Archive for June, 2010

One of the places many marketers fall down on the job is missing the chance to leverage current opportunities in preparation for future connections. We advocate that smart seasonal promotions should actually build your sales all year long. Integration of your marketing efforts – and collection of contact information – is essential to make this happen!

3 Savvy Ways to Collect Contact Information

1. Run a contest – Have people drop their business card into a unique bowl in the store for a chance to win or run an online contest through your website. Whatever you do, make sure that each of your marketing outlets (especially social media!) promotes this contest. The more interest, the more registrants. The more registrants, the more contact information you collect. The more you collect, the more opportunity you have to promote yourself moving forward for future promotions!

2. Ask for story or photo submittals – Pick a seasonal topic or a theme and then invite people to submit! Have them complete a form and then reward them with a coupon or special promotion related to your seasonal campaign. You do just a little work for potentially big results!

3. Ask people to opt in – Have a newsletter? Tell people. Run a Facebook page? Ask them to “like” it. Host a Twitter account? Invite them to follow. Make sure they know the opportunity is there by letting them know it’s there.

Once the seasonal campaign is over, follow up!

1. Thank people – Thank them for coming in, participating, etc. Do this quickly after the season is over, as customers often have short memories.

2. Referrals - If your system is sophisticated enough, make suggestions for future purchases based on past activity. If you don’t have an automated way to do that, use the past campaign as a springboard!

3. Reach out - Connect regularly to the folks who opted to receive your information. Easy rules of thumb:

- Twitter – At least once a day

- Facebook – At least 3 times a week

- Email newsletters – varies, from weekly to quarterly

- Blog posts – 1 time a month, at a minimum

Not sure where to get started? Drop us an email at info@thecollectivesavvy.com.

As we’ve mentioned in our blog posts, seasonal marketing can be a great way to boost sales, but you are often competing with others who are vying for the same attention. So consider a bonus to your customers! Everyone likes a free perk, especially during high purchasing times.

5 Savvy Bonus Options

1. Offer free shipping – Sell your items online? In a store? Offer free shipping for the duration of your seasonal campaign!

2. Offer free or donation-based gift wrapping services – It takes some of the pressure off of your customers. Plus it allows you to present your products in the best way possible!

3. Consider personal shopping assistance – People often benefit from a word of advice. So why make them wait until they can track down a sales associate? Set up an official shopping or gift item referral program. You know your goods best and a little personal attention never hurt anyone!

4. Showcase a story online - Talk about why you carry what you do, how your employees prep or volunteer for the holidays, why you enjoy your particular seasonal promotion, etc. – anything that blends a personal feel with a business promotion! Or ask others to submit their stories through Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube!

5. Consider extended hours or offer a class that helps customers prepare for traditional seasonal events - Make it easy for folks to come to you during a busy season. Empower them to decorate, prepare for big events, etc., by offering a free class – and boost your sales in the meantime!

Have other ideas on savvy ways to boost your seasonal marketing? Leave a comment!

Need help building a seasonal marketing plan? Let us know! info@thecollectivesavvy.com

Seasonal marketing, as we’ve discussed, requires a lot of preparation. But one point that often gets skipped is virtual preparation – Spring Cleaning if you will – no matter what time of year! Sprucing up your virtual sites can go a long way in making your company seem polished, organized, and ready to go for the seasonal market time of choice.

3 Savvy Virtual Seasonal Marketing Techniques to Consider

1. Spruce up Your Seasonal Marketing Materials Online - Do you use the same ad year after year? Are you sure it still resonates (if it ever did) with your clients? Do your graphic images match your seasonal campaign? Think about the message you are sending vs. the one you would like to appear and prepare to launch it in time with your seasonal campaign.

2. Specify Seasonal Keywords - When was the last time you fine-tuned your website to focus on certain keywords or phrases – especially holiday or seasonal related ones? Now is the time! Think about the words or phrases folks are likely to search and then add them to your mix.  Ta-dah! You just helped yourself move up the SEO food chain.

