also be by far the most important season of the year for the bottom line, and effective branding during the holidays can make for massive returns.

For inspiration on how to turn your company into a Christmas brand, look no further than Coca-Cola.

But let's face it – we can't all be an industry behemoth with decades of op-level targeted marketing to boost our image. Thankfully, festive branding doesn't need to be difficult, and actually can even be a lot of fun. The options for joining in are almost endless, but here we've listed some of the most effective ways to boost your image, and sales this holiday season.

Give your logo a festive make-over

Your logo is your identity, so for a low-cost, low-effort way to align your brand identity with a festive spirit, consider giving your logo a fun holiday twist. Adding trees, stars, baubles, mistletoe or snowflakes all work well, as do festive colors like green, red or wintery blues and whites.

One benefit of this is that you can use this type of branding easily across all channels; updating website and social media images for a few weeks, printing it on flyers, business cards or limited-edition packaging – all can be achieved relatively easily and cost-effectively, and by using the same image you retain consistency across your brand. What's not to love? Just be sure to be subtle and not hack the design apart too much just to incorporate some festive sparkle.

Create one-off holiday merchandise

The season is all about the gifts and trinkets, and customers will often be attracted to merchandise with festive branding. Whether you merely update your existing packaging designs to have a more festive twist or create one-off merchandise like mugs, t-shirts or branded calendars, festive items are often welcome among customers looking for affordable knick-knack to put under the tree.

For higher-end businesses or those selling expensive wares and services, offering specially branded trinkets along with purchases or to most loyal clients as a holiday greeting can be a great way to give back to customers and encourage brand engagement and loyalty. Even simple festive shopping bags help get into the spirit, and ensure he customer leaves with a warm festive glow.

Focus on your mobile marketing

E-commerce keeps expanding rapidly, and customers are after convenient deals and straightforward interactions, so focusing on your digital strategy is particularly useful when trying to make sales during the holidays.

Market realist predicts mobile commerce will grow by as much as 47% during the 2015 holiday season, meaning focusing some marketing power onto the mobile market will be particularly effective. Perhaps think about finally creating that app you've thought about, or overhaul your web design to create the most UX friendly environment.

Join into to the spirit of giving

The holidays are all about giving, and so the easiest way to join in is to do just that. Giving gifts to your most loyal customers, running promotions, competitions and giveaways, donating to charity on behalf of clients or creating a partnership with other organizations to help those in need, are all great options for showing the beating heart behind your business.

Be sure any campaign you run is genuine though – customers won't be impressed by lip-service or deceptive marketing. Putting in some time to reflect on what really matters to your audience, and how you could use your unique brand to better the world, will make all the difference. For example, a bakery setting up a stall to feed homeless or low-income families will be more meaningful than them merely making a donation to a random charity, and a gym offering an extra month of membership for free will be more useful than a branded hat.

Joining in on the holiday fun can be effective, enjoyable and surprisingly easy. Make sure your business doesn't miss out!

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Written by Jane Murray on Thursday, December 17, 2015

Jane Murray is a freelance copywriter based in Sydney. Apart from writing up a storm for the DesignCrowd blog on anything from logo design to Michael Jackson's shoes, she enjoys reading literary science fiction and hanging out with most animals except wasps. Get in touch via LinkedIn.