Wanting to close the year out strong and benefit from the massive holiday spending that shoppers dive into, businesses tend to step up their marketing from October to December. It makes sense, if people are shopping, then why not shop with you?
Consequently, many companies make the bulk of their money in the fourth quarter.
So here’s another question: if you find a strategy that works during this holiday season, why not use it all year?
Holiday Lights in May
You know how some people hang up holiday lights . . . and 3 months after Frosty the Snowman has melted and the Christmas trees have returned to the Earth and Santa has long been on vacation – their lights are still up? And it seems out of place?
I’m not talking about trying to have a black friday sale in the middle of Valentine’s Day (though there is a way to do just that if you wanted to). But there are some holiday marketing tips that, with a few adjustments, can work for your small business all year round.
Speak the Holiday Language
Understand the holiday, your audience and the language and then dive into the conversation. Engage your people with holiday sales, guides, special holiday-only products if you want to.
But why not stay relevant all year round?
Don’t stop at Christmas. Celebrate Valentine’s Day, Labor Day or the First Day of Spring with your clients and prospects. Retail businesses already do this pretty well. They remind you that Mother’s Day is coming, and then offer a solution to your problem with gift ideas. Of course, those gifts are in their shop and that’s smart.
But why leave season-based marketing to the retail industry?
A service company could to the same thing.
Offer a labor day package, where “you rest and leave the work to us.” Whether your service is house cleaning, car wash or repairs, virtual assistant, you can celebrate the season with your audience and simultaneously spread the message about your brand.
Every small business can benefit from weaving the season and relevant current affairs into their marketing strategy. Besides being relevant gives your business a heart beat which brings us to the next year-round, holiday strategy.
Spread the Love
The most powerful marketing messages tend to have a pulse behind them. Apple’s “think different” beats to their consumers’ need to feel savvy and innovative. While Samsung is playing to the same emotions with it’s Galaxy S3 marketing message, “the next big thing is already here.”
Christmas and the other holiday’s around it are full of meaning and emotion. If you pause to tap into it, you can weave that meaning into your marketing, but it doesn’t have to stop as the clock strikes midnight and ushers in another year. There’s meaning all year.
Business is about what you can do for others. Your marketing message is about making that benefit clear and engaging. The emotional element in marketing is everything. It’s not about having a nice, short phrase like “think different.”
It’s about how the product/service and the message surrounding that product or service makes your target audience different — and better and smarter because of that difference.
Emotion Drives Sales
Don’t wait for Thanksgiving to give your business a pulse. Start now and keep that spirit all year round.
Lights In Summer Photo via Shutterstock
[“source-smallbiztrends”]