3. Spotlight Your Seasonal Promotion – Is your seasonal promotion front and center on your webpage, virtual media sites, or online shopping cart? Many folks forget to make their seasonal promotion prominent, which defeats the purpose of your seasonal marketing efforts. So let it shine! Give it the attention it so deserves.

Seasonal marketing can be a great chance to boost sales. Prepare now for profit later! Need help? Let us know! info@thecollectivesavvy.com.

Seasonal marketing is often tied to a cause marketing effort. We recently defined seasonal marketing, but cause marketing hasn’t been heavily discussed in this blog. Essentially cause marketing is the combined effort of a for-profit business and a non-profit cause to raise mutual awareness, brand affiliation, and money. I suspect you see where this is going now…

Taking integration to the “next” step, a savvy marketer will often marry their seasonal promotion activities to a cause to tug on people’s heart strings (and purse strings!). This cause may be one that the company has supported over an extended period of time – such as Wendy’s support of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, or it may be a cause that ties well to the season, such as companies that support Toys for Tots over the holidays.

3 Savvy Ways Companies Can Blend Seasonal + Cause Marketing

1. Percentage of Sales Donations – Pick a seasonal marketing timeframe. Then pick a percentage of proceeds from your seasonal sales to go to your charity of choice. For example, seasonal Back to School promotions may work with charities such as your local PTA or  Back to School Clothing Drive.

2. In-Kind Donations – Cash donations are great and often appreciated, but sometimes a company is able to garner more support and resources around an in-kind donation. In-kind donations vary from charity to charity, but examples include fans for Project Cool in San Antonio, where fans are collected and distributed to the elderly in order to handle the intense summer heat. Your company may give these gifts outright and tie it to a seasonal promotion;  it may make the amount donated dependent on sales during a seasonal promotion; or it may serve as a collection site.

3. Time – Sometimes a company may offer a donation of time – either by bringing employees in for a project or recruiting volunteers for a project to help their pet cause.  Ever see Extreme Home Makeover? Look at the companies that donate time to the building of homes on that show – often showing up in force!

One thing we recommend companies keep in mind is that don’t lose focus on the fact that cause involvement is still ultimately an element of your business plan. Its great to do it, but you couldn’t do it if your business wasn’t in place. So make sure you are vocal about it.  It will have multiple levels of impact – on your company, your cause, and the way people perceive both.  So don’t leave the information out of your seasonal marketing efforts – imagine the impact you could have if others take up your cause as well!

Seasonal Marketing…people either love it or hate it. Retail business tend to love it. The tie between a season or holiday is so strong that its often easy to sell hard goods to compliment the occasion. But if you sell a service, you may struggle with seasonal marketing.

Here are 5 savvy seasonal marketing tactics that help most businesses, regardless of whether you sell products or services:

1. Seasonal marketing must be relevant.

Whatever your promotion, ensure that the link to your business makes sense. If people can easily understand the link between your business and your promotion, they are more likely to respond to your marketing efforts. Giving money to charity? Talk about why that charity matters to your business!

2. Seasonal marketing must be timely.

Don’t launch your seasonal marketing too early – or too late. Timing is key, so take time to plan well in advance so that your marketing is maximized!

3. Seasonal marketing must be concise.

Keep your messaging simple. Keep your promotions simple. Make sure people know what is happening at a glance. It will make your life easier and help drive your sales higher!

4. Seasonal marketing must be promoted.

Sometimes businesses come up with a great promotion but then forget to promote their promotion. Whoops – what a missed opportunity! Make sure you get the word out to get the biggest bang for your buck.

5. Seasonal marketing must be integrated.

You know how we feel about integration! Make sure you integrate your seasonal marketing efforts into your marketing promotions and advertising venues. Talk about it online. Drop info into your newsletters. Post on your signage. Integrate, integrate, integrate!

Seasonal marketing can be a lot of fun. Make sure to sign up for The Savvy to get our June issue, full of tips and case studies on seasonal marketing!