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Holiday Marketing Survival Guide
8 Steps to Take Now for Peak Sales
By Kim T. Gordon
If you're on the frenzied front
lines of the battle for holiday sales and market share, it will take more than a
cool head to earn peak sales. Advance planning is essential to achieving stellar
holiday goals. Just follow this guide to 8 important steps you can take right
now to lay the groundwork for success in the coming months.
1. Plan for a Unified Message
Your holiday marketing can do more
than win sales. It can also improve your company's position in the marketplace
and raise awareness. Take time now to review and evaluate the messaging in your
print and online advertising, direct-mail campaigns, public relations, and on
your website to be sure they’ll present an effective, unified theme. Examine the
look and content of your sales materials too, for a truly integrated campaign.
2. Choose Customer Incentives
To stand out from the crowd, your
holiday promotions must incorporate strong incentives. Free shipping, free gift
wrap, savings for current customers, sale prices, longer hours of operation, and
rebates are all examples of incentives and promotional hooks that may resonate
with your audience. Just be sure they meet or beat what’s offered by your chief
competitors to avoid a "ho-hum" reaction from customers.
3. Negotiate Early for Media
Fourth quarter broadcast
advertising inventories are among the tightest of the year. That means you may
get shut out of the most desirable programming if you don't act fast.
If you haven't already made your buys, get
"avails" from your reps right away and negotiate for
the best rates on radio and TV time for the entire holiday season.
4. Tune Up Your Website
With the vast majority of shoppers
researching products on the Web before buying them online or off-line in
brick-and-mortar stores, your website may be your most important tool this
holiday season. Make sure it's ready for action. Close more sales by setting up
specialized landing pages for shoppers who respond to your e-mail and online
advertising promotions.
5. Update Customer and Prospect Lists
Get ready to support your
direct-mail and e-mail campaigns by updating and cleaning your in-house lists.
Eliminate old addresses and merge/purge multiple lists to eliminate duplications
that can turn off your recipients. If your customer list is made up of primarily
postal rather than online addresses, this is a good time to contact customers
for permission to e-mail.
6. Prepare E-mail Promotions
E-mail with relevant and appealing
content can be sent as often as every two weeks to your customer database during
the holiday season. Consider offering special customer rewards or gift cards,
which were quite successful for retailers last holiday season. Create the copy
and layout in advance for all your holiday e-mail promotions and have them ready
to send to your permission-based list at scheduled intervals.
7. Thank Your Customers
For many business-to-business
marketers, for example, the holidays are an important time to show appreciation
to customers or clients. This year, plan ahead and order personalized gifts for
your most important clients. You could also host a customer appreciation event
and give a goody bag with a special item, such as custom-molded chocolate
imprinted with your company logo, to customers who attend.
8. Show You Care
It's the season for giving, so why
not adopt a cause, or affiliate with a community nonprofit, and plan a holiday
charitable drive? Spread community awareness of your charitable campaign through
media relations. Prepare a press list, invite members of the media to an event,
or write a press release then follow up by phone to pitch stories related to
your charitable work directly to key press. It's a win-win PR approach that can
help those in need plus increase your sales during the holidays and beyond.
Get In-depth
Coaching on this Topic>>
Kim
T. Gordon's columns and articles are read by more than
3 million small-business owners each month. She is a small-business expert
and the author of four books, including Maximum Marketing,
Minimum Dollars: The Top 50 Ways to Grow Your Small Business.
Copyrighted material. May not be reproduced in
whole or part without expressed permission from the author.
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