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Category: Holiday Marketing (Page 4 of 4)

Want Big Sales This Holiday Season? Target the Corporate Gift Market

August 27, 2015 /

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

If you really want to guarantee big sales this holiday season, one market you’ll want to consider targeting is the corporate market, and you will want to start preparing for it now.

how to get corporate gift sales

According to a report from the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI), last year companies were planning to spend $43 per customer (or prospective customer) on Christmas gifts and $50 per employee.

Typical gifts for customers were food baskets, bottles of wine, and desk accessories. Typical gifts for employees were gift cards, food/beverages, apparel and cash. 68% of corporate gifts will bear a company logo (for obvious reasons).

Therefore, do you offer a product and/or service that would be suitable as a corporate and/or employee gift?

How to Make Sure Your Products Work for Corporate Gifts

  1. Personalization – It would really help your chances if you allow for personalization of your product as companies do use corporate gifts as an advertising medium.
  2. Gift Packaging – If your products already come pre-packaged, ready for gift giving, you will be saving the company time and money.
  3. Quantities – Don’t approach a company with 500 employees if you can’t turnaround high quantities of product in a short time.
  4. Delivery – Companies will want to start sending out their corporate gifts in early December (but they will order in September and October), and hand out employee gifts in the first two weeks of December, so you will have to be able to meet these deadlines.
  5. Distribution – The company may want you to actually send the gifts directly to their clients, so make sure this is a service that you can offer.

How to Get Corporate Gift Sales

  1. You are best to approach local companies as they will typically want to support another local company.
  2. Employee gifts are usually sourced by the human resources department, so start there by hand delivering a sample (with gift packaging) and price list (with discounts for quantities ordered) to the Human Resources Manager (find names on LinkedIn).
  3. Mention to the HR Manager that your product/service would also work well as gifts for clients, customers and prospects, and they will likely pass this information along to the Sales Manager.
  4. Printout references and reviews from previous customers to give them some assurance as to the quality of your product/service.
  5. Make sure you understand the company’s business, their customers and their employees. For example, if the majority of their staff is young women, they will not be interested in men’s wallets.
  6. Approach companies in early October. September is too early and November is too late.

By the way, my 2017 Etsy Shop Marketing Plan does indicate that this is the month for sending out corporate gift inquiries, so if you haven’t downloaded my plan yet, you are missing out on other great sales opportunities.

© 2012-2017 Gail Oliver, Attention Getting Marketing. All rights reserved.

The Holiday Gift Guides You Really Want to Get Your Products Into

August 20, 2015 /

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

If you sell products online and want to take advantage of those huge holiday sales, then I highly recommend you re-read my post of two years ago, Why You Should Be Pitching Your Products for Holiday Gift Guides Now. However, today I want to give you a more current suggestion for getting holiday gift guide publicity.

how to get your products into holiday gift guides

Popular Pinners

You want to pitch to the lifestyle bloggers who are excelling at creating beautiful, comprehensive, and highly pinnable gift guides for Pinterest. One of my favorites is The Everygirl blog. Their gift guides are really well done, great at attracting attention on Pinterest and getting thousands of repins, not to mention turning up first in Pinterest search results. Other bloggers whose 2014 holiday gift guides also got huge circulation on Pinterest last year include:

All of these blogs create gift guides for every family member, every type of interest, so don’t be afraid to pitch your own category. Some of these blogs were also part of a mass marketing effort last year by a group of lifestyle bloggers, all promoting each other’s holiday gift guides, creating even wider exposure by tapping into each other’s social media following.

YouTube Vloggers

I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more holiday gift guides on YouTube this year. Many popular “vloggers” (people with popular YouTube channels) last year did holiday gift guides that were viewed by millions of people. Granted, most of these vloggers and their audience tend to be young, but they are recommending gifts for mom, dad, boyfriend, boss, your pet, etc., so it is a wider market than you think. Vloggers are known to get paid for endorsements, however, you should still pitch to them asking for consideration as an artisan/indie seller, and hopefully they haven’t completely sold out and would still recommend your product because they like it, not just because they got paid to say so. You would likely have to send them product to show. Here are a few vloggers who had popular gift guides last year:

Now, Before You Go….

