Beat the winter sales blues with warm and cozy promotions, activities and initiatives that keep the POS system beeping. While others go into hibernation and often reduce their activity, you can take advantage as this as a great time to stand out.
Here’s a few ideas to help too:
- Brand update – How up-to-date is your brand? If things are a little quiet during winter it could be a good time to work on your business and update sales tools.
- Winter images – Stay away from cheesy Northern hemisphere images of snowflakes and festivities. Focus on human connections when seeking content, keep images and messages relevant to winter in NZ.
- Guide to your winter products – Help your customers understand which of your products are suited to the winter season. Or how to best store them away, if not.
- Seasonal sale – It’s cold and it’s likely to rain. Think of a cozy sale theme. If as part of your product offering you sell warm clothing, fireplaces, heaters or hearty food, this is your opportunity.
- Time related offers – Create a sense of urgency by running offers that expire soon. This will help generate sales activity now.
- Promotions – Get active with promotions and give-aways relevant to winter. Try a quiz with a prize at the end. Remember your call to action to collect contact details or new social followers.
- Go hard on digital – Research proves that people spend more time on devices when it’s cold. People are rugged up at home. This may be a good time to look at improving your online offer. Keep active on social, get customers engaging, ask questions, offer prizes, winter recipes, share photos of your products in action in winter.
- Winter sports have all started – Get local and support your local teams, take photos, consider sponsorship, share your support across social media.
- Influencer marketing – Consider looking for an influencer who already has an audience you can tap in to. Provide them with your content that has good calls to action leading back to your channels to grow your own following too.
- Loyalty programme – Don’t just reward new customers, thank the customers that stay loyal and give you repeat business. A loyalty card on the back of your business card. Create a special code on invoices for a free hour for services or gift with purchase.
- Cross-sell/Partner – Which of your products can be paired with another company’s products during winter? For e.g: For a physio can you partner with a supplements distributor. Or for travel offer a luggage package.
- Free shipping – You likely already offer this, but free shipping is very popular with customers usually spoilt by choice
Write it down, type it up, test it, rewrite it, type it again. This will help commit it to memory. Your whole elevator speech needs to be little more than 60 seconds long.
When you know you can change people’s lives and have passion for what you do that sets you apart from your competition meeting new people is an exciting opportunity.
Chris Norris – Truth Seeker Cert. MKTG | MCC | Cert. Typography
Former Chairman of Business Whangaparaoa and Board Member for Silverdale Business. He is also a mentor with the Business Mentors Programme at MBIE. Now running a locally focussed branding business. Allbrand.co.nz – Revealing the true Unique Selling point in businesses. If you are passionate about something you already have a great story. Get in touch to tell it: Chris@allbrand.co.nz
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