The holiday season is quickly approaching, which means that one of the biggest sale weekends of the year is only about a month away. If you’re planning on running a sale, now’s a good time to think about the different ways you might want to promote it.
The most obvious way to promote a sale is with media advertising, be it TV or radio commercials, digital ads, or print ads in local magazines or newspapers. These have some of the widest reach of your different advertising options, but they’re also some of the most expensive forms of advertising. The audience for these also continues to offer diminishing returns, as people stop subscribing to print media, use streaming services to reduce or eliminate TV and radio ads, and scroll past many digital ads and banners.
Email campaigns are a relatively cheap way to get the message out about a sale. Emails can get deleted without ever being opened or blocked by spam filters, but if you manage your contact list well, you’re still likely to get opens and conversions on the emails you send, often for no more cost than a subscription plan for campaign software like Constant Contact or Mailchimp.
If you’re looking for additional ways to promote your sale by utilizing multiple marketing channels for broader coverage or want to explore more affordable options than traditional advertising, consider print and mail.
One of the easiest and most affordable ways to reach a larger audience is to send direct mail. As the number of digital ads people see has gone up, the amount of physical mail they receive has gone down, making it much easier to stand out in people’s mailboxes. Large, colorful postcards in particular stand out from plain white envelopes with bills, statements, and renewal notices in them.
For direct mail campaigns you can mail to a list you maintain of customers you already have and/or people that have indicated to you that they’re interested in hearing from you. Alternatively, Broadstroke can purchase a mailing list on your behalf of individuals or businesses that meet demographic parameters you set, like a certain zip code or income bracket and you can adjust the list accordingly to fit with your advertising budget. This gives you the opportunity to expand your reach to new potential customers that you think would be a good fit for purchasing from your business. It’s a more targeted and less expensive marketing option than media advertising.
If you’re not as concerned about targeting specific demographics and you’re just trying to reach a large audience at one of the most affordable advertising rates, you can opt to utilize Everyday Direct Mail (EDDM). EDDM mailings are sent at the lowest postage rate available, and are sent to valid addresses, not individuals or places of business.
Another advantage of postcards is that you can request that Broadstroke print additional blank cards that aren’t addressed, and you can use blanks as takeaways with sale information for customers that visit your business in person. Then you don’t have to design and print separate ad pieces for handing out in person or for visitors to take – although we’re happy to help you with separate print pieces too!
Speaking of print pieces, you have plenty of options both in traditional print and wide format. As mentioned before, doing a postcard and printing extra to hand out in person is a great way to minimize time spent designing and developing sales materials. But you can also do flyers, brochures, or even a catalog of new, popular, or trending products you sell.
It may surprise you to know that print catalogs are becoming increasingly popular again, with big retailers like Amazon and Target mailing out holiday catalogs each year to their customers. If you’re planning on doing catalogs, we recommend doing them first and getting them mailed or distributed so people can ‘shop’ your items in advance and have a plan for when your sale goes live. Other print items to consider are standalone redemption coupons or offers for a future purchase to hand out if someone makes purchases during your sale.
A great way to promote an upcoming sale is through signage, graphics, and decals at your storefront. If people are visiting your store, they’re already interested in what you’re selling, so take advantage of it. Post signs or banners around your store, add decals or graphics to your store windows and display banners and flags outside your building. By adding exterior signage to anything you have in store, you’ll also have a low-cost way to promote your sale to anyone in the vicinity of your store – whether they step inside or not.
Finally, if you want to hand out freebies, promotional items or giveaways during your sale, or you want staff to be wearing special shirts or uniforms, you should be thinking about and planning for those items at least a month in advance. Once you place an order for those items the standard turnaround time to receive them is about three weeks.
You don’t necessarily have to have a big budget to make your holiday sale a success. By utilizing different print and mail options you can stretch your dollars and reach a wide audience to get the word out.
