It’s a special Halloween issue on getting scary-big cash flow infusions in your business!
Hello and welcome to a very special Halloween issue of Breakthrough Marketing Secrets!
I say it’s a special Halloween issue because, well, today is a holiday (at least in many parts of the world)… And I’m going to use this oddball holiday to underscore one of the easiest ways to create an instant cash infusion in just about any going business…
Holiday marketing!
And this applies whether you’re a guns-for-hire marketing consultant or the owner of a business. All you have to do is plug-and-play to either your client’s business or your own.
Here’s the thing…
One of the best ways to get a prospect’s attention for your marketing is to tie it into something they’re already thinking about…
And one of the best ways to ensure your offer is believable is to tie it into a good “reason why” explanation for making the offer in the first place…
And one of the best ways to actually get someone to get off their duff and buy your product or service is to put a time-limit on their response…
Good news! Holidays hit on ALL 3 of these “best ways” to get response from your marketing!
Think about it.
We’re aware of almost every holiday as they happen — even minor ones. If a marketing message appears (via ANY media) that talks about the holiday, it’s a little less out of left-field than any marketing message that doesn’t mention the holiday. Win #1.
Also, holiday shopping is practically a religion in America, and in many other corners of this big world of ours. It’s like people are always looking for a good excuse to shop, and holidays are an easy one. Why not participate and make more money? It’s far better than sitting it out. Win #2.
And further, what better deadline than the holiday itself to get people to respond to your offer? It’s easy. It doesn’t have to be explained or justified. It’s easy and it works. And if you want to run it longer than one day, do the holiday week or weekend. Win #3.
It’s no wonder holiday marketing works so well… But will it work in YOUR business?
So… Let’s assume you agree with me on the core point made so far, that holiday marketing works.
But I can hear a little tinge of resistance.
“But I’m not in a business where that’s relevant! I sell financial newsletters.” Or, “I sell health products.” Or, “I sell private jet refurbishing.” Or, “I sell ethernet cables.” Or…
Here’s the first thing you need to remember. And this applies to today’s lesson, and every other one I share on direct marketing that works.
Ultimately, it’s always a human being making a buying decision.
Sometimes, the tone or presentation is adjusted slightly to work in your context. (Usually FAR LESS than you’d imagine.)
But the mechanisms and fundamental strategies that work one place will almost always work if applied to another business or another market.
Why NOT try a Halloween sale on private jet refurbishing? Have fun with it. Make it compelling. And try it — what do you have to lose?
Investment newsletters? I know for a fact that things like “Black Friday” and “Holiday Special” deals work well — for the reasons mentioned above. And don’t kid yourself — even if you’re a star copywriter or offer architect, you’re going to have trouble coming up with a more believable reason for a temporary price cut than the latest holiday.
Here’s even more good news — Holidays are year-round!
I get the Oriental Trading Company catalog, and they’ve found a way to monetize nearly every holiday on the planet with seemingly useless trinkets, decorations, and knick-knacks.
It’s worth paying attention to.
But here’s the thing. There’s a practically unlimited selection of holidays to choose from, to build marketing around every year.
For example, today, October 31st, is Halloween. But did you also know it’s Nevada Day? If a lot of your customers are in Nevada — or you have some reason to tie your marketing to Nevada — you have another campaign!
Tomorrow, for Christians, is All Saint’s Day.
Sunday, Daylight Savings Time ends. How many planner companies who want to sell 2015 day planners are going to run a sale based around the idea of getting an extra hour back in your day with proper planning and scheduling? Probably not many. But all of them should!
Election day is next Tuesday… There’s a whole host of ideas you can use from that…
Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, President’s Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, and the First Day of Advent are all opportunities within November. (And I skipped a few!)
In fact, there are calendars online you can use to just look at any and all holidays coming up. Here’s a good one.
Sure, retailers can probably get away with more holiday-themed campaigns than some other businesses. But there’s no reason you couldn’t pick a handful of relevant holidays throughout the year (including some you never get marketing built around, like my Daylight Savings Time example) and build campaigns around them.
Here’s why this is an especially great way to get an instant cash infusion for going businesses…
If you follow even basic direct marketing principles, you’ve started to develop an email or postal mailing list of prospects and past customers.
On any given day, you can send offers to these folks, and generate some revenue.
But a better offer will generate better revenue.
And a “better offer” doesn’t necessarily have to be lower priced. It simply has to push them through the buying decision better than the alternative.
Again, for the reasons I mentioned above, a holiday offer can be a better way to push your prospects and past customers through their next buying decision with you.
And it’s easy, easy, easy to do.
Here’s your template…
… It’s Halloween, we’ve gone batty…
… At least that’s what our accountant says, because we want to offer you a scary-good deal!
(Insert appropriately cheesy picture of you in a Halloween costume here with similarly-cheesy caption.)
… Until the last trick-or-treater goes home (or 11:59 PM tonight), we’re going to give you 31% off XYZ.
… Here’s how to order at this spook-tacular price…
Alright, maybe that’s really cheesy. But you get the point. You don’t have to try hard to make this work. And people will actually like the fact that it’s cheesy!
(Aside: another place where you can get a huge calendar of holidays AND examples of over-the-top holiday marketing is Bill Glazer’s book Outrageous Advertising That’s Outrageously Successful — highly recommended!)
One last thing…
Since it is Halloween, I want to tell you to have fun and be safe if you’re going out tonight!
And have a great weekend.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
Editor, Breakthrough Marketing Secrets
