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Rock Your Holidays with a Great Promotion
The document outlines strategies for effective holiday marketing, emphasizing the importance of having a clear plan, tailored offers, and setting up engaging campaigns to boost sales and customer engagement. It encourages businesses to leverage email communication and social media for promotions and includes a promotional offer for Constant Contact services. Key elements discussed involve understanding target demographics, creating timely campaigns, and the benefits of mobile-friendly marketing.
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Rock Your Holidays with a Great Promotion
- 1. Authorized Local Expert– Sandra Flores [email protected] www.WeCoachTheSalesPros.com D:832-289-4465 Text wecoachthepros to 22828 to join my list! facebook.com/wecoachthepros @wecoachthepros linkedin.com/in/wecoachthepros
- 2. We CoachThe Pros SandraFlores 832-289-4465 www.WeCoachSalesPros.com [email protected] "We provide our motivated clients money making processes. So they can be more productive, create more sales, stronger relationships and grow their business rapidly.”
- 3.
- 4. RockYour HolidaysWithAGreat Promotion Giveyourself the gift of new customers
- 5. BE A MARKETER Allit takes is Constant Contact® #BeaMarketer
- 6. 6 4.1% Holiday spending 13.9% Source: RetailTouchPoints Source:eMarketer Are you ready? to increase by... Online holiday sales to increase by...
- 7. Seize the moment! Source:National Retail Federation 20%- 40% of yearly sales NOV DEC JAN
- 8. Agenda 8 1. Have aplan 2.What’s your offer? 3. Set up a campaign 4.Next steps
- 9. 9 Where are youtoday?
- 10. Agenda 10 1. Have aplan 2.What’s your offer? 3. Set up a campaign 4.Next steps 1. Have a plan
- 11. Know your marketinggoal. 1. Have a plan 11 Drive repeat business/loyalty Reach new customers Motivate donors & advocates Increase membership/ subscriptions
- 12. How will youengage with customers? 12 Gift with purchase Coupon / discount Free shipping Deals Gift cards
- 13. New! Regular customers ordonors VIPs Segmentation... know what they want. 13 1. Have a plan Seasonal customers or supporters Divide people into groups based on information like interests and demographics.
- 14. 14 Coupon / discount Freeshipping Featured products Website traffic Reach them with email. Increase awareness Increase membership Donate 1. Have a plan
- 15. 15 1. Have aplan Be clear.
- 16. 1. Have aplan 16 Share your email newsletters Post offers Share product photos Provide shopping advice Be social... Ask questions to spark conversation
- 17. Agenda 17 1. Have aplan 2.What’s your offer? 3. Set up a campaign 4.Next steps 2.What’s your offer?
- 18. 18 2. How toset marketing goals Engage members, advocates, volunteers Increase donations, revenue Nurture leads and relationships Drive repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals Reach new customers, donors Marketing goals are general
- 19. 19 •You really cando this! •One toolkit. One login.
- 20. 20 2.What’s your offer? DiscountsDownloads Events B2B Services Hints &Tips Tips! Support a Cause What kind of offer?
- 21. 21 2.What’s your offer? DownloadsEvents B2B Services Hints &Tips Tips! Support Cause Discounts • 20% off through Thursday • Buy one, get two • 1+1=Fun (one for you, one for a friend)
- 22. 22 2.What’s your offer? Events B2BServices Hints &Tips Tips! Support Cause Discounts • 5 tips for better gardens • Quickstart guide • 7 mistakes to avoid in your tax preparation Downloads
- 23. 23 2.What’s your offer? B2BServices Hints &Tips Tips! Support Cause Discounts Downloads • Register now, save 20% • 2-for-1 tix: register yourself, bring a friend for free! • 10VIP seats left at standard price! Events
- 24. 24 2.What’s your offer? Hints&Tips Tips! Support Cause Discounts Downloads Events • Newsletter review with every consult • Save 30% on initial consultation • 3 coaching sessions for the price of 2 B2B Services
- 25. 25 2.What’s your offer? SupportCause Discounts Downloads Events B2B Services • Mobile-friendly in 8 simple steps • Top trends in front-of-house operations • DIY precision instrument maintenance Hints &Tips Tips!
- 26. 26 2.What’s your offer? DiscountsDownloads Events B2B Services Hints &Tips Tips! • Help today and receive exclusive access! • Donate today for a chance to join us! • Join today and receive our Friends + Family discount Support Cause
- 27. Agenda 27 1. Have aplan 2.What’s your offer? 3. Set up a campaign 4.Next steps 3. Set up a campaign
- 28. 28 3. Set upa campaign Pull response Push content What are campaigns?
- 29. 29 1. Make ittimely. 3. Set up a campaign Leverage key dates Note shipping deadlines When do offers end?
- 30. 3. Set upa campaign 30 Help them find the right gift Communicate through pictures Use design wisely & limit choices 2. Make it easy...
