5 Marketing Opportunities NOT To Be Missed This Quarter
1. Valentine’s Day
Roses are red, violets are blue, time to romance your customers, what are you gonna to do?
The most flamboyant (and sickeningly soppy) marketing opportunity this month is Valentine’s Day. With V-Day generating over $17 billion for retailers worldwide each year, it would be foolish not to jump on the marketing love train. Retailers in almost any sector can take advantage by combining their personalized mix of lovey-dovey marketing, special offers and romantic packages for the busy, loved-up consumers of the world.
Your need to be on top of your marketing game this month because your competitors certainly won’t be showing you any affection, they too will be trying to win the hearts of valued customers by throwing copious amounts of flowers, chocolates, stuffed toys and freebies their way. If you want to be heard amidst all the pink noise, market your offers through as many channels of possible, both offline and online, particularly targeted channels such as mobile, social and targeted online advertising.
Think outside the box and engage customers in your campaigns this year, why not organise a couples photo contest, maybe even a ‘How We Met’ story competition – slap a hash tag on the contest and you might even be trending for Valentines!
2. Six Nations
Ireland’s two home matches at the Aviva stadium will generate over €30 million for the national economy alone, according to the Dublin Chambers of Commerce.
How are you planning to nab a significant slice of the tourism pie that’s coming our way?
If you’re not located in the heart of the action, don’t let that stop you getting great sales out of the hype surrounding match days. Gangs of riled up rugby fanatics will be gathering around the box week after week, so attention food retailers – lashing out your best food and drink offers, as well as devising a few rugby-themed meal deals are your best bet of attracting the die-hard fans, even if it is just a matter of sticking a rugby logo on your regular deals!
Opportunity Sectors
3. Pancake Tuesday
Food retailers aren’t the only ones who can benefit from all the battery goodness of pancake Tuesday. People everywhere will go flipping mad for pancakes! While restaurants and cafes can create their own over-the-top, fancy flavours to Wow customers, other retailers can link their brand’s name to the scrumptious calendar event too by whipping up simpler alternatives as a special treat.
Picture customers walking down the street after a long day’s work and your store is emitting the whiff of delicious, freshly made pancakes. Within 5 minutes bodies would be gravitating towards your store Dawn of the Dead-style, and leaving your store happier, satisfied and (hopefully) heavy-armed, depending how impressive your cooking skills are! Scent marketing has become hugely popular over the last couple of years, and some old-school homemade cooking is a hell of a lot cheaper than hiring professionals to devise a complex scent marketing strategy.
Don’t forget to spread the word cheaply and quickly across your social media channels!
4. St. Patrick’s Day
Everyone and anyone can drive their sales on Paddy’s Day (and not just because the majority of the population are after a few pints). The holiday is blowing up more and more internationally each year, with the Sydney Opera House, London Eye and even the Empire State building going green for the occasion. Who could blame them for wanting to join in the celebrations, we Irish are great craic!
Food and drink sales in particular can fly out the door with smart marketing, and even if you aren’t selling anything green, food/alcohol-related or hosting a Paddy’s Day themed event, use the day that’s in it to draw attention to your store.
Sending out Paddy’s Day-themed offers and decorating your store and employees in festive gear will easily attract customers strolling about after the parades. Enticing customers with special treats is a sure way to increase footfall – shamrock cupcakes, clover cookies, wearable Paddy’s Day nick-knacks are simple gestures that can be used by any retailer. There’s no excuse not to get into the Irish spirit this year!
Some Promo Inspiration
Retailers
Lucky Draws/Dips Till Point Treats “All things green” sale
Lucky Discount Codes Festive Store Mascots
In-Store/Online Competitions Festive Freebies
5. Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is an easy breezy opportunity for retailers to boost sales, increase loyalty and draw in new customers. The Marketing Madness surrounding Mother’s Day is extremely competitive so it’s important to go the extra mile to outshine competitors – it could be giving away Mom-friendly freebies with a purchase, putting together hampers, gift sets, packages, gift guides, running competitions or whatever little extras you feel will attract the droves of panicking sons, daughters and husbands.
Social media is your secret weapon this month. Everyone wants to hear about Mother’s Day special offers and giveaways. Promoting your competitions on Facebook and Twitter racks up entries like that *finger snap*, and let’s not forget there’s nothing like a good ‘Like and Share’ competition to increase brand awareness and spark interest in what other niceties you have to offer.
Your greatest sales potential for Mother’s Day lies with your regular, loyal customers as they have already bought into your brand and need little persuasion to buy your products. Reaching out to them with a simple text can be enough to get them in the door and avail of your special offers. For added value, make some offers exclusive only to your regular customers, little gestures go a very long way in the eyes of the customer!
