Connecting With Customers Over The Holidays

The pumpkin spice reign is now over; eggnog and gingerbread lattes are emerging in their red cups of glory while holiday playlists are on repeat, everywhere.

With a cascade of dinner parties, people are busier and more stuffed than ever. So how do you keep in touch with your customers when everyone else is fighting for a spot at the dinner table?

Be Social.

Utilizing social media over the holidays is a great way to remain on your customers’ minds. Not only can you use it to alert consumers of existing deals, you can also offer exclusive sales to your followers.

Mixing in photos of how your office celebrates the holidays, along with sharing your favorite holiday post will help to keep your customers in the holiday spirit. The goal is to remind everyone why you are a great company to work with.

E-mail.

Your open rates may be down; however, some people use the holidays to sort through the 1,000+ emails they have in their inbox. Just remember:

1. Templates: Tis the season, make sure to show it in your e-mail templates. Even upgrading to a basic snowflake banner can help capture your customers eye. Plus — it’s fun. Check out www.fiverr.com for a cheap ($5) way to cheer up your corporate branding.
2. Content: It might be tempting to just sell, sell, sell but make sure to mix in some other content as well. Whether it is a season’s greeting, a thank you, or a helpful tip, your readers will rejoice. About 1/4 of your content should be non-sales focused.
3. Target: As always, you want to set objectives, segment, plan, send to a clean list and review. After writing your e-mail, think about setting triggers for deployment. Your customers aren’t the only busy ones during the holidays; timed deployment might help you handle the holiday stress.

Plan Campaigns.

A few campaigns you might want to think about are:

1. December Holiday Sale- Jump on the bandwagon and help companies close out their 2014 budgets.
2. 2014 — The year in review — not just on your company, but also pop-culture, politics, and other events of interest. Keep an eye on your inbox, you will be getting the official Rethink Christmas Letter in a couple weeks.
3. 2015 (Predictions) — Who will win best picture? Super Bowl? Or if you want to stay corporate — what should customers expect from you in 2015?

Don’t be forgotten this holiday season, make the effort to connect with your customers. Who knows, you might not get invited to dinner, but you could find yourself a spot under the tree.