The holidays are nearly upon us, and you can almost hear the opening bell being rung. And with that sound, businesses all over the country prepare to square off against each other in the ring of holiday marketing! But not everyone can be a winner. There will be winners and losers when the dust settles in January.
You see, the holidays are not about the high upside of your marketing, because you’re not taking advantage of a little known opportunity. Everybody knows there is business and money to be had through holiday advertising, and they are prepared to fight for their share of it. If you are not prepared, you will not be one of the winners of this marketing fight.
Here are three tips you can use to emerge victorious in your fight for the customer’s attention this holiday season ...
1. Punch with a plan.
If you want to end up on the losing side of the fight this holiday season, just go out there and start throwing aimless punches — all you’ll be doing is adding to the holiday noise. It won’t produce results, and it will probably bruise your relationship with customers and prospects. Rather, what you need is a crystal clear message that you are intent on delivering to prospective patients. You have to know what you’re aiming for. This focused message should be easily understood and clearly convey why people should choose your practice over your competitors’.
To illustrate my point, “Your best choice for holiday dental work” is an awful headline. It simply doesn’t mean anything. If you want people to understand and respond to your message, especially during the holidays, it needs to be clear and emphasize the benefit they will receive. “This weekend: Get half off whitening treatments before holiday pictures!” is a much better headline. The prospect knows when, where, and why they should show up at your practice.
2. Show up at the right venue.
There is one way to ensure that you lose your holiday marketing fight: Show up at the wrong venue. If you aren’t fighting in front of the right audience, every punch you throw is in vain. In order to be successful with your marketing, you need to put your crystal clear message in front of the right sets of eyes — and the only way to do that is with marketing strategies that allow you to target specific groups of people.
If you aren’t sure who your target market is, all you have to do is look back through your patient records. What kinds of people come into your practice most often? Is it young families? Perhaps 20-something hipsters? Maybe elderly folks? Whoever it happens to be, once you identify your target market, you can figure out how to target more people just like them.
Direct mail gives you the option of purchasing a targeted mailing list. These lists can be customized based on metrics such as age, gender, marital status, income, geographic area, and tons of other demographics. In my experience, there is no marketing strategy more effective at targeting the right people than direct mail.
3. Keep punching!
Imagine this scenario: After round 1 of a bout, Boxer A and Boxer B are essentially tied. They traded punches, and so far it’s a draw. Due to this reality, Boxer A decides the rest of the fight is not worth his time and concedes. Does this sound like a correct assessment of the situation? Of course not! But business owners make the exact same call every day with their marketing. Your competitors aren’t going to stop marketing, so if you do, you’re just conceding defeat. You need to go the distance if you want to see results. Don’t give up before you get results!
If you approach the holidays like a smart boxer, you’ll have the mindset you need to be successful in holiday marketing. Don’t throw random, aimless punches; instead, develop a clear message to promote. Fight in front of the right audience by targeting your marketing. And go the distance! If you do these things, you’ll find yourself healthy, happy, and richer by the time 2013 gets here.
To learn to avoid the seven deadly sins of marketing, download a free report here.
Author bio
Joy Gendusa is the owner and CEO of direct mail marketing firm, PostcardMania. She started the company in 1998 with nothing but a phone and a computer, never taking a dime of investment capital. PostcardMania originally began as a full-service postcard marketing company, helping clients create turnkey marketing campaigns with graphic design, printing, mailing list acquisition, and mailing services. Since then, the company has expanded to offer website and landing page design and development, email marketing, and full marketing evaluations, in addition to educating clients with free marketing advice. Visit www.postcardmania.com for more information. Find Joy on Google+.
