Using Holidays To Your Internet Marketing Advantage

Nearly everyone gets excited about holidays, even internet marketers! For some people, religious holidays such as Easter are the favourite, others prefer patriotic events like Australia Day, for most, Christmas is always the best.

Regardless of personal preference, all holidays are popular and even some of the more obscure ones are becoming increasingly so, due to added hype and promotion.

No matter what type of product or service your online business sells, you can take advantage of the holidays by tying in your internet marketing efforts. Along with your own creativity, you can use some of the suggestions listed below to ensure that your business gets the most from your holiday marketing efforts.

Plan Ahead

Plan for the year’s holidays in advance and create an advertising timeline that starts your holiday marketing promotion at least a month ahead of the actual day (longer than that for a big event like Christmas). Make a check list that includes changing your PPC campaign ads, adding the promotion to your website’s home page and buy pages, and sending out an advance email message to your mailing list.

Take Advantage Of Marketing On Obscure Holidays

Depending on the type of online business you own, you could take advantage of minor holidays as well. Think of Administrative Professionals Day, the solstices and equinoxes, Grandparents’ Day, Teacher’s Day – the list is nearly endless.

Look up a list of holidays on the internet and don’t just use events celebrated in your country; after all an internet business is global. Just because you don’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo doesn’t mean some of your potential customers do not.

Holiday Marketing – Think Outside The Box

Certain holidays mean certain things to the majority of consumers; for example, Valentine’s Day might evoke images of red roses and boxes of candy. But just because your business doesn’t offer these products, don’t assume that you can’t take advantage of the holiday.

Get creative and think of ideas you can tie in. If your company sells online seminars, for instance, come up with a catchy slogan such as “Flowers die, but business education lasts a lifetime” to promote your products. People are always looking for unique gift ideas; it is up to you to give them suggestions.

Sales And Discounts

You will get a lot of leverage out of your holiday marketing promotion if you advertise a special sale or discount associated with a holiday. This is a great promotion to include in banner ads on your PPC campaign – the words “sale” or “discount” are likely to gain additional traffic. You can also set up a special page on your website for promotion and include a link on your microblogging or Facebook updates.

Change Your Keywords

Remember that online users will be searching particular keywords so it may be best to change your campaign for a time. Instead of bidding on only your usual keyword combinations, consider adding the holiday’s name and the word “gift”.

You may also want to write an article or blog post that is considered link bait. Write something that lists the top 10 gifts, ideas for new and creative gift-giving, finding the perfect gift for a man or woman, etc. This allows you to incorporate some great holiday-specific keywords along with a link to your buy page and others may link to your page as a resource as well.

Holidays offer a fantastic opportunity to gain additional online sales. With a bit of advance preparation and a lot of promotion, your internet marketing efforts aimed at capitalising on holidays should more than pay for itself. Then, if something works well, lather, rinse, tweak, and repeat your holiday marketing strategy at the same time next year.

Have a most outstanding day.

Sean Rasmussen
Aussie Internet Marketing
www.AussieSEO.com 2010

 

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