During the holidays, most of us like to enjoy a few extra days off work.
We’ll set up the “out of office” reply in our inbox and try to disconnect a bit. Some of us even take the entire week off between Christmas and New Year’s!
For restaurant and retail store owners, you’ll often remain open or operate with limited hours.
In either case, you want to make sure potential customers know the exact hours you are and are not open during the holidays.
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Update Your Online Listings
When you update your business listing on Yelp, Google, and Apple Maps, people who search for your business will be able to see any special hours or holiday closures.
As long as your profiles have already been set up, it should only take a couple of minutes to update these platforms, and I’ve included some instructions below on how to do it.
If this is your first time setting these accounts up, this blog post will give you more information about getting started.
Yelp
To update your listing with Yelp, log in to your Yelp for Business account or open the Yelp Biz app on your smartphone (Apple App or Android App).
If you’re on the computer, select the “Business Information” tab on the left, and if you’re in the app, select the “Biz Info” section.
Scroll down to where it says “Upcoming Special Hours,” located below the “Business Hours” section, and click edit.
You can mark your business as closed or set special hours for any upcoming dates, which will appear under the “Upcoming Special Hours” section on your Yelp Profile.
To update your listing on Google, you can use the Google Search website or open the Google Maps app on your smartphone.
I share detailed instructions for both in my blog post, Updating Your Business Profile on Google Search & Maps.
Once you’ve clicked on the “Edit profile” button, scroll down to where it says “Special Hours,” located below the “Business Hours” and “More Hours” sections, and click edit.
You can mark your business as closed or set special hours for any upcoming dates and they will be displayed in the Google Search and Google Maps results.
Please note, Google shows business hours for the next 7 days, so your modified hours will only be displayed as the actual dates approach.
Apple Business Register
To be completely transparent, I have not used Apple Business Register because my business doesn’t have a physical office location and no one searches for me on Apple Maps.
From what I’ve researched, it appears similar to Google My Business and Yelp Biz in the sense that you should be able to update your holiday hours and how they’re displayed in Apple Maps.
Notify Your Customers
It’s important to notify your existing customers of any upcoming closures or special hours since your regulars are less likely to search for you online.
Here are the three ways I recommend making this announcement to your customers:
Post on Social Media
Design a graphic or type out a post telling your followers about your holiday hours and any ordering or shipping deadlines. If your hours are listed in your bio, you may consider updating that, as well.
For a free and easy way to create professional-looking graphics, I suggest using Canva. They have lots of templates and designs to choose from to help get you started.
Send Out an Email
Sending an email announcement lets your customers and subscribers know about your holiday hours and any ordering or shipping deadlines.
If you’re looking for an email marketing program, Mailchimp offers a fairly robust free plan to help you get started sending out emails.
Update Your Website
If you have a website and your hours of operation are listed, it’s a good idea to add your holiday hours and closures.
You can note these special hours on the same page with your operating hours or add a pop-up window so visitors see it when they access your site.
In either case, set a reminder to remove the special note or pop-up after the holiday.
Communication is key when it comes to customer service and your clients will appreciate the heads up about your holiday hours.
Plus, it keeps you top of mind if they need to do any shopping or make any appointments before the holiday.
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