Last updated on November 15th, 2021 at 01:50 pm
It is almost that time of year again; the most wonderful time of year. This also happens to be one of the most profitable times for businesses as well. Happiness all around! Whether you have been in business for years, or you are just starting out, you will want to ensure you are prepared to market your butt off year round, but especially during the holiday season. Here are print tips for holiday marketing that you should consider for the 2021 season.
Don’t sleep on direct mail marketing
It’s no secret that people are usually looking to make more purchases than usual around the holidays. From preparing to host gatherings, to buying gifts for others, people are constantly shopping around for the best gift ideas, and the best deals. Make it easy for your customers to find gifts by sending an updated catalog or your latest deal right to their front door! It is almost as easy as 1, 2, 3 to whip up a batch of postcards advertising your latest offerings or deals and have them shipped right to your target audience’s homes. People are constantly bombarded with emails, social media messages, and online advertisements. A piece of physical mail will be a nice change of pace, and likely to capture someone’s attention more. Direct mail response rates are 5 to 9 times higher than any other advertising channel. Forbes reports that 42% of recipients either read or scan the direct mail they receive. I don’t know about you, but I have grown pretty accustomed to ignoring or even immediately deleting certain emails. I don’t even open them up. I just don’t have the time to go through and read every email, so if it’s something that can be deleted, it will be. That being said, a physical piece is just different. Personally, I take the time to look at a piece of mail before deeming it ok to throw it out.
Embrace the signs
Signs can do wonders for your business in the off season, but again, we’re talking about the holiday season here. Take this time to print out festive eye-catching signs to draw your audience into your store. Don’t stop there though, make sure you post signs throughout your store, either directing them to special services you are offering, or highlight holiday sales you may be hosting. Even if you don’t have the largest budget for printing signs, a few small ones will go a long way. The easier you can make things for your customers, the better. No one likes to walk around in circles looking for where they need to go. Especially during the holiday season. It can be hectic enough, and no one wants to waste time with confusion about a sale or not being able to figure out where to find what they are looking for. If all you can fit into your budget is a few small signs to help point your customers in the right direction, you should absolutely do that.
Pro tip: double check your spelling on all of your print marketing materials!
Offer a holiday freebie incentive
A great way to encourage repeat business is by offering a freebie for your loyal customers. A loyalty punch card is a fairly low-cost marketing tool that can help you reward your regular customers. How a punch card works is that for every purchase made, a physical hole is punched through the surface of a card. After so many purchases, typically it’s 10, the customer is rewarded with some sort of deal or freebie for their purchases. This is a great way to encourage your customers to keep coming back and making repeat sales. Punch cards are typically the size of a business card, which can be bought for a reasonable price at a decent quantity. Coffee shops are a great example of how to use a loyalty punch card. Many cafes will hand out punch cards to customers, and for every 10 cups of coffee they buy, they get a free one. As an avid coffee lover, I take advantage of these incentives whenever I can!
Partake in the season of gifting
Given that the holiday season is the season of gift-giving, you can join in the spirit yourself and prepare a small gift for your customers. You don’t have to break the bank with this initiative, you can keep it small and on the cheaper side while still showing your customers that you appreciate them enough to give them a little gift. Prepare your customers for the new year with a custom calendar for 2022. A calendar will always come in handy, as people need to plan their appointments and engagements somehow. You have likely heard the saying “a little goes a long way.” Well that holds true with your customers. If you can make even a small effort to show that you value them, they will notice and appreciate that.
Don’t stop after the holidays
The holidays will certainly bring around quite a few customers, both returning and new. This is fantastic for sales during the holiday months, but don’t let those customers fade away once the season is over. Encourage your holiday customers to return in the off season with flyers promoting an offer they won’t want to miss. Just make sure to make the offer valid after the holidays are over, meaning they have to return. Post flyers promoting this sale around your store, as well as sticking a flyer into the bags of each customer to take home.
It’s never too early to be prepared
You may be thinking “it’s not even Halloween yet, I have time.” The truth is, it’s never too early to start preparing, especially when it comes to a business. You should always be brainstorming new ways to connect with your audience, and ultimately drive conversions. The holidays may be a time for fun and relaxation, but they are also an important time for marketing and driving sales. If you are ready to take your holiday marketing to the next level with some quality postcards or punch cards, reach out to Printivity to get your projects started! You can contact Printivity at 1-877-649-5463 with any questions you may have about the process.
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