Are Holiday Promos in Your Year-End Plan?

If the past handful of years are any indication, everyone will still be buttoning up their plans within the final wee hours leading up to the kickoff of their big holiday promotions. It’s only natural as us entrepreneurs always make sure to take care of our clients and customers before our own business needs. Always on the backburner. However, it doesn’t have to always be that way. Why not prepare in advance?

There’s really no better time than right now to start thinking about your holiday marketing campaigns. Plus, getting things in order early will set you up for success and decrease the likelihood of that maddening rush.

Before we dive into the goodies around planning, here is a really handy link to bookmark for a quick summary of general holidays. However, if you’re looking to spunk things up a bit with some every day celebrations (which are a bit more out of the norm but super fun and whacky) like Word Nerd Day, then check out this link.

Now the good stuff … PLANNING! (Yes, I’m a bit of an organized, detail-orientated nerd!)

Whether your B2B or B2C don’t hesitate. Get on board the holiday promo train NOW! Here’s why … As a B2B company, it’s all about building brand loyalty and being seen as an industry thought-leader.

Building brand loyalty isn’t only beneficial to you and your businesses brand, but also to your customers. If they know you are going to offer a once-a-year promo during certain holidays throughout the year they’re more than likely going to continue to purchase from you annually rather than trying out something/somewhere new. Plus, if you tack on the added bonus of the amazingly positive experience(s) they’ve had with your business, they’re an immensely high change that word of mouth will travel fast.

People don’t typically expect a B2B company to participate in the holiday promo craze days such as Black Friday, Boxing Day, business-aversary’s, etc. Therefore, if you follow this shopping craze you will set yourself apart from the competition and truly make the folks in your industry talk. It has worked for me and can work for you too!

A great brand is a story that’s never completely told. A brand is a metaphorical story that connects with something very deep – a fundamental appreciation of mythology. Stories create the emotional context people need to locate themselves in a larger experience. ~ Scott Bedbury, CEO/Brand Consultant of Brandstream

Now as a B2C company, brand loyalty still applies but a bit more is involved …

An increase in your competition promo costs (sales pages, social ads, etc.);
A huge influx in email creation so that you get your deals out fast, yet efficiently; and
Don’t forget about holiday SEO because you need the extra visibility in the online product sales world!

And to make all that happen you should focus on your strongest social channel. Whether it be Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn … know your engagement levels and create the best strategy through a combination of all but placing your strongest channel in the forefront. And remember, it’s about selling your brand, not just your products.

Millions upon millions of companies are all competing at the very same time as you are and depending on what you are selling, some even from the same pool of customers. So, you need to differentiate yourself from the pack in order to drive revenue. A great way to do this is to position your product(s) as a lifestyle choice – not just a wish list item — and have your brand tell a story. By doing this it will change your audience’s mindset, so they don’t get hung up on price or functionality. You want your customer to be a part of the lifestyle you represent through your brand.

For both B2B and B2C, once the holiday promo has completed and the dust has settled, make sure to take some time to evaluate your hard work. Track your results. Re-evaluate what worked and what didn’t. This way you will endure bigger advantages the following year and can adjust your strategy accordingly.

So, does the information we provided you with today have you convinced to start your year-end holiday promo planning early yet?

If you feel as though you are super-duper ready to get started but not quite sure how, where or with what strategies, we would be glad to help by talking through your ideas with you. Feel free to drop us a line any time so we can chat … Whether it be about the topic at hand (holiday promos) or anything else business “untangling” related!

Like this blog post?

If you found today’s blog post to be exactly the type of inspiration and know-how you were looking for, we would be very grateful if you would help this post spread
by sharing the LOVE with it socially, emailing it to a friend or dropping us a comment with your thoughts. You never know whose life you might change.

Crystal Kordalchuk

Crystal is an artist, a writer, an organizer, a dreamer, a doer, and down-right proud of it NERD!.

Struck with a love for #AllThings creative at a very young age, Crystal dreamed of a life fueled by her passion for creating and bringing the stories and images in her mind into reality.

As she worked toward her dreams, she earned a diploma as a Computer Applications Specialist then another in Graphic Design and from there began to develop her extensive background in multimedia and the arts. She began her worked in the magazine industry as a layout designer and had a succession of design jobs thereafter. It was her role as a graphic/web designer that gave her the first real glimpse of her future. Soon she began a side job as a freelance designer while keeping one foot in the corporate world. A spark was lit! She turned her freelance gig into a full-time business combining design work with her other passion: creating organization from virtual chaos.

Crystal is one of the most organized individuals on the planet. She is by all means a Zen master of her crafts. She excels at helping others become “untangled” and provides her clients with tools to run their businesses smoothly while she takes care of the details behind the scenes. Thus Virtually Untangled was born. A successful business where her work as a top notch creative in graphic and web — with a twist of virtual assistant — married into one amazing place where clients can come with their virtual messes and become magically untangled. Crystal can always make sense of even the most unorganized chaos and offers a virtual detox of order and peace, so her clients can get busy doing the work that they love the most.

Are Holiday Promos in Your Year-End Plan?

Like this blog post?

Crystal Kordalchuk

Leave a comment