"Two seconds after Halloween it seems that all the retail stores put up
their Christmas decorations - trying to capture as much of the Holiday
market as possible. Typical ways that retail stores use to capitalize on the
holidays include extended hours and sales. This is all well and good. Today
I want to give you an early present by giving you some novel ways to think
about holiday promotions.
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Many people are fed up with holiday crowds, which is reflected in the
growth of online sales and the decline of some traditional retailer's sales.
There also seems to be a trend towards buying fewer gifts, but those gifts
tend to be higher-ticket luxury items.
In the type of marketing we all should be doing ,we start with the
customer in mind. What do we know about people this time of year?
- Time is a commodity - there's too much to do and too little time.
- People have more shopping to do than they usually do.
- People are under a tremendous amount of stress.
- People tend to clean and decorate their houses.
These are just some of the factors affecting people during the holiday
season. I'm sure you can think of many more. Take these things into
consideration, and take the stance of being a giver.
Here's an idea I've never seen (so I want credit if you use it). If you
own a store, offer free gift wrap - nothing new there. While people are
getting their gifts wrapped, they get a free chair massage? You could
partner up with a local spa, or even a massage school who could also give
every customer a promotional coupon. You save your customers time, take away
their stress, and create a fusion marketing partnership with the spa.
If you are in a household service business, offer to do additional
winterizing services for your customers to save them time. Offer a free
holiday housecleaning. If you aren't in the cleaning business - again team
up with a cleaning service.
Give-aways are great. Give away free Christmas trees - depending on where
you are you could buy a couple hundred for $10 a piece. The deal could be -
spend $100 and take home a free tree. Give away turkeys, or complete turkey
dinners - a lot of grocery stores have this promotion.
Everybody gives away calendars, aim for something different but still
useful. How about ice-scrapers if you live in the north? Blankets,
sweatshirts, caps - are all good promotional items when the weather turns
cold.
Holiday cards are great. People enjoy getting them and displaying them.
Hardly anybody sends Thanksgiving cards, definitely consider it. In this
politically correct age (gasp) you have to be sensitive to people's
religious sensibilities. Send Happy Holidays cards and not Merry Christmas
Cards - unless you are absolutely sure your customer celebrates Christmas.
If you have any kind of retail business, think about add-on gifts that
might be used as a second gift. A florist might include a free gift-wrapped
ornament with a certain level of purchase that can be sent to a different
address. Two gifts for the price of one. Buy one get one free offers are
great at holiday times.
Use your creativity this holiday season and think about how you can solve
your customers' problems.
