Marketing Tips – How To Not Get Lost In The Christmas Shuffle
Around this time of year every business begins to take on the extra load of getting ready for the holidays. While it can be hectic, it can also be a great time to reach out to clients, make sure your staff feels appreciated and in general make this holiday a positive time. Marketing is more than just writing up articles and taking out ads, it is also using the human side of business to touch base with your past and present clients. Here are a few ways you can do this during the hectic holiday season.
Making That List and Checking It Twice
You may think that in this day and age sending out Christmas cards (or whatever holiday you tend to celebrate now) is old fashion, but it still is important. It is using that personal touch, one that feels much more in tune than an e-card. It can even maybe remind an old client about how great your service is. Now is the time to take out those old marketing lists, old client lists and also any media you contact throughout the year and check it. Make sure it is up to date, the contact name is still current and everything is spelled right. You should really be keeping up a list like this throughout the year. If you haven't, now is the perfect time for you to research and create one.
Make it Memorable
If you want to stand out from the clutter of boring old corporate holiday cards, why not do something different and unique? Know a local cartoonist who can design one for you? Have a budding artist among your techs? This is the perfect time to think outside the box. Maybe you want to send a New Years card to wish them success in the coming year instead of a Christmas card? Whatever you do, try and leave the well trodden path and find your own way. And no printed signatures, please! Sign those yourself and they will make the card all the more personal.
Email and Web Go Together
This is also a great time of year to get your email lists out and brush them up. If you have been gathering email addresses for a marketing campaign, now is a great time to use them. Segment that list into several sets of demographics according to targets. Create an email marketing letter that addresses a specific need in each of these target markets. Then, create a special landing page on the web just for this target market. Sending them to this special page gives you a whole new chance to reach out and discover what kind of pain you can solve. Don't forget to make them an offer they can't afford to walk away from.
Get More Social
With Google now looking at our social media interaction more closely than ever, it is important to remember to refresh your presence in your social media. This can be as simple as giving your Facebook page a holiday banner. But you can also get into the spirit with simple interactive questions such as asking "who has started their holiday shopping yet?" to get the conversation going. Contests and giveaways are also a great holiday addition now. Not sure what to do? Check out Digital Sherpa's guidelines to get some great ideas.
Celebrate Your Clients and Staff
If you are a local business, you might want to do something special to kick off the season. How about a tree lighting ceremony with hot chocolate? You could invite clients and vendors so they can meet your staff and have a face to go with that name. Keep it simple and low key, and maybe add in a simple raffle of your services as well.
Get the Holidays Started Now
As you can see we have barely touched the surface of what opportunities the holidays bring. Yes, this is a time of family and friends and we don't want to commercialize it too much. But for many of us, some of our best friendships grew out of our business commitments. Why not celebrate these with the people you probably spend the most time with, your staff and clients? Reach out to them, tell them you appreciate them and make this holiday a joyous as well as profitable one.
Around this time of year every business begins to take on the extra load of getting ready for the holidays. While it can be hectic, it can also be a great time to reach out to clients, make sure your staff feels appreciated and in general make this holiday a positive time. Marketing is more than just writing up articles and taking out ads, it is also using the human side of business to touch base with your past and present clients. Here are a few ways you can do this during the hectic holiday season.
Making That List and Checking It Twice
You may think that in this day and age sending out Christmas cards (or whatever holiday you tend to celebrate now) is old fashion, but it still is important. It is using that personal touch, one that feels much more in tune than an e-card. It can even maybe remind an old client about how great your service is. Now is the time to take out those old marketing lists, old client lists and also any media you contact throughout the year and check it. Make sure it is up to date, the contact name is still current and everything is spelled right. You should really be keeping up a list like this throughout the year. If you haven't, now is the perfect time for you to research and create one.
Make it Memorable
If you want to stand out from the clutter of boring old corporate holiday cards, why not do something different and unique? Know a local cartoonist who can design one for you? Have a budding artist among your techs? This is the perfect time to think outside the box. Maybe you want to send a New Years card to wish them success in the coming year instead of a Christmas card? Whatever you do, try and leave the well trodden path and find your own way. And no printed signatures, please! Sign those yourself and they will make the card all the more personal.
Email and Web Go Together
This is also a great time of year to get your email lists out and brush them up. If you have been gathering email addresses for a marketing campaign, now is a great time to use them. Segment that list into several sets of demographics according to targets. Create an email marketing letter that addresses a specific need in each of these target markets. Then, create a special landing page on the web just for this target market. Sending them to this special page gives you a whole new chance to reach out and discover what kind of pain you can solve. Don't forget to make them an offer they can't afford to walk away from.
Get More Social
With Google now looking at our social media interaction more closely than ever, it is important to remember to refresh your presence in your social media. This can be as simple as giving your Facebook page a holiday banner. But you can also get into the spirit with simple interactive questions such as asking "who has started their holiday shopping yet?" to get the conversation going. Contests and giveaways are also a great holiday addition now. Not sure what to do? Check out Digital Sherpa's guidelines to get some great ideas.
Celebrate Your Clients and Staff
If you are a local business, you might want to do something special to kick off the season. How about a tree lighting ceremony with hot chocolate? You could invite clients and vendors so they can meet your staff and have a face to go with that name. Keep it simple and low key, and maybe add in a simple raffle of your services as well.
Get the Holidays Started Now
As you can see we have barely touched the surface of what opportunities the holidays bring. Yes, this is a time of family and friends and we don't want to commercialize it too much. But for many of us, some of our best friendships grew out of our business commitments. Why not celebrate these with the people you probably spend the most time with, your staff and clients? Reach out to them, tell them you appreciate them and make this holiday a joyous as well as profitable one.
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