How to Boost Holiday Sales Even if You Don’t Sell Fruitcake

‘Tis the season for turkey and fruitcake, dreidels and Christmas trees… and for those of us in business a great time to connect with our customers and let them know we appreciate their business, as well as how we can continue to be of service.

If you’re selling Christmas trees or fruitcakes, it’s pretty simple.

But even if what you offer isn’t tied into the holidays you can still boost sales with a little creativity.

Festive and Effective Holiday Marketing Ideas
By Wendy Maynard

In addition to being the “Season of Sweets,” the period of time between Halloween and New Year’s Day presents a wonderful opportunity for your company to thank your customers. It also is a time that you can drive new business to you. Here is a list of easy and effective marketing ideas to help you promote your business for the holidays.

1. Send a Card: Send a holiday card to all of your customers – depending on your target audience, it can be for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or simply “Seasons Greetings.” You can also send a Happy New Year card. But don’t stop there. Don’t forget about your vast referral base. Be sure to send business holiday cards to your friends, family, associates, and vendors.

2. Send your database a gift: Hopefully, you have a list of both clients and prospects. Whether these individuals have purchased from you or not, treat them well. Take the holiday season as an opportunity to send them a gift. It can be as simple as a $5 gift card to Starbucks. Small gestures are what impress people – they work to keep customers loyal and to convert prospects to customers.

3. Offer a “Something of the Month” club: People are always looking for unique gifts to give. Why not help them out and create ongoing cash flow for your company? You can do this type of gift series with almost anything. Seriously. Did you know there is a Bacon of the Month club? You could sell CDs that you record each month, massages, dinners, jelly, or even a teleseminar series. With a little creative brainstorming, I’m certain that any business could develop this type of program.

4. Bundle items as a holiday theme: Sell holiday specials to entice people to buy bundles of products or services. Instead of selling single items, offer a theme. For example, a financial planning company could put together a New Year’s Planning Kit that includes a book, tax software, and a one-hour consultation. A spa could put together a Stress-Free Holiday package of a steam bath, facial, and body lotion.

5. Give a coupon or discount: As both a gift to your customers and a way to boost your seasonal revenue, why not offer a discount or send out a coupon that promotes one or more of your services or products. This could be for a report, a CD, a session, or a special program. Again – be creative! People love discounts.

6. Offer a holiday special: You can encourage larger purchases by offering a holiday special like Buy Two and Get a Third Item for Free. Here is a different variation on this same strategy: Tell your customers when they purchase a certain amount, the will get something for free. For instance, Buy $100 worth of products and get a free CD.

These are just a few ways that you can both thank your customers and offer them something special for the holidays. These marketing strategies also help build customer loyalty, convert prospects into customers, and help to bring cash flow into your company. Best of success to your business!

Wendy Maynard is a founding partner at Kinesis, Inc. – a marketing and design firm based in Portland Oregon. We specialize in logos, web site design, branding, graphic design, SEO, marketing, and social media. Our clients benefit from out experience at creating marketing materials that help them increase their business revenues. View our portfolio at http://www.kinesisinc.com