Don’t Let the Holidays Go Buy Without Engaging With Your Customers
It can be tempting at this time of the year to focus all of your energy and focus on meeting current retail demand if you are a market-facing business, or preparing for end of the year inventory and record keeping if you operate a b2b-oriented company. Many non-retail companies skip out on their marketing duties during the holidays, and it happens for a variety of reasons.
But this is most certainly a mistake, and yet another potential missed opportunity to reinforce relationships that can serve you and your company well into the year to come. Here are ten ways you can use marketing to engage with your customers at the end of the year, in Portland and beyond.
1 – Holiday Cards
Secular or religious in nature, it almost doesn’t matter. Many customers will be pleased just to know that they are in your thoughts. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that any effort will do. Customers are buried under mass-generated holiday greetings.
In order to stand out, you must either tailor your messaging to your specific customer or go the extra yard by having your cards professionally printed—and preferably both. In a craft-focused city like PDX, you should have no problem finding something unique and hand made that says it all for you.
2 – Charity Drives, Giveaways, and Sponsorships
The end of the year and the holidays come with multiple opportunities for you and your business team to get involved in a variety of giveaways and sponsorships, either through direct effort or through sponsorships and collections. Don’t miss this opportunity for genuine community building in your Portland neighborhood or community.
3 – Industry-Specific Holiday Guides
Another opportunity, depending on your industry and market, is the publishing of content marketing materials (like holiday-survival guides) that are specific to either winter weather or to your industry/market.
You can make such matter available for free download on your business’s website, or go for a custom print job that will have them remembering you and your company into the New Year. East Side Printing Co. is here to help with strategy, design and printing, don’t forget!
4 – Holiday Recipe Collections
Many companies produce holiday recipe collections at this time of year. Generally, these are delivered inside the company in e-newsletter form. But, for an extra marketing bonus, consider collecting recipes from your customers and your employees and producing a keepsake holiday recipe book for team members and customers alike.
5 – Printed Holiday Storybooks
The same idea can be brought to bear on favorite customers or team members in the guise of rewriting or inventing a classic holiday story, but with key players taken from both customers and team members, produced in storybook fashion.
6 – Include Off-Calendar Holidays in Your Marketing Calendar
Another great way to make an impression when all of your customers are focused on Christmas, Hanukah, and Kwanzaa is to focus marketing on other off-calendar holidays like Boxing Day, Winter Solstice, First Snow, and the like. You may be the only business of your kind to offer Portland-specific Solstice deals, bringing in customers who might have otherwise stayed home.
7 – Holiday Specific Stationary, Forms, etc.
Consider booking custom print runs of your standard forms, letterhead, or stationary—something that incorporates your usual branding with a holiday theme. You can always use the leftovers next year!
8 – Yearbooks
A year’s worth of highlights in a customized printed and bound booklet for the best of your customers: not a bad way to say thanks for the business this year!
9 – Position Your Portland Business for the New Year
In addition to reaching your customers over the holidays, the end of the year is an excellent time to position your PDX company to hit the ground running, marketing in the year to come. Use the down time to plan for excellence in content and delivery in the New Year, and you’ll be a step ahead when January rolls around.
10 – Printed Calendars
Lastly, remember that calendars are the one piece of marketing collateral that many consumers do not throw away for the whole year. Imagine a year’s worth of constant marketing inside your best customers’ homes—and for the low cost of a printed calendar!
The Year’s End Is a Time to Reconnect With Customers and Business Partners
Remember, the year’s end is a great time to reconnect with your customers and business partners. But especially at this time of year, make sure that you are reconnecting in a genuine, authentic way.
When you’re ready to get started on your end of the year printed marketing project, East Side is here to help. Get in touch and we’ll guide you through the process from design to print, and make you look great on paper!
