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Lesson Info

Plan Your Holiday Promotions: When?

So we have already accomplished a lot today on dh I think everybody's brains are a little full on everyone's feeling a little bit panicked, but that's ok? Because now what we're going to dio in this last segment is we're going to put it all together, so we're actually going to build your holiday marketing master plan, and what that really means is we're going tio put everything we talked about onto your calendar and create our action plan and to do list so that you feel really prepared to move forward, and you know what you need to do on any given day to market your business for the holidays. So in planning our holiday promotions, that means we're starting with the when we have to figure out when all of these things are taking place. And I want to remind everyone that the black friday cyber monday weekend accounts for only ten percent of all holiday sales, and what that means is really that the holidays are a marathon and not a one weekend sprint it's a much longer period of time. And ...

so we want to be prepared, and we want to have everything scheduled out so that we're really clear as to what's going on and remember, you control the timing of your holiday promotions so you don't have tio do a sale on black friday or promote on any given day you can go ahead and choose what works for you and promote around it so what we're going to do to start we're gonna plot your first and second tier holiday promotions and what I thought would really help you guys is if I actually showed you what that looks like for me and my business first and then you can go ahead and we're actually gonna pull someone up and work through it with someone else's business is well so the first thing that I do when I'm plotting my holiday promotions is I pull out my calendar seems obvious but that's where we're going to start on dh so what I've done here is I want a head and I pulled out my top tier promotions in pink because that's the color of our slides on dh then I pulled out my second tier promotions and other things that I'm doing in this other color so I started all the way in august partly because that's when the hurt my holiday planning starts but also because I wanted to know sort of what that earlier launch cycle looks like so you talked about possibly doing a sale in september I have things happening in september to so I wanted to plot those on my calendar so I could think about the full you know, full holiday marketing season so for me a huge first year promotion that happens is this gift show in august so that's in my first year promotions and I worked backwards from that to do kind of the lead up in the build up to that as well. But then I went in and really when we see any of these second tier promotions on the counter that represents an email that goes to my list so ideally I'm posting and you'll be posting on whatever social media platforms you're working on every day or pretty close to every day, but these represent key e mails and there's a few that I didn't really super fill in, you know, all of september and october, but as you see as we get further along there's more of them but I know that I'm doing so I'm doing a store follow up so that's an email that I'm sending to my whole cell is so I've got that plotted on my calendar and then I am doing another small drop of my new contra collection pieces. So I've got those plotted out just for september because that's part of kind of the lead up to the holiday season now for me, the biggest holiday promotion is actually that birthday sale that happens at the end of october, so I've got that built in because really, we know people start buying for the holidays quarter of people buy in october november first is sort of the official season when people start thinking about it, so with a little prompting, they'll do some buying there, so what I know is I want to cede some product, I want to go it's a new pieces into my shop in anticipation of this, so I built in a couple of preview emails here, a teaser email, and then in this week between the teaser email and that sale that's when I'll run that anticipation campaign, so I know I've got that buildings might into my calendar, so this they'll get two e mails, maybe a third email there, but every day from here two, there is social media posts that are driving traffic to the list. The birthday sale is coming this year, I'm actually mailing list members get the discount code a full twelve hours before non mailing list members, so that's a huge incentive to be on there, especially because I've got more one of a kind pieces. So I'm going to do all of those social media posts in the lead up to that I will put these out, but I don't put them on my calendar I use ever known, and I'm sure you guys how to do that as well, so now when I get into november, now is where I'm really focusing, so I have no big launch in november. I have no first year promotion in november and that's ok, because I've scheduled in a lot of second tier promotions. So these air all emails that I'm doing, and I did just so we know markoff, where black friday and cyber monday live in this month, but I am not to worry about them other than that, I knew I didn't want to have to run any big first year promotion launch over that weekend because I don't want to fight with the noise, so, you know, put in here for holiday store outreach, but then I've got a couple of key emails that I want to send a second tier promotions. In my case, I wonder just highlight favorite necklaces, things that I really love that I think people should buy because everybody else loves them, too. Then I can do a holiday style ideas, so a few key pieces that would be great for holiday party dinner with the family, whatever it is so it's a little might be a little early for gift buying, and they also probably did a lot of shopping in the birthday sale, but I still want to be touching base with my list and sending those second tier action nails on dh then I'll go in here, and I'll dio gift ideas, maybe. Highlight pieces that are under one hundred dollars. Most of my line is above one hundred, but I've got a lot of key pieces that are under hundreds. We will highlight those in an email. I also I started doing another promotion last year that I consider a second tier promotion, which is something that