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Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Marketing Ideas

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How toWhat WorksWhat Doesn'tNew ApproachesTips for Beginners
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Thanksgiving Marketing Ideas

Thanksgiving may be the best time of year to thank your customers, clients or patients for their business and referrals.

Many businesses send holiday cards to clients and customers in December.  Most of these cards seem very generic and come at a time of year when a lot of other cards and gifts are being exchanged.  Your cards may stand out more if you send them to arrive before Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving marketing ideas

1.  Send personal cards or notes to your customers

Perhaps a photo postcard of everyone in your office with a printed note thanking a customer, patient or client for their business and referrals. 

It will stand out more if the customer's name is hand written and the card is signed by someone and a personal note is included. 

Use blue ink, not black or red. 

  • Cards and Invitations has all kinds of ideas for electronic and printed cards
  • Postcards has more ideas if you want to mail something
  • Call your best customers and personally thank them for their business. 

 

TIP:  "My best Christmas marketing idea is actually to market at Thanksgiving. Back in my previous life as a Banker I lost a big client because I sent a gift at Christmas, he was Jewish. I now send Thanksgiving cards wishing them a wonderful holiday season. The great thing is that I'm the first card they get for the season so I'm not lost in the pile. Each year I always get a new job from a returning client. Sending something at Thanksgiving will not offend anyone."  Gail Mayhugh in Las Vegas with GMJinteriors.com

If you decide to send greetings for Thanksgiving...

Send an email or greeting card to your customer list. A photo of your staff may be eye-catching.  Include a holiday offer or compelling message. 

TIP:  MeebleMail has templates for email that make emails look like stationery.  That's a simple way to make your emails stand out from the crowd. 
If you use Microsoft Outlook, check out the options from them for free.  PaperlessPost, Evite, Wufoo, Eventbrite and Facebook Events are also free or low cost ways to invite people to events, create forms and communicate in a more personal way via email.
 
TIP:  this is a good time to learn about and start lifecycle marketing.  Lifecycle marketing starts with the customer and their needs.  The goal of lifecycle marketing is to build loyal, long-term customers.  How?  By using data about a customer and their behavior (what they buy, when they buy, how they buy, along with what else they look at and share) as a way to determine and trigger what information will be relevant and valued by them at each stage of their purchase cycle and over their lifetime as a customer. 
  • Lifecycle Marketing
 
 
2.  Consider sending gifts to your best clients and customers at Thanksgiving

Your gift will stand out more than if it's sent during the holiday rush. 
 
Great business gifts are: unique, difficult to acquire, thoughtful, expensive or very relevant to a person's specific interests. 
 
How about something to eat that will make your clients and customers also smile?  Cake Pops makes custom "cake pops" like these shown for Thanksgiving.  Learn more here:
https://www.facebook.com/ReginasCakePops
 
 
What not to send as a gift?
 
  1. "Logo wear" - hats, t-shirts, pens, calendars, etc. with your company's logo on them - are NOT things that anyone will consider "a gift".  That's like giving a photo of your baby to someone you work with - it's not something that "special" to them.
  2. Gift cards and coupons are also not recommended as client/customer gifts.  They don't look like you "cared enough to send the very best." 
 
Business gifts that are typically appreciated? 
A beautiful plant (like a gardenia), a dozen roses (for a woman), a fragrant flower lei shipped direct from Hawaii, or tickets with great seats. 
 
If you're sending a gift to a group of people, high-end food is always a good choice.   Know that some companies have limits on how much a gift can be worth that an employee can accept.  For some companies that's $100 and for others it's $500.  Call and ask a secretary what the gift giving limits are.
 
  • Gift Giving Ideas - has a summary of research to help with choosing a gift someone will actually like

 

If your small business sells business gifts, please leave a comment on this article or click on this link to send the Editors an email so others can learn about and support your small business. 

