As a follow up to this month’s “Looking Ahead – Marketing Calendar December 2018” feature, here’s a reposting of a special guest post that has proved popular since it was originally published some years ago on the “Total Package” site (sadly no longer active).

It’s from Troy White…

…with some great marketing tips that can be applied for other seasonal events, not just Christmas.

Over to Troy and his “Holiday Promotions Ideas You Can Take To The Bank”… [Read more…]

Time to look ahead and consider what’s available to the smart direct response marketer to create…

…a marketing calendar for December 2018.

That is to say, occasions, events and anniversaries that we can use as the building block for marketing campaigns and promotions.

December of course means…

…CHRISTMAS…

…with the NEW YEAR not far behind as a marketing event.

New Year provides a great marketing opportunity for pretty much any business.

Even now in November, it’s not too early to run with the theme…

…”Make 2019 Your Best Year”…

…which can apply to businesses in health, relationships, personal finance and success in general.

In December, New Year’s resolutions will be on people’s mind…

…so this is a fantastic time to promote any kind of personal development product…

…as well as business-oriented offerings.

Remember to plan and launch your New Year promotion well in advance and in good time for January 1.

With Christmas, keep in mind…

…any specific customs in your area.

For example, in Sweden the Yule season starts on December 13 with Santa Lucia Day.

It’s also the December Solstice on December 21 (at 22.23 UT…check the time in your location).

Other significant events in December… [Read more…]

Once again Halloween draws near…

…that time of year when the barrier between our world and the worlds beyond becomes a little thinner.

It is often a time of strange events…

…that may produce a sense of horror!

Indeed, in 2018 marketers might well shudder when they review the current situation.

In the retail arena, there is an ongoing massacre of once successful companies like Sears in the US and House of Fraser in the UK…

…with the survivors struggling with declining sales and shrinking profits.

In general, it seems to be getting harder to bring in new customers and make sales…whether that’s online or offline.

But perhaps what is most frightening is… [Read more…]

Here’s the regular look ahead…

…this time at the coming month of November 2018…

…for events, occasions and anniversaries to use for campaigns and promotions in your marketing calendar for November 2018.

FIRST…a reminder that the end of the year and CHRISTMAS is fast approaching!

For pretty much all marketers, Christmas and the New Year is a time of peak opportunity to make sales…

…BUT there is a lot of competition of course. So, it’s important to be well prepared.

Before that, November in the USA also means…THANKSGIVING (this year on November 22).

(In Canada, Thanksgiving Day is a month earlier on October 8).

“Black Friday” follows, which marks the start of the Christmas season shopping frenzy!

On a more somber note, November 11 is Remembrance Day (Veterans Day in the USA).

One other occasion to note…

…”Singles’ Day” in China on November 11…which has become one of the world’s biggest online shopping days of the year.

Here’s a more comprehensive list of events and occasions… [Read more…]

I was listening to a No B.S. Inner Circle “What’s Working Now” interview with Bruce and Josh Hudson recently. The Hudsons run a photography business that they describe as primarily “creating and selling large family wall decor”.

I was intrigued when they talked about how Groupon and Living Social had proved highly successful for them.  As one example, with their first campaign, the first three vouchers that were redeemed ($67 each) ended up resulting in $12,000 worth of sales.

A few years back, as the great cartoon at the top of this post from Tom Fishburne shows (full post at “social coupon bandwagon”), Groupon and similar companies were seen as the “Next Big Thing”…

“Many marketers asked Santa for a social coupon campaign for 2011. The explosive growth of Groupon and Groupon clones (BuyWithMe, LivingSocial, SocialBuy, and Tippr), offering “ridiculously huge” coupons (50-90% off), is taking marketing plans by storm.”

Now, a number of my clients have used Groupon and similar sites quite successfully, but unlike a few years back the company seems to have dropped off the radar a little. Back in 2011/2012 the company was often in the news and not always for good reasons.  There were a number of reports of businesses who had almost gone bust because of the cost of fulfilling deals that had proved to be priced way too low.  Marketers were split between those promoting Groupon and similar companies as the “Next Big Thing” and those advising businesses to keep well clear.

I wrote a number of posts about Groupon at the time and “More Thoughts on Marketing Via Groupon” provided a pretty good summary of the advantages and disadvantages of this particular channel… [Read more…]