- 31. 31 3. Make itengaging with video. 3. Set up a campaign Videos increase click-through rates by 300% Spotlight your products & customers Promote your video Source: Forrester Research
- 32. 3. Set upa campaign 32 88% read reviews before purchasing Don’t be afraid to ask! Include relevant reviews, feedback, ratings & quotes 4. Make it engaging with reviews.
- 33. 33 5. Make itsharable. 3. Set up a campaign Share bar Simple Share Ask people to like, share, retweet, pin
- 34. 3. Set upa campaign 34 Avoid using too much text. 6. Make it mobile. Avoid using multiple columns. Use clear and easy calls to action. Use images carefully.
- 35. 35 3. Set upa campaign 6. Make it mobile. Avoid tiny fonts. Minimum: 22 point headlines, 11 point body text, improved contrast 9 point font, headlines don’t stand out
- 36. Keep it simple. 3.Set up a campaign 36
- 37. Quick review... 4. Nextsteps 37 Know your goal Know your offer Make it timely
- 38. S M TW T F S 30 Here’s our cyber Monday deals! 1 GivingTuesday 2 3 4 5 Monthly Newsletter: Gift ideas 6 Hanukkah begins 7 Email promotion: Free stocking stuffer w/purchase 8 9 Facebook: Link to Pinterest board of gift ideas 10 11 12 13 14 Hanukkah ends 15 16 17 Facebook question: Who in your family is hardest to shop for? 18 19 Email: Last chance for free shipping 20 21 Link to Pinterest board of stocking stuffers 22 Email promotion: Stocking stuffer offer ends today 23 24 Christmas Eve 25 Christmas 26 27 28 29 30 31 NewYear’s Eve 4. Next steps 38 Sample marketing calendar Regular Communication Social Media Promotional Communication Holiday Event Affecting Business Deadline-driven Communication
- 39. 39 4. Next steps •Set up “Welcome” & “Update” messages • Pre-schedule campaigns • Create a series using an autoresponder • Schedule your posts with Facebook or Hootsuite • Spend 20 minutes at a time, 3-5 times a week Automate what you can
- 40. If you’re not measuring... 40 4.Next steps
- 41.
- 42. © Constant Contact2015 All the channels that matter. Email. Mobile. Social. Grow withConstantContact All the marketing campaigns you need together in one place.
- 43. I could letyou leave here and spend your next $20 on lunch… Or you could make the decide to allow me to help jump start your next email marketing campaign and potentially triple your ROI….$20/month allows you unlimited marketing to 500 active contacts!
- 44. 44 Start where youare And where your customers and relationships are. SAVE!
- 45. Get started today… WWW.MakeBankWithUs.com 45 free60-day trial No Contract & No Credit Card Needed TextToTrial Text SANDRA to 99000 to set up your account in minutes
- 46. Take Me UpOn My MONEY BACK GUARENTEE Special offer ! Get A Free Custom MobileTemplate ($199Value) Free Contacts Uploaded ($59Value) Jump Start-Set Up Live & Recorded Webinar Tuesday 12/1 10am AND 30 Minute Custom Consultation To Launch Your First Newsletter In 14 Days Or Less
- 47. Exclusive Offers forToday’sParticipants Kick Starter- *Terms and Conditions:This SeptemberPromotion(the "Promotion")beginson September4, 2015 at 12:00 a.m., Eastern Time ("ET"),and ends on September30, 2015 at 11:59 p.m., ET (the "PromotionPeriod").If your eligibleConstant Contact clients purchase any Constant Contact softwareproduct(s),excludingPersonalMarketingManager, Facebook Advertising, SaveLocal and SinglePlatformduringthe PromotionPeriod,they willreceive a free mobilefriendlycampaign design,contact list upload and access to an onlinewebinarof theirchoosing . Your clients willbe eligibleto participatein this Promotionif they (i) are a Constant Contact trialaccount holderor a new Constant Contact customer who has never been a paying Constant Contact customer, and (ii) they become a paying Constant Contact customer by 11:59 p.m., ET, on Wednesday,September30, 2015 or call you and mentionthis offer duringyour normalbusinesshours duringthe PromotionPeriod. After they sign up, you must fill out the requiredform and submitthe same to Constant Contact for fulfillment by the end of the PromotionPeriod. This Promotioncannot be combined withany other Constant Contact promotionor special offer. Constant Contact reservesthe right, in its sole discretion,to suspend or cancel this Promotionat any time. This Promotionand all Constant Contact productsand services are subject to the Constant Contact termsand conditions. 