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  • Check out my E-book shop on Gumroad for more creative ideas!

Thanks so much for your support!

Gail

© 2015 Gail Oliver, Attention Getting Marketing. All rights reserved.

New Year Promotional Marketing Idea

January 15, 2015 /

new year marketing promotion ideaNeed a cool new year promotional marketing idea? Every year people tend to make the same new year’s resolutions:

  • Lose weight
  • Get fit
  • Save money
  • Eat better
  • Get out of debt
  • Get organized
  • Look better

The start of a new year means a fresh start for many people, and it is something your small business can take advantage of.

Marketing a “New Year, Fresh Start” Product or Service

For example, I saw this “Fresh Start” box from subscription box company Birchbox mentioned in a variety of print magazines that had this type of “New Year, New You” editorial:

New Year Promotional Marketing Idea

Now, I don’t know how many of these products actually suit the theme, but it doesn’t really matter. They have packaged it for a specific marketing purpose that is important at this time of year, so I bet it will be successful for them.

I like how the stores, CWonder and Urban Outfitters, below, capitalize on the new year to get you to update your home décor, another fresh start:

New Year Promotional Marketing Idea

New Year Promotional Marketing Idea

Again, it gets buyers thinking that maybe updating their decor will give them the new start they need, lift their spirits, make them feel like they are making positive changes, and so forth. It works on the psychology of why sometimes people buy (to make themselves feel better). 

A “New Year, Fresh Start” Marketing Pitch Can Apply to Any Business
  • A financial planner can capitalize on people’s need to save money, get out of debt, plan for their future, and organize their finances with a special, “Get our Financial Fit Plan for 2023”.
  • An orthodontist office can convince people to finally get their teeth straightened with a “New Year, New Smile” campaign.
  • A dietician can gain lots of new customers with a “Eat Right in 2023” marketing push.
  • A clothing company can hope women will invest in a new wardrobe with a “Ready to Revamp Your Look for 2023?” tactic.

Remember, people love the idea of “new” and making crucial changes to their lives, so figure out how your small business can capitalize on this time of year. Also, start planning a new year marketing promotional idea for 2023 now, so you can pitch to the print media in September/October with hopes of being included in their January editorial.

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About Me

A 20+ year marketing professional, small business consultant, ebook author & blogger, my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, American Express, Yahoo Finance, Go Banking Rates, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust! Read more about my services, products and marketing plans.

I have consulted for thousands of small businesses since 2012. It really does help to talk to someone who is objective to get a new, but professional, perspective. I have also written publicity pitches for clients that resulted in them being featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride,– just to name a few. More about my Publicity Pitch service.

© 2012-2015 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. New Year Promotional Marketing Idea

3 Christmas Traditions That Turned Into Marketing Genius

December 8, 2014 /

marketing Christmas traditionsMarketing Christmas Traditions is definitely a thing.

I have been noticing that some tried and true Christmas traditions have been slightly modified to become hot and trendy product offerings in today’s marketplace, from ugly Christmas sweaters to Advent calendars to Santa photos. What holiday traditions can your business modify for marketing gold? Consider how these ones have changed:

The Ugly Christmas Sweater

How popular has the ugly Christmas sweater become? I actually gave an idea to one of my pet business clients a couple of years back to come up with an ugly Christmas sweater for a dog. What dog owner wouldn’t buy that? But now companies, recognizing the crazy popularity on social media, have taken this popular phenomenon and made it into other products.

The online fashion retailer, Top Shop, for example, raised the level of the ugly sweater and has a special section on their website entitled, Novelty Glam Sweaters (they even make it sound better), with slightly more fashionable designs.

Then there is also the Ugly Christmas Sweater Kit ($30 at Nordstrom) aimed at teen girls that still want to express their individuality.