I dio over black friday cyber monday weekend, which is actually that I started any sales I'm making that weekend. I donate twenty five percent of all my sales to grow girls rock, philly, they're an organization and philly that teaches young girls to rock, and so their whole mission is about empowering girls, and my mission is about strong, confident women it's a perfect tie in so it's a way for me to be in the conversation on that weekend without, you know, trying to promote a sale. I just had a question to you because I knew that often. The tuesday after cyber monday is known is giving tuesday yes, so do you tie that whole weekend into that orgy? Or is it really just around that particular weekend? I think I e usually because it's giving tuesday I keep it going, but I was like, I want to start that on friday, so I think I was using like give black friday as a hashtag for that because I was trying to say, you know what let's make it be the whole weekend instead of another day it just felt like something that and I just felt better to me you're running a sale so that's why I started doing that so but I won't do a big launch strategy for that it's just a second tier promotion that goes out to my email listing goes out to my social media andan as we get into december, I am and actually I might change see this is this is the thing I've moved this around a couple times in the calendar and I might move it since so you could move things you can play with them because I do want to do one new small collection launch in december, I bought some beautiful really limited quantity stones that I've been dreaming of making into something different than the contra collection. And so somewhere in there I actually want to do that in november so far in december, so I'm not sure now that I'm looking at this that's actually right after black friday so that might get changed and I have moved one more week back where it might get moved tio here so that I can start the launch there you see it's not a perfect science you can play around, you can move things but I'll run that same kind of preview anticipation cycle with these new pieces, so it is absolutely possible to launch a collection december and then again I'm highlighting a couple of more things so favorite hearings because hearings are such a great gift item on dh then gift cards as we get closer so I'm also being strategic about what I'm putting things so you'll notice that I did holiday style ideas earlier because I wanted them to have time to order something for, say, a holiday party but then I'm doing gift cards later because that's easier for last minute gift ideas on dh then I have my shipping cut off here, so I'll probably do a little bit of a lead up not a full first tier promotion but a little bit of a lead up over that weekend to remind people that that's my shipping cut off. So that's what my holiday planning kind of looks like playing around with these states checking the calendar, making sure things work and then from here and I'll show you guys that process in a minute, then I'll go through and actually match up all of the marketing materials and the to do list to this calendar that I've created, so what I want you guys to do now and we can flip back through the calendar if you're like let me see the date again, I want you to share when is your biggest first here? Promotion to b s I want you guys pick even if it's not the exact date, I want you guys to start to pinpoint that, so we'll just go down the line and remind us what that first year promotion that you're thinking about doing is, and then we can put it on the calendar. So the launch of the adult coloring book, which now we talked about doing a mommy and me right adult coloring books, so only if you're ok, I never know it like that because I didn't take somebody even just I haven't, sir manipulate them to be more kid, like, perfect. So you little a little more time, maybe two weeks from now, at least to get that done. Okay, so you're thinking of ah, really early launch for that? Well, it doesn't have to, but I could be done by okay, so not give you time to the lifestyle, photography and all of those things, right? And get some prints it ahead of time does have to be ready to ship them quickly. And so what do you actually want to launch? Let me find, you know, you tell me when I e o park and then we'll talk about it and see if it's right now, I have that right well you know I have to be honest I'm not sure if I should launch before halloween because moms are so crazy baby up and so halloween so I don't know have a little a little torn I think that you should you should probably wait wait and give yourself time to build some anticipation build those lifestyle images and so maybe you do want tio in early november launch okay does that feel to far away if it feels too far away let's put it closer no I don't think so and I think a lot of if I were to get involved and even some craft fairs and things like that a lot of those don't happen until that time anyway so I think that would be good I think I could be ready for the right and and the other option is you know if you have a new product launch and it's ready earlier don't feel like you have to hold it off till holiday so for you that's the biggest thing you're working on and you think you're going to be ready you know the launch of the end of september launch at the end of september and then that gives you two months to then pick a second first here promotion to happen in november because that's far enough apart that you don't tour that launch fatigue so whatever that could be whether it's another new product I mean it may be worth launching one here and if you can get it done dropping a second one before the holidays they know what they like it it could be something worth trying so that would be the only thing for you is I think if you can get it done and you can come up with a strong first year promotion for closer to holiday launch it earlier okay um I think that my first one would be for september in canada we have learned at work week end of september so I was thinking about releasing every monday or in a story every day of that week something about visual learning and bring based learning perfect and remember the goal to is what can you do to make the sale? So while you're releasing those things think about you know, what is the called action? What