30/3 - *Terms and Conditions:This SeptemberPromotion(the "Promotion")beginson September4, 2015 at 12:00 a.m., Eastern Time ("ET"), and ends on September30, 2015 at 11:59 p.m., ET (the "PromotionPeriod").If your eligibleConstant Contact clients purchase any Constant Contact softwareproduct(s),excludingPersonalMarketingManager,Facebook Advertising, SaveLocal and SinglePlatform,duringthe PromotionPeriod, they willreceive 30% off of such purchased product(s) for the first three monthsafter becominga paying customer. Your clients willbe eligible toparticipatein this Promotionif they (i) are a Constant Contact trialaccount holderor a new Constant Contact customer who has never been a paying Constant Contact customer, (ii) they become a paying Constant Contact customer and enter the applicable promo code duringcheck out by 11:59 p.m., ET, on Wednesday,September 30,2015 or call you and mentionthis offer duringyour normalbusinesshours duringthe PromotionPeriod, and (iii)they remain a paying Constant Contact customer for at least a full 30 calendar daysfrom the date they first became a paying Constant Contact customer. After the first three months have ended, your eligibleclients willautomatically be charged thecurrent retailprice for the product(s)unless they cancel theiraccounts or the applicableproduct. This Promotioncannot be combinedwith any other Constant Contact promotionor special offer. Constant Contact offers a 30-daymoney-backguarantee on purchases of certain Constant Contact products, as more fully describedat www.constantcontact.com/pricing.Constant Contact reservesthe right, in its sole discretion,to suspend or cancel this Promotionat any time. This Promotionand allConstant Contact productsand services are subject to the Constant Contact termsand conditions. This offer is not availableto clients signed up undersingle bill. 40% OFF for 3 Months Promo Code INDYCYBER15 Offer ends December 4, 2015 Already a customer? We have something for you too… $99 $79 http://bit.ly/79MobileCampaign Mobile Friendly Email Template Design
- 48. Resources 48 Learn more... My UpcomingSeminars &Training Local resources-My next events www.WeCoachSalesPros.com Join Me Vision Board Event Come ReadyToVisualizeYour 2016 Saturday December 5th 2:30 pm Thursday December 10th 6:00 pm www.ConstantContact.com Constant Contact Marketing Resources www.Blogs.constantcontact.com/library Check out blog posts, guides, videos, infographics, recorded webinars and more!
- 49. Agenda 49 1. Have aplan 2.What’s your offer? 3. Set up a campaign 4.Next steps 4. Next steps
Editor's Notes
- #2 Introduce yourself and give them a clear understanding that you are there on behalf of Constant Contact.
- #3 My name is Julie Niehoff, I’m the Director of Education & Development at Constant Contact. I have been with Constant Contact since 2006, I am based in Austin, Texas and here is my contact information if you want to reach out following this session. Send me an email, find me on facebook or reach out on Twitter.
- #5 Hello, I’m __________________ and welcome to today’s webinar, _________________. We’ll get started in just a few moments, but before we do, I have some housekeeping items to take care of. The first of those is to make sure my audio is working correctly. So, if you can hear me, do me a quick favor and find the Q&A box on your screen in Adobe Connect, and type in a message telling me how the weather is where you are. This will let me know that you’ve heard my instructions and my microphone is working. Thanks everyone for participating! Let’s talk about what we’ll be doing today. Our webinar will be about 45 minutes. We’ll have plenty of time for Q&A after our webinar, and I encourage you to use the tool you just used to tell me about the weather to enter your questions. I’ll cover those at the end of the session. Now, the next thing on my list is to make sure you have contact information for the Adobe helpdesk. In the “Notes” box on your screen, I have included the contact information for Adobe Connect. If you have any technical issues during the webinar – if you can’t see the slides or hear the audio – that information will remain on screen for you to use. How to get the slides Now I know you’re probably wondering how and when you’ll receive a copy of the webinar slides. You’ll actually get a copy of them today! At the end of the webinar, right before the Q&A, I’ll share a file that will allow you to access a PDF of the slides. [click to next slide]
- #6 We know that the holidays are a busy time for you, and we’re here to tell you that holiday marketing is easier than you think! You can increase your holiday sales this year with the tips and tools you’re about to hear in today’s seminar. You can be a holiday marketer. All it takes is Constant Contact.
