It’s getting to be the most wonderful (not to mention stressful) time of the year. And now is the time to finalize and firm up your holiday marketing plans. While the holiday shopping season is synonymous with Black Friday, Cyber Monday and crowded malls, all businesses in Las Vegas can enjoy the benefits of the holiday season. Including Las Vegas medical practices, dental offices, law firms and every business in between.
Scratching your head and wondering how on Earth can you do that? Have no fear, Your Marketing Liaison is here to help, with a few tips from our Holiday Marketing Services Survival Guide.
Holiday Marketing Tip 1: Choose Your Promo(s)
Along with your team and marketing consultant, brainstorm ideas for holiday offers and promotions in early November. There are different/relevant opportunities for every kind of business. Black Friday, November 25th in 2016, is obviously more for brick and mortar retailers. So if your doors are open the day after Thanksgiving decide on your sale or promo right away.
Cyber Monday (the online shopping equivalent of Black Friday) is November 28th in 2016. It provides a great opportunity if you sell products or services online.
Promotions don’t have to be limited to these shopping days! You could also offer a weekly special for your practice or firm.
It’s about being prepared ahead of time, and the key to being prepared is to start planning now!
Promo ideas include special discounts on products or services, free product shipping, Facebook sweepstakes, giving to a local charity with each purchase, etc.
Extra Tip: Small Business Saturday (November 26th this year) is a great time to make a special offer. Use this time to offer a special deal while reminding consumers buying from a local business helps support the local economy and community.
Holiday Marketing Tip 2: Say Thank You
Successful accounting, legal and medical practices often receive a sizeable portion of their business from referrals. The holiday season is an important time of year for letting these individuals and corporations know we value their contribution to our success.
One way to do this is to identify the top 25 to 30 individuals and corporations who refer business to you. Then, decide on a budget to go towards showing your appreciation. And, then break that amount down between your highest referrers, your mid referrers, etc.
Saying thank you to those who refer business to us is an important part of any marketing strategy. It’s important year-round, but the holiday season offers an opportunity for us to say thank you in a special way. Often quite separate from a recent referral.
Need help deciding how much to spend, who to give to, what to buy and how to deliver it? Contact us for help!
*Extra Tip: In addition to top referrers, send Holiday greeting cards to all your clients. It reminds them about your business and lets them know you value them. If their experience with you is a positive one, this simple act can help reinforce your relationship with them and make them more likely to refer you to someone in their network.
Holiday Marketing Tip 3: Use eNewsletters
The holiday season is a good time to send out a special Holiday eNewsletter to your client list. If you don’t currently use email to communicate en masse with your customers, get started this year with a special Holiday eNewsletter. If not in 2016, start working towards 2017.
An eNewsletter can provide a wealth of helpful information to clients, weekly, monthly, quarterly or whatever time frame works best for your business and clientele. It helps keep your business on their radar, especially if you are delivering information that they find helpful and interesting.
During the holiday season, email can be used to send Holiday greetings as well as to notify clients of :
- extended or reduced business hours
- office closed days
- special holiday events
- special offers, sales and discounts
- year-end reminders and deadlines
In our online age, gathering email addresses is usually part of the routine paperwork in most businesses and professional practices. If it isn’t, now is a good time to begin gathering this information for future use. A field/box can also be added to your website and to your Facebook Page, if you’d like to give both customers and non-customers an opportunity to sign up on your mailing list.
If you need more assistance Your Marketing Liaison can help!
*Extra Tip: There are a number of different companies that offer an online platform for creating and sending out eNewsletters. These services allow you to import client data, like first name, last name and email address, into their software. Google’s MailChimp offers a plan that is free for accounts with 2,000 or fewer subscribers, sending up to 12,000 emails each month. MailChimp’s free plan has most everything you need to get started and keep growing. MailChimp also offers a premium product with a few more bells and whistles. Another highly-rated premium product is AWeber.
Holiday Marketing Tip 4: Plan for Last Minute Shoppers
We’ve all been there one time or another… it’s the 11th hour and there’s still one last person to buy for … or a group of people. Take the headache out of the equation by making it easy for people to purchase a “last minute offer.” The easiest way to do this is by offering a gift voucher clients can print at home or even email to the gift recipient.
Of course, last minute shopping doesn’t all happen just before Christmas! If you’re shopping for a number of referral or other clients, your deadline for having everything delivered may be the middle of December! After that, you may find you’re delivering gift baskets to important clients that have already left on holidays!
If you need help deciding on, putting together and delivering client gift baskets, contact Ginger to find out how we can help!
*Extra Tip: Use phrasing like “Today only” or “While Supplies Last” when advertising last-minute offers in emails or your social media posts. This drives home the urgency factor and helps to speed up the sales process. For delivering your gifts to your clients, aim to have their gifts delivered by December 15. This should ensure you catch people before they head away on holidays.
For more marketing tips, tricks and info, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Or if you need some extra help in the marketing department this holiday season, call Ginger at Your Marketing Liaison.