Marketing Christmas Traditions

Advent Calendars

Advent calendars holding a small piece of chocolate for each day of December have been around since the 1950s. Then Lego got the brilliant idea years ago to come up with their Advent calendar and I went from spending $3 on a calendar to spending $50.

Other companies have jumped on the Advent calendar craze as well, from offering whisky (Drinks by the Dram) to nail polish (Ciaté London). It is a great way to get customers to try a variety of your products or introduce them to new ones. Plus, they are great for generating publicity for your business. Also read, Why an Advent Calendar is an Amazing Marketing Tool.

Marketing Christmas Traditions. 

Marketing Christmas Traditions

Santa Photos

Malls and photo shops have been doing the traditional photo on Santa’s knee since anyone can remember. However today’s malls have now decided to capitalize on the crazy success of the kid’s Disney movie, Frozen, and offer a winter theme Frozen experience in addition to their annual Santa photo, even encouraging young girls to come dressed in their Elsa or Anna dresses for the photo. Why didn’t anyone think of this years ago when the movie Elf came out? Recreating the scene from the toy store would be a big hit!

Marketing Christmas Traditions

Have I been able to inspire you for this Christmas? It is never to early to start thinking about how you can take a holiday tradition and make it work for your small business, even if just for the publicity it would generate.

My Most Popular Posts
About Me

A 20+ year marketing professional, small business consultant, ebook author & blogger, my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, American Express, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust! Read more about my services, products and marketing plans.

I have consulted for thousands of small businesses since 2012. It really does help to talk to someone who is objective to get a new, but professional, perspective. I have also written publicity pitches for clients that resulted in them being featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride,– just to name a few. More about my Publicity Pitch service.

© 2012-2014 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Marketing Christmas Traditions. 

Small Business Saturday Marketing Ideas

October 22, 2014 /

Small business Saturday marketing ideas

Updated for 2022. Looking for some Small Business Saturday marketing ideas for both retail and online businesses?

In case you are not aware, Small Business Saturday (SBS) takes place every year on the Saturday after the US Thanksgiving. Therefore, Small Business Saturday 2022 will be November 26th.

The goal is to drive business to local stores, restaurants and other establishments so that they get their share of local holiday spending dollars.

Here are some ideas to ramp up your marketing efforts for Small Business Saturday:

Small Business Saturday Marketing Idea #1: Email Your Local Customers

Hopefully you have been asking your customers and online visitors for email sign ups. If you’re a retail shop, you should be doing this every day in your store, so you can take advantage of opportunities such as these.

One of the best ways for a retail shop to get emails is to ask customers to fill out a ballot for a draw. Read my post, How To Keep Customers Coming Back to Your Retail Store for more of these types of ideas.

If you’re an online store, you should be separating your local customers’ emails from your non-local customers, just for the purpose of SBS. Send just one email (use emojis in the subject line to get their attention) and make a fabulous one-day only offer (it has to be really good, like 40% off) just for them. Give them a code to quote to get the discount and encourage them to share with all of their friends and relatives in the area. Even encourage curb site pickup if possible.

Small Business Saturday Marketing Idea #2: Reach Out to Local Business Reporters

Email the editor of your local newspaper (do it this 2 weeks prior or you’ll be too late!) asking if they are planning any articles on local companies offering special offers or unique in-store attractions for Small Business Saturday. Then be sure to quickly mention a special you will be offering in hopes they will include you as part of the story.

For online stores, ask the editor if they will consider doing a separate article focusing on local businesses selling online. It can’t hurt to put the idea in their head as they will be looking for interesting story ideas on this subject.

Small Business Saturday Marketing Idea #3: Follow the Social Media Pages of Popular Local Sites

Your local market tends to follow social media pages for their local newspapers, sports teams, radio stations, event listings and so forth. So make sure that you are following these pages as well. This way you can comment on their Facebook posts, for example, and now their followers will see the name of your business.

Make sure that you change your Facebook avatar to reflect a Small Business Saturday sale offer. This will help to further get their attention. Your local newspaper might even be posting local businesses with specials and sales on their social media pages. If you can’t get in on this post, at very least you can comment on it and mention your special offers.