- #7 Are you ready for the holiday season? Here’s what to expect for 2015: [click to build] Holiday spending will go up as it usually does. According to Retail TouchPoints, consumers will spend 4.1% more over last year. [click to build] And online spending will go up too – eMarketer predicts that online shopping will go up by 13.9%. So now you know – it’s going to be busier this year. People are willing to spend more, so now is a good time to plan your marketing to get them in the door. [click to next slide] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sources: Retail TouchPoints http://www.retailtouchpoints.com/features/special-reports/economic-optimism-sets-the-stage-for-a-profitable-holiday-season eMarketer http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Happy-Holiday-Season-Expected-Retailers/1012898
- #8 This is an important time of year for you. The National Retail Federation estimates that the holiday season brings in [CLICK] 20-40% of yearly sales for small and mid-sized retailers. Now through the end of the year is a huge time for retailers of all kinds, so let’s make sure you’re planning ahead and ready to rock your holidays! [click to next slide] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: National Retail Federation https://nrf.com/media/press-releases/nrf-forecasts-marginal-sales-gains-this-holiday-season
- #9 Here’s what we will be talking about today: [click] We’re going to start by making sure you are ready for the holiday season by creating a plan. [click] Then, we’ll help you think through the best way to create a great holiday offer. [click] Next, we’ll talk about setting up a campaign and 6 easy tips you can use. [click] Our last section gives you some next steps to follow as you get ready to rock your holidays! [click to next slide]
- #10 Before we really jump in to planning for the holidays, I want everyone here to be thinking about where they are in terms of the tools they use for marketing, including email and social media. To be clear, email IS part of social media, because it’s part of a two-way communication you’re having with your audience. We’re going to talk a lot about email today. Email is the best way to reach people. We will also discuss how you can share your holiday marketing messages on multiple networks. You don’t have to be on every social network, but you do want to reach your customers where they are! [click to next slide]
- #11 Now let’s start off by talking about what you want to accomplish – you need to know your goal if you’re going to get anything out of your holiday promotion. NOTE TO SPEAKER – if you have time, take this opportunity to ask people in the audience what they want to accomplish over the holidays for their business or organization. This will help you get the conversation going and will also supply helpful circle-back points to make later in the talk. [click to next slide]
- #12 (Note for speaker – make sure you address needs of B2B, B2C and Nonprofits on this slide so that everyone in your class has an option.These goals should mimic or mirror what your audience has said if you did the discussion piece) Identifying your marketing goal will help guide your holiday planning, whether you’re a B2C, business to consumer business, like a retail store or restaurant; a B2B, business to business, or a nonprofit or charity. What do you hope to achieve? Is it: [click] Reaching new customers [click] Driving repeat business from current customers/increasing customer loyalty [click] Motivating donors and advocates to take that next step by giving or spreading word of mouth about your cause [click] Or are you hoping to grow your membership numbers? Once you know your marketing goal, you can focus your holiday planning on achieving that goal. [click to next slide]
- #13 Think about how you will engage with your customers. Be creative! You can try traditional incentives like [CLICK] Coupons [CLICK] Free shipping [CLICK] Deals [CLICK] Gift cards [CLICK] Gift with purchase [CLICK TO NEXT SLIDE]
- #14 For those ready for something a little more advanced… How can you provide relevant content? You might try segmenting your audience into different lists. If you haven’t heard of segmentation, it's a marketing term, and it means dividing people into groups based on information like interests and demographics. You might already be segmenting by categorizing or grouping your contacts. It's important because some promotions are not one-size-fits-all! Knowing what your audience wants will help you to create relevant promotions-- so you’re not wasting your time sending messages they’re not interested in. And if they’re not interested in what you’re sending, they might unsubscribe. Every group of people includes a variety of interests and demographics, so your audience is likely to be divided as well – you might have [CLICK] regular customers or donors, while others are [CLICK] more seasonal; and your new [CLICK] customers or donors are not the same audience as your [CLICK] VIPs, such as vendors, partners, board members and investors. [click to next slide]
- #15 And when you’re sending out your holiday email promotions, you have a lot of different options. You should consider sending separate emails specifically about your promotions, but also make sure you’re mentioning them in any regular email newsletters you send during the holidays, as well as all of your social networks, on your website, in your physical location if you have one – anywhere you interact with your customers and clients. What kinds of holidays promotions are best to include in your emails? [click] Coupon or discount – Vicky’s of Santa Fe sent an email announcing that they had a 20% sale on gift cards. [click] Free shipping [click] Suggest products or services, as Vicky’s does, suggesting its private dining space as a place to hold holiday parties [click] Encourage customers to buy directly from your website. You can do this with links to individual products right in your email. [click] If you’re a nonprofit and are running a donation drive, make your email readers aware, as the Baltimore Humane Society did with Giving Tuesday in 2014. They asked their audience to consider donating to their shelter on Giving Tuesday. [click] You can also offer other promotions that increase awareness of your nonprofit organization, by hosting events and asking people to register or become sponsors. The Baltimore Humane Society did a fun social media outreach project to raise awareness about their cause, by asking their audience to take “selfies” with their pets and post them to social media with information about the humane society. [click] And you can use email increase membership for a nonprofit or if you’re a retail organization and have a loyalty program, you can build it through email. [click to next slide]
- #16 When you create your promotions, make sure they are answering the question [click] WHY DOES THIS MESSAGE/OFFER MATTER RIGHT NOW? That’s what your audience is thinking every time they receive any message in your inbox. You need to tell them what’s in it for them and get their attention. [click to build] Think about your subject line. Use a strong subject line that tells them the most important information in this email. You should also make it clear to your readers what your offer is [click]. When they know there’s something in this email that benefits them, that answers the question, Why does this message matter?, then they’ll be more likely to act on your offer. Talk about this in the subject line and in the top of the email so they’ll see it right away. You can see in this email example from Bisque Imports that they have a strong subject line: Tis the Season for FREE… It’s a teaser subject line, because you don’t know exactly WHAT is free, but it’s an eye-catching subject line that would entice a customer to open the message. Once opened, the offer of free shipping is at the very top of the email, so there’s no question what the message is! [click to build] Here’s an email from Taza Chocolate. They are highlighting a favorite seasonal ingredient, their peppermint stick chocolate, with a beautiful picture that pops right when you open the message. You don’t have to include everything you sell or every service you offer. [click to build] This email from Gorilla Doctors, a nonprofit helping endangered mountain gorillas, is a very direct call to action. The large photo asks for donations on [click] Giving Tuesday, an annual, international call to give to charitable causes. This year, Giving Tuesday falls on December 1st. Gorilla Doctors’ email makes it easy to donate – the photo itself is a clickable link to a website where readers can donate, and further down in the email, another link brings readers to the same page.
