I often hear many companies that offer professional services say that during the holiday season their business is anywhere from minimal to non-existent. Unfortunately, these businesses have just accepted the fact that business is slow during this time of year. Yes, that may be true; however, there are some effective strategies that can be used to counter the slow season.In fact, since many people are off of school and work for the holidays, this is a perfect time to hold promotions that incentivize people to make appointments during this time. Here are a few ideas.
• Offer discounts for appointments made during a specific time period.
• Offer incentives for referrals and new customers or patients that schedule their appointment during a specific time period.
• Give a free-bee to everyone who schedules an appointment during the specified time period.
• Use a “deal of the day” promotion.
There are hundreds of promotions you can do to attract your customers. However, the best promotions are useless if nobody knows about them. So the real challenge is to put your promotion in front of as many people as possible. Here are some ideas that will help you accomplish your goals.
1. Use social media. Along with talking about your promotion on all your social media sites, if your company has printed advertising materials (brochures, fliers, newspaper ads, etc.), include your social media profile addresses everywhere your customers see your name.
2. Build a micro-site. This site can house a hyper-focused campaign or act as a hub for tying together all of your social and overall marketing efforts during the holidays into one place. This micro-site can be used year after year with only minor tweaks, saving you money in the long-run.
3. Build targeting search campaigns. Use very specific ad text that talks about your promotion. Make sure your offer is better than your competitors.
4. Re-Market to potential customers. This can be accomplished through emails or the display advertising network.
5. Go old school. In addition to direct mail to promote your promos for the upcoming holidays, you can display posters or banners in front of your business.
6. Take advantage of PR opportunities. This is especially beneficial if your promotions have a good-will spin to them.
Now that you have some ideas to develop a fabulous marketing strategy for this year, don’t forget the final touches.
1. Don’t forget to “thank” your customers. Consider sending them a little token of your appreciation. Sometimes this is better done outside of the holiday season.
2. Ask for feedback. The end of the year is the ideal time to ask your customers and clients how you’re doing, and what else you can do to help them. You could create a short survey to gain their input that includes a gift for participating. You’ll get some great ideas on what’s working and what’s missing, which will help you with your business plans for the upcoming year accordingly.
Don’t dread the slow holiday season this year. Instead, try some of these strategies. They will be key to increasing your holiday revenues and proving you a strong start in the new year. As always, if you don’t have the internal expertise or the time to implement a successful strategy, hire an expert Marketing Agency that has the experience you need such as DirectiveGroup.
