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On a beautiful Friday afternoon, a mysterious brown box arrived.  Mysterious because I wasn’t expecting a package, and there were no markings on the package.  Upon closer inspection I noticed the return address said Zingerman’s.

Strange! I hadn’t ordered anything for myself.  (We send Zingerman’s goodies to a lot of our clients.)

So, I did what any smart person would do, I threw the box away. Only kidding!  Wanted to make sure you were paying attention.

I did what anyone else who received a box like this would do…I opened it.  Inside there were all sorts of goodies.  Not only were there several goodies to snack on, but also several great marketing ideas that can easily be replicated in a variety of businesses, you can even implement them to your HVAC Online Marketing plan.

Here are seven holiday marketing strategies from Zingerman’s Mail Order:

1. Do Something Unexpected

I wasn’t expecting a package, and particularly not a package from Zingerman’s.  I wasn’t expecting free goodies.  I wasn’t expecting a discount coupon.  And I certainly wasn’t expecting someone to remind me to shop with them for Holiday gifts. It was only October 5th, well over two months before Christmas.

 

Marketing Idea:  Your clients and prospects probably get a lot of Christmas Cards.  Although they may not expect to receive one from you, you can at least be sure that they will be receiving cards from a lot of other people.  If you want to stand out from the crowd, and do something unexpected, consider sending a Thanksgiving Card.  There’s a good chance it’ll be the only Thanksgiving Card they receive.

2. Get Your Message Noticed

The same day I received the mysterious Zingerman’s box, I also received a holiday catalog from another food company.  However I left the other catalog in the stack with all my other mail to look at later.  Sure, Zingerman’s could have easily sent out a nice postcard, a well-written sales letter, or a holiday catalog.  It would have cost a fraction of the price, and been far easier.  If they had, it would have met the same fate as the other food catalog that I received that same day…in the dreaded stack.

 

Part of the way they ensured that I would open the box was by packaging the contents in a way that allowed them to move, and make noise.  Why?  Because I had to know what was inside.  Sort of like the old Cracker Jack boxes you just had to open to see what special prize was.

3. Have a Clear (Concise) Offer

You can design and send the most creative packaging in the world, and your message will get opened.  BUT just because they open what you sent does not mean you will get more business.  If you want your mail piece to generate a positive ROI for you, you MUST devote time and attention to what you are offering.

What action do you want people to take?  Do you want them to call?  Do you want them to visit your website? Do you want them to reorder?

You have to be crystal clear about what it is you want them to do.  Don’t give them too many options.  Too many choices and they may choose to do nothing.  You notice that Zingerman’s makes it very clear that they want to assist me with my holiday gift giving.  Nothing more…nothing less.

Take a closer look, and you’ll discover something else they did masterfully.  They remove any potential fear I may have. First, they let you know that “they won’t make you look like a fool” by sending you a better discount later this year.  They reaffirm this by letting you know that you can “cancel or change your mind for any reason we’ll do it, no questions asked.”

4. Make It Easy

Don’t make it complicated for people to take the action you want them to take. Don’t make them jump through hoops.  Don’t make them wait.

Take a look at the following:

Talk about making it easy!  They included a list of everyone that I sent Christmas gifts to last year (the sections that are blurred), and all I have to do is check the little box and those people will be sent the same gift that we sent them last year.

5. Give Them A Deadline

An offer without a deadline is no offer at all! People are procrastinators by default.  Why should they make a decision today when they don’t have to? If you want people to respond to your offer, you must limit the amount of time they have to respond.

Marketing Idea:  The longer people have to make a decision, the more likely they are to never make the decision.  We typically recommend that you don’t extend your offer out more than 21 days.  If you have a decent size list, you should consider doing a split test. Send two versions of the exact same letter, one with a 21-day expiration date, and the other with a 14-day expiration date.   Split testing is the only way to determine how far out your offer should extend.

6. Give Them A Compelling Reason

Zingerman’s knows (from my previous behavior) that I’m going to send Christmas gifts to my clients.  They also know that I spend a decent amount of money each year with them.  Based on my previous behaviors, Zingerman’s gives me a clear reason.  Not only will Zingerman’s make me look like a hero to my clients, but they will also help me save money while doing it, or you can also use something like funnels for your marketing campaign  with this clickfunnels pricing 2020 you can find online.

What compelling reason(s) can you give your prospects or clients to take action? Is there a discount you can offer?  Is there a bonus you can include?

7. Give Them A (Calculated) Sample

You can spend the next three months telling me how great your goods or services are, but if I’ve never experienced it first-hand, how do I know that you are telling me the truth?

Zingerman’s overcame my fears by sending me samples of their products.  Now I’m able to experience first-hand how great their products are.

Not only did Zingerman’s send me a sample, but they also provided a description of the samples, along with how I could send these products to our clients.

BONUS – KEEP THE MONEY IN THE FAMILY

There are many ways to give people an incentive to do business with you, but it takes careful crafting to make the incentive benefit you as much as it benefits your customers.

Take a look at what Zingerman’s did:

They give people a choice between an immediate 10% discount, or 15% back on a Zingerman’s gift card.  Which option do you think they prefer that I choose?  Right, they want me to pick the gift card because it keeps the money in their company.

Marketing Idea:  Is there a way that you can develop a similar offer? We’ve often toyed with the idea of creating Ugly Bucks that people can spend when purchasing our products and services.  Unlike a coupon, giving cash back seems more like real money, and people are more likely to use it.

Conclusion:  When you’re in need of inspiration and creative marketing ideas for your business look around you.  See if others are doing things that you can learn from and implement in your business.

Have you ever received an irresistible offer? Something you had to take action on immediately?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.