- #17 I mentioned different marketing tools – email, Facebook and Pinterest – on the last slide, because of another important thing to keep in mind: You should be reaching your customers wherever they are with your holiday communications, and that includes through email AND social media. [click] Share your email on your social media profiles – to be clear, email IS part of social media. [click] Post updates about your offers everywhere you can, as Taza Chocolate does in this example from Facebook. [click] Share product photos, and include tips and guides on how to use the products, or reviews from customers who have purchased the products. Pinterest is a great platform for product photos, because users can click directly on the images to purchase from your website. [click] Ask for donations if you’re a nonprofit. Use photos and videos that tell your organization’s story, and always link to a page where your followers can make a donation to your nonprofit. On Facebook, nonprofits can add a “Donate” tab to their pages, so their followers can contribute without leaving the social network. [click] You can also use social media to take the pulse of your audience – ask questions to spark conversation. Which of your products or programs do they like best? What do they want to see more of? These kinds of conversations can help you plan future promotions and keep your offers relevant. [click to next slide]
- #18 It’s important to start planning your holiday offers now, so let’s look at some ideas.
- #19 With all of your pushing and pulling to run campaigns, it’s important to have an idea of your goals. Here, we are looking at some general goals. General goals for your marketing are something that we all have [click to build], and they are fairly standard across the board for all businesses or nonprofit organizations because you’re in business to do something, and at the highest level that’s what these are. Another way to think about these is that they are the “30,000 foot view” of marketing…very much part of your marketing strategy. But what we’re here to do today is come down a bit, and get more specific. [click to next slide]
- #20 You CAN do this. There are tools out there to make it easier, like Constant Contact, and we are going to go over some simple ways to help you use less time, money and energy running your marketing.
- #21 Note to Speaker: If you are short on time, you can speak to this slide and discuss various types of offers. But if you have time to have some conversation with the room, use this with the following six slides to open up real conversations, provide good examples, encourage participants to share their own ideas and give people a chance to talk. Once you determine your holiday marketing goal, and you’ve thought about your plan for the holidays, it’s time to think about what you will offer your customers this year. These are some ideas that you can use, depending on the goal you set. We’ll go through each type of offer in detail. [click] Discounts [click] Downloads [click] Event invites and updates [click] B2B services [click] Hints and Tips [click] Support a cause – Nonprofit promotions [click to next slide]
- #22 With discounts you can provide a percentage or dollar off through a limited time period, a buy-one-get-one-free promotion, or get a gift for yourself when you purchase one for a friend. You can also offer coupons – Constant Contact allows users to create a trackable coupon that will tell you who redeemed your offer – making it easier to market to that specific audience in the future.
- #23 Downloadable content gives your audience some inside tips or information – you can use your expertise to provide a benefit for your customers. These can include tips, a study or guide related to your business or cause, an e-book, advice on what to do or not do while using a product or service, or any exclusive content you may have.
- #24 With events, consider offering an early-bird registration discount, buy-one-get-one tickets, or limited time offers for upgrades, like special seating, parking or admission.
- #25 If your business is a B2B – business to business – and you sell to other businesses, consider offering your expertise. If you’re a marketer, that might be giving them a free service, like a review of your client’s email newsletters, when they purchase a consultation at full price. You could offer a regular discount on services. Or bundle an offer – provide something extra for a lower rate.
- #26 Educational information is a great offer for customers – people love how-to information and insider tips. Consider giving them tips or steps to solve a problem. Give them insights on the latest trends in your industry. Or provide your expertise or best practices for how to use or maintain your products or services.
- #27 Nonprofits rely on support from donors and volunteers throughout the year, but the holidays are a very important time for fundraising and giving – and if you’re a nonprofit, you can use email marketing to help plan events and donation drives! You could give away exclusive access to an event in exchange for volunteer hours or donations. Or you can offer a sponsorship listing for donors who give a certain amount of money, or discounted membership in the New Year. You can also think about using limited time offers – for example: donate today to get involved and join our cause.
- #28 Now that we’ve looked at what to expect for the holidays and why it’s important to get ready now, let’s talk about how to create a campaign that will drive some real results for you.
