actionable marketing guide

Dear ,

Spring break combined with warm weather have cause New York to swell with tourists and shoppers.

Wide-eyed children experience New York City for the first time—be it visiting relatives, accompanying mom to work, or seeing the sights of the city.

Big shopping bags bulge with new clothes for Easter, Passover and Spring on the streets and sidewalks.

On the corner of my block sits The Church of the Holy Communion, a Gothic Revival structure now known as the Limelight. After an Easter service in the 1870s, the women in the congregation marched up Fifth Avenue in their Sunday best to bring food and donations to the poor. This became a annual event – the Easter Parade.

At the other end of the block is the Ladies Mile, the location of the first New York City department stores, an innovation in retail marketing. Starting in 1875, stores started advertising new fashions that patrons could show off during their Easter stroll up Fifth Avenue.

When I was young my mother bought us new spring outfits to wear out to dinner with my grandparents on Easter weekend.

Like these astute late nineteenth century merchants, take heed of current trends and integrate them into your marketing and merchandising. 

Start your annual marketing and promotional plan by slotting in key holidays relevant to your product offering. Include new shopping events such as Back-To-School. It’s now the second major shopping holiday after Christmas. First time college students are a big market these days.

Need help? Here’s a promotional plan to help you. It includes templates and charts.

While you’re planning, include monthly content themes for your content and promotions.

Not all holidays work for every business. For example, at The Economist, my boss wanted me to offer digital subscriptions for Valentine’s Day. (Not the most romantic gift!)

Incorporate special holidays. For example, Mexican restaurants celebrate Cinqo De Mayo with special higher priced menus.

Include personalized celebrations such as customer birthdays or anniversaries. For example, many women’s clothing stores offer a birthday promotion that’s targeted. Marriott offered a special promotion for my one year anniversary.

Be creative with emerging trends. For example I ran special “Harry Potter” promotions at Bertelsmann (even though the books flew off the shelves regardless of where I put or hid the promotion!) In New York City, there were special overnight events when new Potter books started selling.

Don’t wait for December to plan or update your holiday promotions. At a minimum, check what’s happening on a quarterly basis.

I’ve never worked for a business that didn’t feel the need to improve sales during the year. It’s the real life issues you don’t plan for that hurt your sales and profits.

I advise planning a promotion or two you can be used with limited notice. But (and this is critical), don’t put them in your initial budget. You need to have something ready when you have an issue.

Happy spring holidays whatever you celebrate!

Happy Marketing
Heidi.

Heidi Cohen
Actionable Marketing Guide

• ExcoB2B, a Montreal based agency, selected Heidi Cohen as a Top 30 Influencer In Marketing.
  
  
• Small Business Tools named Heidi Cohen as a Top 50 Marketing Influencer. It’s another list worth checking out.
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• Grey Campus named Heidi Cohen a Top 10 Influencer in Digital Marketing. Wow—check out her peers!

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