Small Business Saturday Marketing Idea #4: Run Localized Google Ads  

Consider running a Google ad for your online store, just for the month of November, or last two weeks of November. This will encompass not only Small Business Saturday, but also Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you make it a “localized” ad to just your city, it will be much more affordable. Be sure to include some of the popular SBS search phrases in your keyword list for the ad.

Small Business Saturday Marketing Idea #5: If You Sell On Etsy

If you sell on a marketplace like Etsy, make sure you have entered your city in your profile (if you haven’t already) as customers can search for shops this way. You will also want to mention your city again in your shop title and  in your shop description, if only just for Small Business Saturday (you can remove it from here after that). You can also mention it in some of your listing tags, as people do search “Boston Shops”, for example.

For your regular website, you should always have your city in your title tag and on your home page, especially since so many people use “near me” searches. For example:

Designer Pet Collars, Pet Bandanas and Pet Tags | Boston MA

Even change your shop banner just for the day with a graphic that shows a photo of a landmark specific to your city and that you are i.e. “Boston Proud”.

Small Business Saturday Marketing Idea #6: Aline with Other Small Businesses

Pair up with a few other retail and online shops in your city who sell complimentary (but not competing) products and ask if they wish to form some sort of alliance. In other words, they will mention you on their website/online shop if you mention them on yours. Kind of like a blog roll of local shops to check out on Small Business Saturday.

Again, you only have to keep this on your site for the week prior to, and the days after Small Business Saturday. Even use the #s4s hash tag (shoutout for shoutout) on Instagram to help promote your fellow local businesses and vice versa.

Small Business Saturday Marketing Idea #7: Get In Store Support 

For online stores, you could take this a step further and approach popular local merchants and see if they will try carrying your products in a small section of their store for just one Saturday, entitled, “Support Local Small Business“. Tell them you will bring all of your friends, family and customers to their shop that day. It could result in press for them as well (local shop supports local business).

Small Business Saturday Marketing Idea #8: “Localize” Your Marketing Materials

small business Saturday marketing ideasOne of my best Small Business Saturday marketing ideas is to add local labels or tags to your products (such as the logo above which you can download at my Etsy shop and use license free) so that customers are influenced by the fact that your products are home-grown. For online stores, you can use these when you sell at local craft shows or local shops. American Express also has free Shop Small marketing templates you can use.

Small Business Saturday Marketing Idea #9: Use Hashtags

Send off some Tweets or Instagram posts using the #hash tags:

    • #SmallBusinessSaturday
    • #SmallBusinessSaturday2021
    • #SmallBusinessSupport
    • #SmallBizSaturday
    • #ShopSmall 
    • #ShopLocal
    • #SmallBizSat
    • #SmallBusiness
    • #SmallBusinesses
    • #SmallBusinessOwner

Again, add your city at the end to get to your local market i.e. #SmallBusinessSaturdayBoston (make sure your Twitter profile lists your city and change your Twitter Trends box to see what is trending in your city). Also, retweet the tweets of other businesses in your city and they may return the favor.

Small Business Saturday Marketing Idea #10: Business Listings

Furthermore, make sure you have set up a profile on Yelp, Google My Business and Yahoo Local well in advance of Small Business Saturday. These listings are free and they help you to show up in local search results. In the case of Yelp, add a photo/image of any special you are offering for Small Business Saturday.

Need more marketing ideas for your small business? Check out my 12-Month Marketing Strategy Plans for a variety of different types of businesses.

Small Business Consultations

Since 2012 I have advised thousands of small businesses and I can help yours too. My very affordable Phone Consultations provide experienced and professional advice, feedback and direction as well as specific tactics to market and promote your small business.

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© 2012-2021 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Small Business Saturday Marketing Ideas. 

3 Marketing Ideas To Try To Get Holiday Shoppers

November 18, 2013 /

Marketing-ideas-holiday-shoppersThe big holiday shopping season is upon us.