- #29 Quickly let’s just go over specifically what a campaign is – it doesn’t have to be expensive, or elaborate. Simple is great. To run a campaign you [CLICK] push content out, like an offer, a free download, a promotion, whatever and then you pull a response. A physical, measurable response. You get them to react. And a campaign can be sent by email, as well as shared on social media. Let’s talk about how to make a holiday promotion work, and 6 easy tips you can use to set it up.
- #30 Timing is important during the holidays. You want to make sure you leverage key dates – of course, those national holidays – but also think about retail events that have become popular over the last few years. Leverage those key dates – of course the national holidays, but think about the retail events that have become popular over the last few years. Let’s go over some of the big dates this year: [click] Black Friday – this is the day after Thanksgiving, a major retail holiday and the traditional day retailers go “in the black” in terms of sales. While in-store retail traffic has declined, due to the popularity of online shopping and retailers ramping up their sales even before Thanksgiving, Black Friday is still a major day in the retail calendar. This year, it falls on November 27. Thanksgiving Day itself has become an increasingly popular day for national retailers. [click] Small Business Saturday – the Saturday after Thanksgiving is Small Business Saturday, a day founded in 2010 by American Express to encourage consumers to shop at their local small businesses. [click] Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving – Even though e-commerce or online selling has permeated business, Cyber Monday is a date dedicated to buying online. This year, Cyber Monday falls on November 30. [click] Think about shipping dates in your promotions – alert your customers when you have free shipping or what date do you need to ship by to be delivered in time. Plan for exclusive offers and sales – give your customers enough time to take advantage of discounts and your great deals! [click to next slide] ------------------------------- Black Friday: https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press-Releases/2014/11/Thanksgiving-and-Black-Friday-See-Online-Buying-Bonanza-as-Both-Days-Surpass-1-Billion-in-Desktop-Spending Small Business Saturday: http://grasshopper.com/resources/articles/small-business-saturday-statistics/ Cyber Monday:
- #31 Make it easy for customers to take advantage of your promotions. Your content should help them find the gift they are looking for and answer your call to action. [click] This email from Happy Wine, a wine shop in Miami, makes wine shopping easy. They sent it to their list right before Thanksgiving, with just eight featured wines at different price points (as you can see in the background of the photo, they sell more than eight wines!), suggesting they go with traditional Thanksgiving foods. [click] You should use images, and communicate through them. An email service provider like Constant Contact makes it easy to turn a picture into a clickable link, so if someone clicks on the image, they are brought to a designated website. This is especially important if you’re asking someone to purchase a specific product or service, or make a donation. You should also use your design wisely. Make sure it’s well organized and spotlights a limited number of products or services, with room for descriptions and buttons or links to direct your readers to your call to action. Don’t clutter your space. [click] This email from Rose and Dove gifts has a nice, clean design. It’s an email about the “scent of the season,” Frasier fir, and a beautiful picture displaying candles and other home fragrances, followed by a “gift-with-purchase” deal. Rose and Dove sells a variety of gifts, but by highlighting this one product, they are able to really focus their message. Side note – try to avoid giving too many choices in your campaign. These are supposed to be quick decisions to act (clicking to shop in your online store or selecting an item and clicking to buy) Too many choices will reduce the number of decisions / actions a person can take. It’s a time limit thing. Think of your campaign as window shopping. You want to entice someone to come in right then and buy because of whatever got their attention. [click to next slide]
- #32 Video is a powerful way to engage with your audience. People prefer watching a video to reading long web pages full of text. You can make video work for your holiday marketing messages. [click] The response to video is undeniable. Video content increases click-through rates by 300%. Make sure you mention the video in your subject line for readers to know about it right away. [click] What should you feature in your video? For promotions, think about the call to action. If your promotion is about a product, you could consider a customer testimonial or a product demonstration. You can also share user-generated content. Videos are also a great way to share a behind the scenes look at your organization’s culture, or recap a great event. Rejuvenate Therapeutic Massage used video in an email to thank their clients for a great year and wish them happy holidays – simple as that! [click] And don’t forget to promote your video. Whatever visual content you use in your email, you can repurpose on your social media. Share your videos on social media to reach even more people, and encourage audience engagement.
