Drive extra holiday sales by solving customers’ challenges. Make sure you’re first with the answer when your customers’ holiday buying dilemmas arise.

Your Customers are Ready to Buy!

The holiday season is one of the times of year when you don’t actually have to stimulate customer spending.  People are already looking for gift giving ideas and they are ready to buy.  So be first on their list as the answer to one of their biggest  gift giving challenges.  We all like the idea of gifting special things to our friends and family during this time of year, but sometimes we run into that question of “what do I get them this year?”  And answering that question can indeed be a bit of a problem.  This is where you come in and help them fix that issue.

It’s time for you to put the right gift ideas in front of them!  How do you do that when shoppers are bombarded with offers starting in September?  For digi-scrap businesses email marketing provides the tools for you to effectively target customers who are ready, willing and frantic to spend money over the winter holidays.

This year make sure your holiday marketing strategy include three things:

1. Solve a customer’s problem
2. Connect to the timing of your customers’ decision making
3. Target customers’ interests and buying patterns

A holiday mailing campaign is the perfect way to market every year.  Whether you run a postal service mail campaign or an online email campaign - don’t miss this golden opportunity to make more sales this year!  With a mailing campaign it’s all about being on top of your customers’ minds and helping to make their lives easier over the holidays.

Solve Their Problem

We’ve all been there sometime or another - wandering the aisles of our local convenience store aimlessly searching for last-minute gifts.  This is the part of holiday shopping that can be stressful, frustrating and unsatisfying. What do you do when you’re down to the wire and you’ve barely made a dent in your gift list? How do you get the right gifts on a budget? What do you get for the person who already seems to have everything?

These are problems you can help solve.  Look at your customers’ past purchasing behaviors. Then send an mail offer that targets those needs and anticipates the challenges you suspect they may be having this holiday season. What kinds of categories have they bought from before? Offer three great gift ideas in that category at three different price points.

And don’t forget the business gift buyers either.  Corporate Business-to-Business gift buyers have their own set of purchasing problems you may be able to help solve for them. What’s the budget? How many gifts do they need to buy? How can they buy corporate gifts that will stand out among all the other clocks, wallets, coffee mugs, and fancy pen holders? Suggest great gift ideas in price ranges that reflect past purchases. Add value by making the decision fun and easy.

Time Your Offer Right

Everyone has their own style.  You probably know your fair share of planners and procrastinators.  Some people get their holiday lists bought even by Thanksgiving, others wait until the last minute.  So when doing your mailings, keep in mind the timing horizon of your customers so your mail promotion arrives when they’re ready to buy. Fall isn’t too early for corporate gift buyers and event planners to make winter holiday plans. Your first mail campaign should arrive in time to help them make their business buying decisions.

Make sure your mailing envelope and subject line tells what you’re promoting; for example: “Early Holiday Gift Ideas” or “Not Too Late for Great Gifts.” For those last-minute shoppers, offer free shipping and give them extra gift suggestions that make them look like they put thought into their purchases. Next year they will remember that you saved the day, and they are more likely to come back again next year too.

Target Their Needs

Remember that holiday marketing should be relevant, timely and valuable to the recipient, not just to you. Apply the same principle to targeting and segmenting customers for your holiday sales. Know what interests them, and suggest other products in that category within their price range.  For example freelance scrapbook artists may want to consider having small pocket book size gifts products that are a natural fit for the customer who also purchases the larger memory album packages.  Or offer photo key chains as an additional gifting options along side the smaller albums.

This holiday season don’t just focus on pushing products.  Help your customers solve their gift-giving problems too!

All these same mail marketing strategies work well for other holidays and seasonal events throughout the year as well (Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Graduation Season, Back-to-School, etc.). For every holiday leverage the built-in sales opportunities that already exist for consumers in your area.

When you’re solving problems and making your customers’ lives easier, your mailing communications are welcomed and valued all year-round. Now that’s “the gift that keeps on giving!”

~ Nichole Fischer

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