Are seasonal promotions important? A wise man once said,”Good relationships are important in business.” So that brings up the concept of communication. Have you ever had a job where you have to talk to people only when they’ve done bad things? It kills the mood right? So how do you change that? Well seasonal communications are one way.

Once upon a time, there was a manager who had to talk to people. He needed their input. They hated to weigh in on the subject of budgets. So he had to guess what they needed. That was a nightmare. So he decided to walk around every week and just talk to people. He did this weather they needed to give him input or not. So sometimes it was just him saying “hi”. He would take an interest in what they were doing. Then it would lead to conversation. That lead to relationships. Then when they needed something they would call him. That’s how the bond was made.

It’s tough though. People don’t like when you just bother them. They know when they want your help and when they don’t. So the subtle seasonal email finds the trash can most of the time. But sometimes, you can take a moment to look at the calendar and see when the next holiday is coming up. Then you wish them well if you are not going to hear from then until then. They remember. Plus, that is transactional because it has to do with what you’ve just done for them. It also looks to the future in a nice way.

So when the holiday comes around and they are reflecting on who has taken an interest in their holiday time off, they remember you. Sometime that’s all it takes. But if you want to send out a coupon for a Valentine’s Day Special, then by all means send it 2 weeks early! If you missed the boat, then put a reminder on your calendar for next year.

SEASONAL PROMOTIONS – HOW OFTEN?

What is important to remember about promotions or emails is that you do not want to clutter your customer inbox with more than they want. How many is that? Well, some people like 1 email per month. Imagine you get a call from an annoying friend. Would you want them to call you every week just to say,”what’s up?”. Or would you tolerate 1 call per month. A holiday party invite might be better tolerated because everyone like an invite. Well wishes for a nice holiday are a nice way to say you care about your customer and their life other than just the money you make from their business.

The holidays are naturally spaced out so that you cannot bother them too much sticking to a holiday schedule. Plus it reminds you that you may have customers from different types of backgrounds. So when your business goes dead on that day maybe it is a foreign holiday. Now you are globally aware. That’s a good thing. It will make your sales expectations more accurate to what is possible based on last years sales figures.

Know your holidays. It will help you save money spending with online marketing. Sometimes everyone will just be focused on out of town flights and visiting relatives over a 4 day weekend. So you’ll be wasting your cost per click budget trying to get customers that just are not in the mood to buy. But then again it depends on the type of business you have. If you run a chicken and ribs restaurant, then holidays could be big for you. But if you run an auto shop, then people are going to be out of town so the car repairs may wait until they get back from vacation. If you run a 99 cent store and have Easter basket supplies such as plastic eggs, green grass, candy, and color kits,  then you better be ready! If you have questions about a seasonal promotion check out AMV Questions & Answers or PPC details.