is the thing you know book here in your case you're booking sessions so making sure that you're encouraging them to book sessions because we don't want to just we want to we want to build the buzz what we wanted them and get some money out of it. Perfect, right? Um I was thinking maybe two weeks before black friday okay in anticipation for black friday sales so you actually think you are going to a black friday sale? You're going, you're gonna fight that we're not a sale for me but just getting people primes think about shopping so yeah andi you're launching a new that's the new piece that you're launching what are you going to release that I was thinking um I guess I would start in the first week of the second week so that this one is going to be for sale like actually finally so I would start the anticipation so so really your first here is the launch of that new product and that's going to be somewhere in here all right yeah. So that's what you want to build anticipation for so you might get people to shop on black friday but that's not going to be that's not your first year promotion your first your promotion your top here is that product launch which is happening up here collection election launched by november first number first perfect. Um well, I'm thinking something before I'm not sure when labor day is when his labor day labor days late september seventh september seven there's a lot going on around that area you know? Well, school school starts earlier now but yeah before labor day doing some recipe breakdowns like I said that would get him to the website for the email thing and then since the sauce you know is it's a food product, you know, offering something for the holiday would be like have it delivered then right? But you you know yeah get these things now right? So one thing that you want to keep in mind any time that you're doing online promotions around the holiday is is it a holiday where people are online so labor day is the last weekend wherever it wants to hang out outside so trying to promote online in that weekend is really challenging so you want you're going to make sure that if it's if it's marketing for labor day you're doing your marketing earlier because there they're outside they're not on their phones on their computers there enjoying e mean and I know I know here in san francisco the weather doesn't change that much, but for most of the rest of us in the u s soon as labor day hit, the weather just magically changes too cold and not nice to be outside so everyone wants to enjoy that last weekend outside so you know, online marketing tends to fall a little flat that we could well do the week after that heard it done uh say maybe first week of october and what's the promotion I am going to pick out some a new product uh um a bracelet that I've started to make and focus on that you don't launch awesome and I have a question about that bracelet cause you asked me about it, so you're making a bracelet out of a kid's bike spokes yeah spokesman children spicy any of it just children's bicycles that you're finding or use you and custom from like used the wheel from your child's old bike that they bent no it's it's I've thought about doing things like that but there are so many spokes in each wheel that it's kind of like what do you do like you know, unless one wheel and I've got enough to make right twenty five thirty yes so you don't that's not the sentimentality of having the smoke from your child through what I have done though is I have this is one of the very first ones I made so it's a little different but the ones I make now are thinner and I've used die to put in names or messages okay, great. Um you know, I had one that was from a boy to a girl that had x o x o x o yes well ok, perfect, right october first new collection you collection november third new collection. Okay, great. All right, so yeah, we did have one question in the chat rooms which I think has come up a couple of times. Lauren b was saying, aren't you potentially cutting yourself off from sales by saying you won't ship after a certain date? I would be scared to do that? Yes, so that's a great question, so you're not as long as your audience knows so instead of making it be about cutting off from sales it's giving people that that really push to buy on do you want to be you would be comfortable with the date, so if you're saying like the last day you could buy for holiday is november eleventh and you're absolutely cutting off sales but it's okay to say I'm a solo maker and the last day that you can buy is december first I can't guarantee it because my pieces air custom, they're special, they're made to order, but that's, why we want to take our shipping cut off and make it a promotion make it something that people are aware of it, that they're actually really excited and and conscious of so that becomes not not leaving money on the table but actually generating more sales. Oh, wait, I didn't even realize I needed that, but now I need it because I can't get it after today that's how we want to do that and then one other one maxie was asking, what do you think of doing promotions for right after the new year's eso like something like a fresh start? Or you know what? If you want to do something for valentine's day, you know is this is it in addition to this is it instead of so I would say it's in addition to because people are still spending more money in november and december than they are in january and february. But especially if your products relate to those seasons, you can absolutely run this as well. So if you have something that really feels very new year new you because that's kind of everybody's mind set, you could certainly do promotions. You know, in here, you know, a lot of stores will obviously run sales, so it may be that if you're doing something like a sample sale, you may not want to run that during the holiday season because you may want them to buy your regular full price items. But you might decide. I want to run a sample sale in the first week of january when people have their christmas money in hand. So you can absolutely do that as well. In the same thing with valentine's day, you know, work backwards, think about the buying cycle and build those. And so really what we're doing here, you can just keep going and repeated for next year and the year after, you could make it work all year round