 

Next page - lots more Thanksgiving marketing ideas...including something that you may want to share with your customers on Facebook

 

Page  of 3

Please tell your friends and colleagues about MarketingZone
Share |
Comment on This Article

Costs & Ways to SaveFast PassTools & ServicesResultsResources
How toWhat WorksWhat Doesn'tNew ApproachesTips for Beginners
Page  of 3

Thanksgiving Marketing Ideas

Thanksgiving may be the best time of year to thank your customers, clients or patients for their business and referrals.

Many businesses send holiday cards to clients and customers in December.  Most of these cards seem very generic and come at a time of year when a lot of other cards and gifts are being exchanged.  Your cards may stand out more if you send them to arrive before Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving marketing ideas

1.  Send personal cards or notes to your customers

Perhaps a photo postcard of everyone in your office with a printed note thanking a customer, patient or client for their business and referrals. 

It will stand out more if the customer's name is hand written and the card is signed by someone and a personal note is included. 

Use blue ink, not black or red. 

  • Cards and Invitations has all kinds of ideas for electronic and printed cards
  • Postcards has more ideas if you want to mail something
  • Call your best customers and personally thank them for their business. 

 

TIP:  "My best Christmas marketing idea is actually to market at Thanksgiving. Back in my previous life as a Banker I lost a big client because I sent a gift at Christmas, he was Jewish. I now send Thanksgiving cards wishing them a wonderful holiday season. The great thing is that I'm the first card they get for the season so I'm not lost in the pile. Each year I always get a new job from a returning client. Sending something at Thanksgiving will not offend anyone."  Gail Mayhugh in Las Vegas with GMJinteriors.com

If you decide to send greetings for Thanksgiving...

Send an email or greeting card to your customer list. A photo of your staff may be eye-catching.  Include a holiday offer or compelling message. 

TIP:  MeebleMail has templates for email that make emails look like stationery.  That's a simple way to make your emails stand out from the crowd. 
If you use Microsoft Outlook, check out the options from them for free.  PaperlessPost, Evite, Wufoo, Eventbrite and Facebook Events are also free or low cost ways to invite people to events, create forms and communicate in a more personal way via email.
 
TIP:  this is a good time to learn about and start lifecycle marketing.  Lifecycle marketing starts with the customer and their needs.  The goal of lifecycle marketing is to build loyal, long-term customers.  How?  By using data about a customer and their behavior (what they buy, when they buy, how they buy, along with what else they look at and share) as a way to determine and trigger what information will be relevant and valued by them at each stage of their purchase cycle and over their lifetime as a customer. 
  • Lifecycle Marketing
 
 
2.  Consider sending gifts to your best clients and customers at Thanksgiving

Your gift will stand out more than if it's sent during the holiday rush. 
 
Great business gifts are: unique, difficult to acquire, thoughtful, expensive or very relevant to a person's specific interests. 
 
How about something to eat that will make your clients and customers also smile?  Cake Pops makes custom "cake pops" like these shown for Thanksgiving.  Learn more here:
https://www.facebook.com/ReginasCakePops
 
 
What not to send as a gift?
 
  1. "Logo wear" - hats, t-shirts, pens, calendars, etc. with your company's logo on them - are NOT things that anyone will consider "a gift".  That's like giving a photo of your baby to someone you work with - it's not something that "special" to them.
  2. Gift cards and coupons are also not recommended as client/customer gifts.  They don't look like you "cared enough to send the very best." 
 
Business gifts that are typically appreciated? 
A beautiful plant (like a gardenia), a dozen roses (for a woman), a fragrant flower lei shipped direct from Hawaii, or tickets with great seats. 
 
If you're sending a gift to a group of people, high-end food is always a good choice.   Know that some companies have limits on how much a gift can be worth that an employee can accept.  For some companies that's $100 and for others it's $500.  Call and ask a secretary what the gift giving limits are.
 
  • Gift Giving Ideas - has a summary of research to help with choosing a gift someone will actually like

 

If your small business sells business gifts, please leave a comment on this article or click on this link to send the Editors an email so others can learn about and support your small business. 

 

Next page - lots more Thanksgiving marketing ideas...including something that you may want to share with your customers on Facebook

 

Page  of 3

Please tell your friends and colleagues about MarketingZone
Share |
Comment on This Article

  
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