Christmas Marketing for Cyprus Businesses: Your November Plan

In Cyprus, Christmas trade does not start on 1 December. Companies order staff gifts in late November, families shop through the last weekend before Christmas, and the season only ends after Epiphany on 6 January. Three name days fall inside it as well: Christos and Christina on 25 December, Vasilis and Vasiliki on 1 January, Fotis and Fotini on 6 January. A business that prepares in November collects six weeks of extra demand. One that posts "Merry Christmas" on 24 December collects a few likes.

Why the work happens in November

Almost everything that makes money in December is built the month before: the gift page, the photos, the delivery cut-off, the list of customers you are allowed to message. Google needs time too. A new page can take days or weeks to show in results, and searches for Christmas gifts in Cyprus start climbing in mid-November. Publish in the first week of December and you miss the climb.

Decide what you are selling this Christmas

Not everything. Pick three to five things that are easy to give and easy to buy: a bundle at a round price, a "for him, for her, for the office" set, a gift voucher, a Christmas set menu, a tray of kourabiedes to order. If you sell to companies, say so plainly. Firms buy staff and client gifts in late November and need an invoice with VAT and delivery to the office. Restaurants should publish the set menu and group booking terms now, because office parties are booked weeks ahead. Bakeries and cafés should open pre-orders in mid-November.

Build one Christmas page and keep its address every year

Create a single page at an address like yoursite.com/christmas and point everything at it: a banner on the homepage, the link in your Instagram bio, a post on your Google Business Profile. On the page: gifts by price (under €25, under €50, under €100), gifts by person, the last date you can deliver, your holiday opening hours, and a voucher for anyone who has left it too late. Keep the same address next year and change only the contents. Rankings build up on a page that stays, and the link printed on last year's gift card still works.

The dates to publish before anyone asks

• Black Friday, 27 November. Decide now whether you take part or sit it out, and say which.
• Your last order date. Ask your courier and Cyprus Post for their final collection days, then publish your own cut-off a day earlier: one for Cyprus, one for abroad. The first customer to ask "will it arrive in time?" should already find the answer on the page.
• Holiday hours. 24 December, 25 and 26 December, 31 December, 1 January and 6 January, plus any extra Sunday opening in December.
• Collection and exchanges. Until when last-minute orders can be collected from the shop, and how long gift recipients have to exchange.

Update Google before the website

"Is it open today?" is the most common question a business gets in late December, and most people ask Google, not you. Set special hours in your Google Business Profile for every date above. When holiday hours are not confirmed, Google tells customers they might differ, which is a quiet way to lose a sale. Add a post with the gift page link and three photos of this year's window, counter or menu. Then make the website say exactly the same.

Tell the people who already know you

Past customers are the cheapest Christmas marketing you have. Plan four short messages: gift ideas in mid-November, "order by this date" in early December, "last chance, vouchers delivered by email today" a week before Christmas, and the January offer on 27 December. Send them by email, with SMS or Viber for the two time-sensitive ones. Only message people who agreed to hear from you. Four messages in six weeks is plenty.

Plan January while it is still December

The first week of January is quiet for most Cyprus businesses, and quieter still when nothing is prepared. Decide the January sale or new-year offer in December, build its page the same way, and schedule the message. Vouchers given at Christmas get used in January, so make sure the staff know how to accept them. Ask for reviews in the second week of January, once customers have used what they bought.

Five things to do this week

Choose your three to five Christmas products. Write down your last order dates and holiday hours. Build the Christmas page. Set special hours on Google. Draft the four messages. If you would rather have the page and the messages built for you before mid-November, get in touch.