This Year, Ask Santa for Some Marketing Muscle
We are approaching the final hours for drafting your Santa letters, and if you’ve been good, you should definitely ask the man in red for some extra “oomph” in your marketing tactics. After all, who better to offer you a spark of imagination and a splash of creativity than the magical figure who dreams up all sorts of goodies and toys for kids around the world? We, too, have written to Santa and he’s provided us with some awesome ideas for reaching our customers. In the spirit of giving, we’ve decided to share Santa’s gift of marketing tips with our readers.
Offer Loyalty Incentives
The holidays are the prime time to extend your gratitude to your most loyal customers and make them feel truly special. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to spend an arm and a leg on fancy gift baskets or bottles of top-shelf wine, though. You can show your clients that you care by providing them with exclusive special offers, sneak previews, or secret sales. This improves customer experience and makes it more likely that you’ll continue to earn their business and drum up referrals.
Seasonal Contests
Grab your audience’s attention by creating holiday contests on your social media accounts. Facebook and Twitter are ideal platforms for doing so, enabling you to showcase your brand while actively engaging with your customers and even attracting new ones! Photo and caption contests are easy to set up with just a few simple rules, a unique hashtag, and a prize or discount offering. The simpler the contest, the more participants you’ll attract and the further your reach will be.
Holiday Events
It’s easy to show off your brand by hosting a special holiday event or open house at your store, restaurant, or business venue. This is the time to direct your customer’s attention to all of your seasonal gift and menu items, decor, and other relevant merchandise. Offering free, light refreshments like hot chocolate and cider will get people in the door, in the season, and in the mood to hang around longer and make a buying decision. You might also consider offering special discounts during the open house or providing visitors with special offer coupons to motivate them to come back.
Yuletide Tips
As much as people love the holiday season, it can also be a stressful time. This creates the perfect opportunity for you to step in and play the hero as you make use of your social media platforms in order to provide readers with valuable holiday tips. Think about your specific industry and the ways that your goods and services could save consumers time and money during the busiest time of the year. Useful tips will be shared and retweeted, reaching even more readers.
Use Email
Yeah, yeah — we know the argument that email is overused and “spammy”. Yet it still remains as one of the lowest-cost and easy-to-implement methods for staying in contact with existing customers. That’s the real key to benefiting from email usage — remembering that effective marketing is directed toward existing customers rather than prospects. These are the folks who have expressed interest in your business and have actually requested email updates from you. The holidays are a great time to dazzle them with special offers. Keep in mind that the best emails:
- Are short and to-the-point
- Include clear subject lines that directly relate to the content inside
- Feature festive, eye-catching designs
- Adhere to online marketing rules