- #33 Ratings and reviews are another way for you to engage your audience, and they can tie nicely into promotions and offers. [click] 88% of online shoppers use online reviews to help them to decide on purchases. [click] Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback! Encourage your audience to write reviews for you – ask them to do it, and include links to relevant places on your website to create those reviews. [click] Then, include reviews in your content – quote those reviews, link to them in your emails, post them on social media – and keep on top of what your most popular items and services are. These can help you plan future promotions, because your audience is telling you what works, and what doesn’t. If you do get a negative review, make sure you respond professionally, and, if possible, ask the reviewer how you can contact them so you can try to resolve the situation. -------------------------------------------------------- Example: Bottlewise: accessories for wine lovers (Source: BrightLocal “Local Consumer Review Survey 2014”) http://www.brightlocal.com/2014/07/01/local-consumer-review-survey-2014/ http://go.channeladvisor.com/AU-Website-2011-Consumer-Survey.html?ls=Website UID 1102506159161(zb8zhzcab)
- #34 Encourage your audience to share your promotions by using social media tools. [click] If you are using Constant Contact, add the Share Bar to the top of your emails. The Share Bar allows your readers to post a link to your email on their social media profiles [click] Use Simple Share – you can create posts for multiple social media profiles in the Simple Share editor and publish a link to your email to all of them at once. [click] Use social media buttons to give your email audience an easy way to follow you on social media. Remind your audience to share your promotions – ask them to Like them on Facebook, retweet on Twitter or pin on Pinterest. Your audience has a lot of influence via word of mouth, and you can get your promotions in front of more people – their friends and family – if they help spread the word for you. [click to next slide]
- #35 Mobile has become prevalent in the world around us. Now we want to show you some tips you can use today to start taking advantage of mobile for the holiday season. Avoid using too much text Think about it – do you want to read long and complex messages on your phone? When you’re on the go? No. Which means neither do your customers or supporters. Do you want to read a message like the one here? [click to build] Probably not… What you want is to see something more like [click to build] this…the result of some basic considerations as you build your message: Start to re-think your content. Long-form content (think newsletters that have more than a couple of short, to-the-point paragraphs) doesn’t work for mobile readers. So look at the content you’re building and start to re-think it: could it be condensed? Can a picture tell the story better? Can you turn one newsletter into a series by cutting it into pieces? If you have longer, or more complex content or assets you want to share (like a product guide, or new regulations for your clients or a research report that supporters of your non-profit would be interested in), send an email with a clear call-to-action that directs people to where that asset lives (on your website, blog, etc. [click to next slide]
- #36 Avoid using tiny fonts This one would seem to be pretty self-explanatory…but is no less important. [click to build] here’s a sample with 9-point font. Yes, a lot of text fits on the screen, but who can read it? People will need to pinch-to-zoom the text, and then have to scroll around. They’re more likely to delete the message, as well as unsubscribe from future small-fonted emails. [click to build] this one is a bit better, as the font starts to reach a minimum size that we’d recommend (11 points for body text and 22 points for headlines), and starts to bring greater contrast between the text and the background. [click to next slide]
- #37 You have a lot on your plate. You do not need a complicated strategy to end the year on a high note! Think about some simple ways to engage people – look at this example…
- #38 Here are 3 important tips to walk away with for holiday marketing success: [CLICK] 1. Know your goal – choose one objective for your holiday promotion – too many will confuse you and your customers. [CLICK] 2. What’s the offer? You have a lot you could choose from – coupons, discounts, gift with purchase, and more. Make it a clear and compelling offer for your customers. [CLICK] 3. Make it timely – remember that the shopping cycle for the holidays should take into account shipping time, prodding last-minute shoppers, and the deadlines that you and your customers face when getting ready for the holidays.
- #39 If you’re a little more advanced and want to plan several campaigns to help drive action to your promotion, maybe an email, an event invitation and a Happy New Year /“it’s not too late” announcement along with social posts throughout the last weeks of the year – you can do something like this. Start by marketing the dates of your regular communications, like monthly newsletters. List your social media posts and promotion campaigns. Write down the holidays that influence what and when you communicate through email and social media. Note any important deadlines to talk about or plan around. If you have everything planned in advance, it’s going to save you tons of time when the holidays are here.
- #40 We know you’re busy, and you might not want to be – or can’t be – on your computer all day. Save yourself some time by using some automation tools that do the work for you. [CLICK] Start simple by setting up welcome or update messages for your email marketing. They can be triggered to send to your list when someone signs up. [CLICK] If you’ve created a marketing calendar for the holidays, create your holiday emails in advance and then schedule them to send at the times and days you choose. [CLICK] You can also try autoresponders – these are emails that are sent out based on certain triggers, like a schedule or birthdays or anniversaries. [CLICK] You can also schedule your social media posts – you don’t have to be sitting in front of your computer to post to your networks. Facebook has its own scheduling tool, but the other networks don’t. [CLICK] You can use tools like Hootsuite to schedule posts for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Hootsuite also has an Instagram feature that reminds you when to post content, and makes it easy to share your images. It doesn’t take a lot of time to keep on track with your marketing and planning. Try at least 20 uninterrupted minutes at a time, 3 to 5 times a week to make email scheduling, social media planning, posting and monitoring part of your regular schedule.
- #41 Another thing you should make time for is measuring your results. If you’re not measuring you are not marketing. Period. You should know who is opening your marketing emails, when and how many times – what they clicked on – individually and generally, percentage-wise. Know how many people respond to your surveys, sign up for your events, pay for your events or pay for a special deal or make a donation if you’re a nonprofit.
- #42 These are some of the reports in Constant Contact. Most reputable services will give you similar reports. Don’t forget about your social media reports. All of the social networks – except Instagram – provide you with reports on how your marketing is doing. You have to know what is working and what isn’t – because you should do more of what is working and stop doing what isn’t. Simple but you have to measure to know what is helping you grow.