If you need marketing ideas to get holiday shoppers into your retail store, then try these three marketing tactics and see if they bring in the buyers you are looking for.

1. Relook at How You Are Using Twitter

Please stop just tweeting out your products. It doesn’t work. Instead, create and then tweet out a Pinterest board, with a really attention grabbing title like Gifts for Men Who Have Everything (i.e.  and make sure a few of your products are amongst them). Use the trending hash tags #gifts, #Christmas, #Pinterest #BlackFriday and you’ll see better results. Use the camera icon in the bottom left corner of the Twitter box to include a photo of the board. Encourage people to RT.

marketing ideas holiday shoppers

2. Use the Senses to Draw Shoppers In

If you have a retail shop, place of business or are exhibiting at a show or event, draw people in ways you can’t always online. Through smell, sight, taste and sound. Decorate your store windows, door, signage, shopping mall cart, whatever you’ve got. It doesn’t have to be for Christmas, it can just even be for winter and it can be something quirky like Anthropologie using marshmallows as snow in the photo above (note: you can also use a cool window display to get publicity in your local paper). Have holiday music playing and piped out into the street (if allowed). Have some sort of amazing scent, whether it is food or a holiday scent like cinnamon luring them in. Hand out hot chocolate or pumpkin lattes with your business name on the cups. Bring the spirit and you’ll bring the shoppers.

marketing ideas holiday shoppers

Store Window at Anthropologie

3. Display Quirky Signage

People love funny, love quirky and they love quotes. Put up interesting signage that gets people talking, and in this case, are good calls to action. Sometimes people don’t need much convincing to buy something they probably don’t need, especially at those Black Friday sales (44% of Black Friday shoppers buy for themselves).

marketing ideas holiday shoppers

One of the best ways to drive endless, free and qualified traffic to your business is through a blog. If done correctly, over time, one blog post can bring anywhere from 2,000 to 20,000 visits a month. And SEO has proven to convert the highest into sales, more so than email, advertising or social media. I offer a blog writing service if interested!

Read more advice on my blog.

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© 2013 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Marketing ideas holiday shoppers. 

8 Creative Holiday Promotional Ideas for Your Online Shop

November 13, 2013 /

If you sell online and are looking for some creative marketing ideas to help increase holiday sales at your online shop, try some of these:

Don’t Just Promote Gift Ideas

Position your products not just as potential gifts, but also sell as part of the holiday experience. For example, include a fly-out on the product photo that says, “Ideal Christmas Party Outfit” or “For the Holiday Table” or “Perfect for Santa Photo”.

Offer a Flat Shipping Rate 

High shipping costs do turn customers away. However, if you can’t offer free shipping, then offer a “Holiday Flat Shipping Rate” such as $8 or $9.95. This way there are no surprises at checkout and no abandoned carts.

Screen shot 2013-12-08 at 7.31.57 PM

Add a Little Holiday Décor 

I love these animated “snowing” photos on West Elm’s site and the holly decorations at Ones Kings Lane.

Allow for the Creation of a Wish List 

Give customers the ability to make a wish list and email it to themselves or the potential gift giver. If you can’t do that, then encourage them to pin your products to their Christmas Gift Wish Board (if they don’t have one, you just gave them the idea).

Promote Gift Cards 

You should have a separate listing for a gift card and at the end of each product listing remind buyers again with either a link or icon that tells the buyer, “Can’t Decide? Go for our Gift Card, available here…”.

Holiday Promotional Ideas for Your Online Shop

Create Gift Inspiration Boards 

Get together with some other complimentary online stores (not competitive) and create a Gift Inspiration Board. Then all of you circulate it on your social media sites extending the reach of it even further.

Holiday Promotional Ideas for Your Online Shop

Gift Inspiration Board at Eat.Drink.Shop.Love

 Get Found on Social Media 

Use your hash tags when promoting your products on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram and Pinterest such as #gift, #Christmas, #GiftForHer, etc.

