How far in advance do you plan your promotions? Do you use a calendar and look at seasonal themes that are coming up like Christmas, Easter and Mothers Day?

I must admit I’m often a bit last minute when it comes to seasonal promotions – and sometimes, it’s only when I pick up on Twitter that International Women’s Day or Entrepreneur Week is coming up, I think “hmm… maybe I could do something about that?” and realise I should have probably started weeks ago.

So I’m glad my friend Carrie Wilkerson has agreed to let me share her tips on this with you – as she’s much better at it than I am. And if you like what you read and want more of the techniques, strategies and ‘ins and outs’, check out the 50% discount she’s offering on her complete Seasonal Marketing System (until Monday).

So, in Carrie’s words…

Seasonal Marketing is more than holidays

When you think of seasonal marketing the first ideas that probably pops into your mind are the typical holidays like Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the other holidays on your calendar, but seasonal marketing is much more than that. Seasonal marketing can involve the four seasons in a year, the typical holidays mentioned above, various causes that are important to you, as well as client anniversaries. Seasons can also mean your particular product cycle.

When you consider all the opportunities open to you when planning your marketing strategy, your content strategy, and your promotions you can quickly realize that you will not run out of ideas very fast. Thinking about the “seasons” as a cycle rather than just dates on a calendar will help you plan for more since there are many cycles besides holidays.

 The Container Store has their ELFA ‘get organized’ event in January. They heavily discount their ELFA shelving and modules each & every year. This is a great example of THEIR product season.

As mentioned above you have the cycle of yearly holidays in which you can use to motivate buying, and you also have your product cycle. A product cycle or season depends upon what your product is, and who your target market is. If you are marketing to tax professionals, your seasonal marketing opportunities are dictated by your market’s tax responsibilities.

If your niche is work at home, home-schooling moms, then your seasons are dictated by what is important to your target market.

By offering discounts, buy one get one free offers, and other encouragement to purchase at the times your target market wants to buy or needs to buy you will quickly see an increase in sales.

If appropriate for your market you can promote products and information on the typical holidays by having special sales and promotions for the calendar holidays but you can also choose to celebrate special customers on their anniversary dates or the date they bought a certain product from you. You can create a brand new season for each client based on their purchasing anniversary. Your client will feel special, and you will encourage retention. (We’ll discuss that more in detail later this week.)

You can also tie your promotions into a cause. For instance, if you have a special cause that is important to you such as  breast cancer awareness, you can simply offer to donate a portion of your customers’  purchases to that cause during breast cancer awareness month only.

I am a big giver to orphanages and trafficking rescue through http://100xmissions.org so I sometimes have a ‘redeem a child’ seasonal offer. I typically do this in October in conjunction with my live event.

The important thing to remember is that your promotions, regardless of season, should be focused and targeted on your ideal client and his or her needs. If your website promotes WordPress Themes, it would not be appropriate to now offer Christmas Decorations for sale, just because it is Christmas. It would, however, be appropriate to offer two for one custom themes as a gift to your customers. Always stay focused, and do not become scattered in your offerings just because the calendar specifies a popular holiday.

Leave a comment below if you’d like to share a seasonal idea that you do without fail or something you’ve seen work with clients or places you shop. We’d like to know!

==> To check out Carrie’s complete Seasonal Marketing System (including 50% off until Monday), go here <==