- #43 OPTIONAL “COMMERCIAL” SLIDE [SPEAKER INSTRUCTIONS: this is your short introductory “commercial” to explain what Constant Contact is to your audience.] SUGGESTED TALKING POINTS: …. Everything we talk about in today’s session is intended to help you grow your business. Strategies, tips and ideas that you can leave here and try. You can apply these ideas to any system or marketing tool you want to use, you do not have to be a customer of constant contact to come to this session and even if you use a competitor, all of the information provided here today will still help you. That said, I want to make sure everyone here knows what Constant Contact is. How many in the room use Constant Contact or know what it is already? Great, I encourage those of you that did not have your hands raised to speak to someone that DID have their hands raised about our service. I’m confident that you will hear good things or I wouldn’t have said that. Constant Contact is an online marketing system with tools to help you manage mass communication and marketing campaigns easily and without spending a lot of time or money. You can send email newsletters or announcements of any kind, run your own special offers or deals, get feedback or run an online survey and you can promote and manage your own events. It’s all together in one place and everything also works closely with social media channels like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and it’s also designed to help you look good on a mobile device. Constant Contact is the leader, and the support is outstanding. I will of course encourage you to use Constant Contact – it only costs about 20 a month – but let’s get to the class and then I’m happy to answer any questions you may have about Constant Contact at the end of the session.
- #45 Start where you are. This is not something that you have to do all at once. Start with email and maybe one social media site… Next, you might think about [click to build] adding another social network (like Twitter). Then, maybe you add [click to build] a blog and start offering deals and promotions. Next you could think about [click to build] how your communications and marketing work across multiple platforms (mobile, tablets, desktop, etc.). You could add [click to build] events to your marketing mix (they work for all sorts of businesses), and finally you could build [click to build] even more of a social presence. But start small, start where you are, and build in a way that makes sense for your business.
- #46 You can use
- #47 Introduce yourself and give them a clear understanding that you are there on behalf of Constant Contact.
- #48 For prospects – They can CHOOSE ONE of the two offers. 30% off for 3 months, Use code ALE30SEPT OR Kick Start Package, Use code ALEKICKSTART For customers - Mobile Friendly Email Template Design For a one-time fee of $79 you’ll receive a re-usable mobile friendly template. That’s a $20 saving off the regular $99 price! Kick Starter *Terms and Conditions: This September Promotion (the "Promotion") begins on September 4, 2015 at 12:00 a.m., Eastern Time ("ET"), and ends on September 30, 2015 at 11:59 p.m., ET (the "Promotion Period"). If your eligible Constant Contact clients purchase any Constant Contact software product(s), excluding Personal Marketing Manager, Facebook Advertising, SaveLocal and SinglePlatform during the Promotion Period, they will receive a free mobile friendly campaign design, contact list upload and access to an online webinar of their choosing . Your clients will be eligible to participate in this Promotion if they (i) are a Constant Contact trial account holder or a new Constant Contact customer who has never been a paying Constant Contact customer, and (ii) they become a paying Constant Contact customer by 11:59 p.m., ET, on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 or call you and mention this offer during your normal business hours during the Promotion Period. After they sign up, you must fill out the required form and submit the same to Constant Contact for fulfillment by the end of the Promotion Period. This Promotion cannot be combined with any other Constant Contact promotion or special offer. Constant Contact reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to suspend or cancel this Promotion at any time. This Promotion and all Constant Contact products and services are subject to the Constant Contact terms and conditions. 30/3 *Terms and Conditions: This September Promotion (the "Promotion") begins on September 4, 2015 at 12:00 a.m., Eastern Time ("ET"), and ends on September 30, 2015 at 11:59 p.m., ET (the "Promotion Period"). If your eligible Constant Contact clients purchase any Constant Contact software product(s), excluding Personal Marketing Manager, Facebook Advertising, SaveLocal and SinglePlatform, during the Promotion Period, they will receive 30% off of such purchased product(s) for the first three months after becoming a paying customer. Your clients will be eligible to participate in this Promotion if they (i) are a Constant Contact trial account holder or a new Constant Contact customer who has never been a paying Constant Contact customer, (ii) they become a paying Constant Contact customer and enter the applicable promo code during check out by 11:59 p.m., ET, on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 or call you and mention this offer during your normal business hours during the Promotion Period, and (iii) they remain a paying Constant Contact customer for at least a full 30 calendar days from the date they first became a paying Constant Contact customer. After the first three months have ended, your eligible clients will automatically be charged the current retail price for the product(s) unless they cancel their accounts or the applicable product. This Promotion cannot be combined with any other Constant Contact promotion or special offer. Constant Contact offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on purchases of certain Constant Contact products, as more fully described at www.constantcontact.com/pricing. Constant Contact reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to suspend or cancel this Promotion at any time. This Promotion and all Constant Contact products and services are subject to the Constant Contact terms and conditions. This offer is not available to clients signed up under single bill.
- #50 How can you get started with your holiday marketing? Let’s take a look.