Holiday Marketing Tips for the Uninspired eMarketer

Father’s Day emails for Old Swiss Inn and Tsukiji/Cirkulo/Milkyway Cafe (also designed by yours truly) went out this week (Have a look!  >Old Swiss Inn  >Tsukiji)  and they got me thinking about holiday marketing in general.

Holidays are great opportunities to get your brand and product offers out there, but it might be good to note that any marketer worth his/her salt already knows this… and probably takes full advantage. This means lots of competition — and a heck of a crowd in consumers’ mailboxes.

Here are a few tips to set your holiday marketing campaigns apart:   

Plan ahead.  Don’t plan your holiday emails the week before you send them.  Make a quarterly or yearly plan (we all know when the big holidays fall each year anyway), so you have time to think about what to offer, and how you can make YOUR offer stand out in the crowd.  

Don’t just ANNOUNCE - offer something of real value.  The harsh truth is, most people don’t care about what you have to say unless it translates into something beneficial to them.  People have only one question in mind when they read any kind of promotion… “What’s in it for me?”  Give your readers something that makes them actually GLAD they’re on your mailing list.  

Be Creative! Don’t stick to regular holidays - research the lesser known ones and celebrate those too!  This works particularly well when a holiday has something to do with the products and services you offer.  For example, a friend of mine who co-owns a Brother’s Burgers franchise sends out text messages offering discounts every year on ”International Hamburger Day.”  I think it’s brilliant.

Use your customer data to send more personalized holiday offers.   Offer something special to all your female clients on “International Women’s Day.”  Give all Muntinlupa residents a discount on Muntinlupa Day.  The more you know about your customers, the more you can personalize your communications. And the more personalized your communications, the more likely they’ll be received with a warm welcome.

Don’t forget birthdays!  Birthdays are the most personal holidays of all, so be sure not to miss out on those!  Joe Girard, who’s listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as  “The World’s Greatest Salesman,”  never once forgot a client’s birthday.  Every month, year after year, Girard ( a car salesman) would send a greeting card to every customer on his list. Inside would be a simple message. He knew they’d need a new car one day, and he wanted to keep himself top of mind. He was careful not to include anything that might sound like a sales pitch. Just an anecdote, a new idea, a news story, a book review, a birthday greeting, or a tip he knew they’d be interested in.

Eventually this task became so big, Girard had to hire someone to do it for him - but the point is: clients were pleased that he remembered, and it served him well.  When customers needed a car, they came to him.  Better yet, when  customers’ friends and relatives needed a car, they sent them to him.  Over the course of his 14-year career, Joe Girard personally sold over 13,000 cars — outselling 95% of all car dealerships in Northern America.