The holiday season has arrived much faster than we all expected. Where did 2022 go?

At this point in December, there are two types of shoppers:

A. The ones who took advantage of the Black Friday deals and already finished their holiday shopping

B. The ones who haven’t even started looking yet

What do you do when you’re running out of time and you’re struggling to find out what your loved ones will want this year? Sure, you can take a guess, but isn’t it easier when there are gift guides to help?

Gift guides are your BFF, especially in the age of convenience and online shopping. As a consumer, these guides can help you find the perfect gift for the people in your life who seem hard to shop for. But as an apparel brand, these gift guides can also help you skyrocket your sales.

That’s right, gift guides can make selling apparel easy as pie. Let’s take a closer look at what exactly a gift guide is and how to create one for your company.

What Exactly is a Gift Guide?

You know those gift idea roundups you see online? Some are compiled into listicles, which are exactly what they sound like—articles that are formatted like lists. Others are formatted as landing pages, complete with products and sections of content that entice readers to buy.

That’s what we mean when we refer to a gift guide. It’s a list of gift ideas that a publication or company shares to provide their audiences with holiday shopping inspiration.

Here are a few examples:

If you’ve been procrastinating on your holiday shopping, NPR has you covered. The publication recently shared an article to help people who are “terrible at buying Christmas presents.” It’s a lifesaver if you ask us.

The North Face comes in hot with shopping inspo on its holiday collection landing page. Each section of content links to an internal page where visitors can shop the products featured in the gift guide. And BTW, we think The North Face copywriting team deserves a raise—they did a great job of tailoring the content to the holiday theme while staying true to the brand.

Glamour brings us a gift guide for girly girls, featuring some of the hottest products of the season. Each recommendation features a product photo, title, price, and of course the link to buy.

Macy’s “Gift Finder” serves as a landing page that is organized by different criteria, including recipient, price, category, and more. As a department store, Macy’s has a lot to offer, so its thoughtfully organized landing page is designed to steer shoppers in the right direction.

Social media platforms are also popular places to find gift guides. Shocker!

60% of Gen Z and 56% of Millennials reported that they do at least some of their holiday shopping on social media apps like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

YouTube influencer Fernanda Ramirez posted a video featuring over 160 gift ideas for her subscribers. With so many ideas condensed into an 18-minute video, she saved her followers hours of scouring the internet for the perfect gift.

How Do Gift Guides Help Sell More?

Gift guides are a great way to get shoppers in the holiday spirit and help boost sales for businesses.

Providing helpful information on the best gifts for different occasions takes the guesswork out of shopping and helps customers quickly and easily find what they’re looking for quickly and easily.

Gift guides also have a psychological effect—they make customers feel like they’re getting more bang for their buck by finding thoughtful items that cater to specific interests or personalities. When paired with holiday sales, gift guides can skyrocket the revenue of a business.

And that’s not all—there’s something in it for bloggers and online publications as well. Many sites that publish content will become affiliate partners for the brands they promote. As a result, whenever a reader makes a purchase, the content publisher will take a cut of the sale as a reward for referring their readers.

That’s why you see so many bloggers and influencers promoting gift guides. They’re boosting their own businesses through affiliate marketing.

How to Make a Successful Gift Guide

Creating a successful gift guide for businesses isn’t rocket science, but it does require some careful thought and planning.

Start by narrowing your focus – what type of company do you want to target with your gift guide? Consider their needs, interests, and aesthetic preferences when creating the guide.

You can also add in a few unique gifts that will stand out from the crowd – something no one else is offering.

Once you have an idea of which products to include in your guide, it’s time to think about how you’ll promote it.

Utilize social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram to really get the word out there.

Put together eye-catching visuals that showcase your chosen items and post regularly with fun captions that align with your brand’s personality.

By staying active and engaging with potential customers, you’ll be sure to create a successful gift guide that will get people talking.

Finally, don’t forget to include discounts or special offers – these are always great incentives for shoppers!

Here are some other helpful tips to help you make your own stand out from the pack:

Cater to a Variety of Interests

Make sure your gift guide includes something for everyone so it appeals to a wide range of customers.

Add Unique Touches

It’s always nice when there is an extra element of surprise. Try adding an extra special touch to your gift guide with a handwritten note, a collection of custom-made treats, or other creative elements.

Keep Up With Trends

Staying informed about what’s popular can help you stay ahead of the curve and make sure your guide is always on-trend.

Need Quality Apparel For Your Next Gift Guide?

This holiday season, we’re making sure everyone on the list has their gifts. With gift guides, you’ll not only help others, but you’ll make sales for yourself. What could possibly be better than that two-for-one special?

But before you can make a gift guide, you need high-quality products to go in it. If you are looking for an apparel manufacturer that checks all the boxes on your Christmas list, you’re looking right at ‘em!

We offer a variety of printing techniques, luxury-level materials, quick turnaround times, and a rockstar team of Scrappy Sales Reps ready to bring your project to life.

If you’re ready to get started, request a free estimate from our team and we’ll make some apparel magic!