Get ready for the sale season

The New Year sales are prime time to promote your business and wares. People are in the mood to spend! A strategically timed sale is a great opportunity to surprise and delight your customers and attract new attention too.

Here are three quick tips to get your small business ready for sale season:

Select the right product

Be strategic about the offer. In the past, sales were generally for leftover stock that a business needed to shift. While that’s still true today, a sale can be used for so much more than just last season’s digs.

Consider using your sale as an opportunity to sample a new product or upsell a service. Research consumer trends and tie your offer into what’s hot or in the current news or seasonal cycle. Create package deals that encourage a customer to keep coming back. It will keep your brand top of mind and provide more opportunities to engage your customers.

Power up social channels

Use the sale season to build your online communities by promoting offers for “insiders” – a customer must like your Facebook page or follow you on Twitter to redeem the reward. Create a series of incentives that reward engagement such as sharing or commenting.

Get the word out

Database marketing is an excellent way to promote your sale to your customers. You can create sale-themed emails or offers and schedule follow-up emails to remind customers to take a peek at your website.

The best thing about database marketing is its efficiency. You have the ability to target thousands of customers all at once, with targeted information based on their customer profile.

You can also use the results of the campaign to create future campaigns. For example, customers who purchased new season wares might be interested in hearing of trends ahead of the curve, whereas customers who purchased heavily discounted items might be more motivated by price. 

Think logistics

Don’t forget to keep your customers informed of opening hours, delivery times and return policies. The easier you can make it for your customers, the more they’ll love you for it.

New Year is a wonderful time to reward your loyal customers for their support over the previous year and touch base with customers who may have fallen off the radar. Make the most of it!