Holiday Promotional Ideas for Your Online Shop

Remind Buyers of Less Obvious Recipients

Not all gifts are for him or her. There are a lot of searches such as, “gifts for boyfriend’s parents”, “gifts for Dad who has everything”, “gift for employees” (get those volume sales!), and “ideas for stocking stuffers”.

Holiday Promotional Ideas for Your Online Shop

About Me

Do you need your Brand Story written or an SEO-Optimized Blog Post or a Personalized Business Consultation? As a 20+ year marketing professional and small business consultant, all of my services are super affordable.

I have consulted for thousands of small businesses since 2012, and my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, Yahoo Business, American Express, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust!

My Publicity Pitch service has also gotten my clients featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride,– just to name a few.

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© 2013 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Holiday Promotional Ideas for Your Online Shop

Get Your Products Into These Top Holiday Gift Guides

October 23, 2013 /

top holiday gift guidesRemember back in July when I told you, Why You Should Start Pitching to Holiday Gift Guides Now? Well, the holiday buying season is upon us and pretty much every online newspaper, magazine and blog will have a gift guide. These are great opportunities for free publicity, so here are 5 holiday gift guides you should be approaching NOW.

Today Show– This is the top holiday gift guide that appears on page one of Google search, with 24 million visits a month.

InStyle – This site comes in second, and covers all kinds of gifts from tech to beauty, with over 6 million visits a month.

Goop – Goop is from the high end lifestyle blog, but it tends to favor very expensive products for its gift guides and typically top brands.

Good Housekeeping – Good Housekeeping is a women’s magazine has been around for decades, but its online gift guides always rank high in search. They like gift ideas for all members of the family and typically under $100.

Your Local Newspaper – Don’t forget your local newspaper. Local media loves local business, so pitch the gift guide idea to the Lifestyle editor today!

How to Pitch to Get Included in a Holiday Gift Guide

You will see the name of the writer or editor on last year’s gift guide. Provided they haven’t moved on from the publication, that is who you should pitch to. Send them an email with “Product Submission for your Holiday Gift Guide” in the email subject line.

A small tip, do not attach anything to the email as this is the quickest way for your email to end up in their spam folder. Instead, include a link to the product, pricing and contact information. Keep it short and sweet, they don’t have time to read a long-winded pitch.

Good luck and let me know your success at getting your products into the holiday gift guides!

Need Help Marketing Your Online Business?

With 20+ years experience in all aspects of marketing (I know, I look young), I currently specialize in helping small businesses selling online, and I make it very affordable! Just see my Shopify store above, or email me at attentiongetting@gmail.com.

© 2013 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved.

Pitch Your Products to be in Holiday Gift Guides NOW

July 3, 2013 /

holiday gift guide pitchesIt’s that time of year for holiday gift guide pitches.

Major magazines typically work about four months in advance. So in other words, right now they are planning their November issues, and a big part of any November issue is a holiday gift guide. So if you want your products to be included, you need to be pitching them to editors now (in late July).

When you pitch your products to be included in a gift guide, there are few things you need to include in your pitch:

  • Specify who the potential recipients could be, such as husband, wife, daughter, boss, teacher, etc.
  • Specify the price, as a lot of gift guides are categorized as such i.e. Gifts $25 and under, Gifts $25 to $50, etc.
  • Specify the type of person who would like it. For example, the Fashionista, the Fitness Buff, the Geek, the New Mom, etc.Holiday Gift Guide Pitches
  • Specify if the gift gives back (part of the proceeds go to charity, shop supports third world vendors, etc.)

Holiday issues are typically the most widely read issues of the year. So you can also pitch your products to be included in other aspects of the magazine’s holiday editorial. Consider these suggestions:

  • Decorating – Do you have products that work for holiday decor? Pitch those for decorating articles.
  • Entertaining – All those holiday parties require food, serve ware and table decor. Pitches those products for holiday entertaining articles.
  • Travel – The holidays are high travel times and magazines are always writing about products that make it easier. Pitches those for holiday travel articles.
  • Fashion – Maybe your products add to the perfect outfit to wear to a holiday party, Christmas day or New Year’s Eve. Pitch those for holiday fashion articles.
  • Cards – Holiday cards, as well as invitations to parties, house warmings, etc., are obviously in big demand. Pitch those for Holiday cards and invitation articles.
  • Photos – Everyone wants that family photo for the holiday card, so it’s a great time to promote any product that will enhance the photo i.e. special outfit for new baby, Santa hat for dog, Happy Holidays sign, etc. Pitch those for holiday photo articles.

