Halloween. Thanksgiving. Christmas. New Year. Valentine’s Day. Easter.

What do all of these holidays have in common? They are wonderful marketing opportunities for your business.

While some of you may already be sighing, thinking that “aren’t these commercialized enough?” My answer: absolutely! But that is not what my sentiment is here. This is not about commercialization or fooling consumers into purchasing products or services that they don’t need or want. What this is about is aligning your marketing message and position to align with the needs and emotions of the season.

I know it sounds a bit airy-fairy, but if you tying your message into a particular holiday season you may see yourself grab the attention of a consumer who may have otherwise passed you by.

So look at your marketing materials and plan, then see what holidays are happening around the same time. For example in the USA, Thanksgiving is universally known as a time of giving. Perhaps in your email blasts you can send out 10 tips to giving back during this holiday season. Or in your print advertisement you can give an exclusive discount to those who order before a certain date, then give a certain amount to a related charity.

Also, offering discounts and specials around the December holidays will really grab the attention of your marketplace. While this is not an extremely shocking thought…do you know that many small business owners overlook this? Offer solutions and helpful tips to making it through the holidays – you will be surprised at the response!

This is also where you should be pulling out your marketing list. I’ve written about this before, but just as a reminder a marketing list is a simple list of all of your marketing activities that you take part in. So for example, this would be a strong marketing list:

Email Marketing/Blasts
Google Adwords
Coupons/Discounts – Flyers
Social Media Campaign
Billboards
Print Advertising
Press Releases
Media: Television, Radio, Print
Events/Exhibitions

If you look at the activities that you have coming up on your marketing list, see how you could come up with a short-run campaign to capture more interest while using the holiday angle. At the end of the day, it is good to tap into the emotions of your audience during each holiday season. By offering them solutions to their problems, you will not only grab their attention – but you might just grab their loyalty as well.

While this may seem like a fairly elementary article, I really wanted to share it with you to drive home the effectiveness of this marketing strategy. Hope it makes you think twice when doing outreach to your target audience! And get started today! The months leading up to the December holidays go exceedingly fast – so you need to start your planning and budgeting yesterday.