Marketing Tip: Holiday Mail

There are several pros and cons to holiday marketing. Many businesses find this to be one of most important parts of the year. The reasons for them to market for the holidays are obvious. For many other businesses, it's not their time. Maybe they're seasonal, and they don't think of marketing now when their season is months away. Whatever the reason there are some advantages to holiday marketing such as:

• Many people are in a buying mode, which can make for easier sales.
• Some people will find it thoughtful and think kindly of your business.
• You get the opportunity to remind people about your business, so that when they are ready they think of you first.

Those are some solid reason to market for the holidays. So we should get started writing our mail now right? Well, no. There are also some disadvantages to holiday marketing. Most are minor and are of little concern, but if you're going to take the time to do something then you should probably do it right. So here are a few cons to holiday marketing:

• Mailboxes are full of holiday greetings and junk mail. You're more likely to be overlooked.
• Budgets are often tight for gift giving. Products or services that aren't the type to be given to somebody are less likely to be seen as affordable.
• Some people just don't like the holidays for whatever reason. Sending something to someone like this might get your business scrooged.

So what can you do to get the message out and increase YOUR holiday cheer? Well here are a few tips that can help:

• Use a "givable" product or service. You can give all sorts of things to people. Sometimes by using the old "Don't give another fruitcake. Give them something that they'll use." will allow you to sell a product that you wouldn't normally think of as a holiday product.
• Say more than "Happy holidays! Buy my stuff!". When you send out an e-mail or newsletter think a bit outside of the box. Are people really going to get a warm fuzzy feeling when Bob's plumbing sends them a holiday card? The chances are no. If the holiday card happens to have Bob in a Santa hat fixing a pipe showing off his "plumber's crack", then maybe it will be something shown to people. That can actually get some business. Take some time to make things entertaining. If something is funny, people show it around. Let your mail be the talk of a party, not just end up in the trash.
• People love to save money, so offering coupons or promotional codes can get the word out. Doing a search on these terms can bring you web sites that allow you to post coupons and promo codes. Try posting your own code here for added traffic
• Last minute gift ideas are great if you have the type of product that can be instantly delivered. Contacting your clients a day or two before the big day can lead to some great last minute sales. On-line gift certificates are a great example.
• If you don't have last minute offers try to avoid the vacation time. The days from around the 20th of December to the 3rd of January are the busiest for people. There are also more e-mails sent these two weeks than any other. Try to avoid hitting people up in these times because it's more likely to be ignored. Spend time relaxing, and when you no longer see the flood of junk in your mailbox, it's probably a good time to send out your mailings again.