Holiday sales are usually the biggest of the year for most businesses, so don’t wait until the last minute to plan for it, or you may be too late. There are over 80 holiday gift guide media contacts in my 2022 Etsy Holiday Planner digital download below. 

More Holiday Marketing Articles:Holiday Gift Guide Pitches

Check out my Etsy shop for marketing plans, planners and other downloads.

© 2013 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Holiday Gift Guide Pitches.

Valentines Day Marketing Ideas

January 2, 2013 /

Need some Valentines Day Marketing Ideas?

Now that Christmas is over, the next big selling opportunity is Valentine’s Day, so get an early jump on those sales.

All the blogs, newspapers and magazines will be running Valentine’s Gift Guides, mostly aimed at the male who is assumed to have no idea what to buy the woman in his life.valentines day marketing ideas

Again, you are targeting the gift buyer so this is not necessary your target market, but the people buying for your target market. It is also, most of the time, the opposite sex. In other words, if you are use to selling to men, you will now be selling to women who are buying for their men.

Valentines Day Marketing Ideas for Men
  • Men buy more impulsively. They don’t shop around, they don’t compare prices. If they have clicked on your item, you are 95% there, all you have to do is close the sale. i.e. “I guarantee she’ll love it. Buy now and get 10% off using the coupon code VD2013.“
  • Men buy at the last minute. Most men are not going to think about buying a Valentine’s gift in January. They are thinking about it a few days before. Therefore, you have to be sure to let them know that you can get it to them in time for February 14th, and already gift wrapped if needed.
  • Men love “free” gifts. Men like feeling as if they paid one price but got something “extra” for their girlfriend/wife, even if they don’t realize the price of the “free” gift was worked into the product price. If you have anything extra you can throw in, it will probably help seal the deal.
  • Men like to share and make the lives of other men easier, so encourage them to tell all their male friends about your shop for the women in their lives.

Now, if you normally sell products to men, you have to change your message for women who are thinking about buying your product as a gift for the man in their life.

Valentines Day Marketing Ideas for Women
  • Women think they know what men want, but they really don’t. Therefore, you need testimonials and recommendations from male customers that this is a popular item that all men will love.
  • Women don’t buy quickly. They shop around so let them know this is the best price point, the best features, that they won’t find a better option anywhere else. In fact, encourage conversation as women like to feel the personal connection when buying.
  • Women want to add that sentimental message so make sure you offer personalization to your products if you can.
  • Women do shop early, so start targeting them NOW, before everyone else is.
  • Women also buy Valentine’s gifts for mothers and children, so be sure to let them know if you have products that suit these markets as well, for a one stop shopping experience.

Try your own survey. Ask the men and women in your  life what influences their gift purchases and make sure to incorporate these factors into your Valentine’s Day sales pitch.

Valentines Day is a great opportunity for any online shop, so I thought I would start you off with a few interesting facts.

Valentines Day Spending Statistics

According to the National Retail Federation, last year Americans spent $18.9 billion on Valentines Day. The average person spent $142.31 with $96.63 of that on a gift for their spouse/Valentine. The leftover $45.68 was spent on other family members, friends, coworkers, pets, children’s classmates or teachers.

On average, men spend $190.53 (with $128.90 of that on his actual Valentine) and women spend $96.58, of which $62.47 was on a gift for their Valentine.

The biggest sellers will be cards, followed by flowers (mostly male buyers), candy, going out, jewelry, clothing and gift cards.

Another interesting stat to note is that the interest in the holiday drops off after the age of 44. Therefore, you might want to spend your time focusing on men, ages 18 to 44, with items in the $100 to $130 range.

Popular Valentines Gift Searches

Let’s start a chat on SEO by going over to Amazon to see how people are searching for Valentines gifts. I noticed a slight difference between men and women.

Men are Searching:
  • Valentines Gifts for Her Bundle
  • Valentines Gifts for Her Basket
  • Valentines Gifts for Her Sexy
  • Valentines Gifts for Her Necklace
  • Valentines Gifts for Her Chocolate
  • Valentines Gifts for Her Clothes
  • Valentines Gifts for Her Jewelry
Women are Searching:
  • Valentines Gift for Him Sexy
  • Valentines Gift for Him Basket
  • Valentines Gift for Him Funny
  • Valentines Gift for Him Star Wars
  • Valentines Gift for Him Bracelets
  • Valentines Gift for Him Beer
  • Valentines Gift for Him Football

You can see that sexy always makes the list, as does basket. Women appear to be a little more vague about the actual type of product, while men zero in on it.

Descriptive Searches for Valentines Gifts

When trying to optimize your product listings for “Valentines gifts“, are you making sure that you are not just relying on the typical search phrases that have SO much competition?  The truth is, gift buyers actually search may different ways. For example, buyers search using certain adjectives, such as:

  • Cute Valentines Gifts
  • Unique Valentines Gifts
  • Romantic Valentines Gifts
  • Cool Valentines Gifts
  • Creative Valentines Gifts
  • Personalized Valentines Gifts
  • Sexy Valentines Gift
  • Fun Valentines Gifts
  • Funny Valentines Gifts
  • Nerdy Valentines Gift
  • Naughty Valentines Gift
  • Wood Valentines Gift
  • Edible Valentines Gifts
  • Long Distance Valentines Gift
  • Matching Valentines Gift

Just to note, the MOST popular adjective for Valentines day gifts for him and for her on Google was “cute“.

Who People are Buying Valentines Gifts For

Buyers also search by leading OR ending with who it is for, such as:

  • Mens Valentines Gifts
  • Kids Valentines Gifts
  • Women’s Valentines Gifts
  • Boyfriend Valentines Gifts
  • Girlfriend Valentines Gifts
  • Wife Valentines Gifts
  • Valentines Gifts for husband
  • Valentines Gifts for daughter
  • Valentines Gifts for son
  • Valentines Gifts for class
  • Valentines Gifts for teacher
  • Valentines Gifts for friends

There are also a lot of searches for “new” such as “Valentines gift for new boyfriend”, new girlfriend, new relationship, new mom, new dad…

Customers also search with a specific product in mind, such as:

  • Valentines Gift Candle
  • Valentines Gift Jewelry
  • Valentines Gift Art
  • Valentines Gift Earrings
  • Valentines Gift Lingerie
  • Valentines Gift Painting

And some buyers will mix a few of these search phrases together (remember, some people enter search phrases verbally on their phones):

  • Romantic Valentines Day Gifts for Him 

As I said, the order of the search phrase is usually interchangeable, as people will search, “Jewelry Valentine’s Gifts” and “Valentine’s Gifts Jewelry“.

There are also twice as many searches for “Valentine’s gifts for him” as there are “Valentine’s gifts for her“, meaning more women are shopping online for their Valentine than guys are.

“Personalized gifts for him” has 10 times the number of searches as “personalized gifts for her“, showing that personalization is NOT a big concern to the male shopper.

More Valentines Day Marketing Ideas
  • Change your shop banner and social media banners to advertise Valentines gift ideas.
  • Add a Valentines Gift category to your shop, and if you can specify, “Valentines Gifts for Him”, Valentines Gifts for Her”, “Valentines Gifts for Kids”, etc., even better.
  • Let people know the final order date in order to receive items in time for Valentine’s Day (which is a Sunday).
  • Offer cards and gift wrap either as a value-add or for an extra fee.
  • No later than January 20th, email customers Valentines Day Specials with categories such as “Gifts Under $50” “Gifts Under $25”, etc.
More Holiday Marketing Ideas
Be Sure to Also Check Out

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