3 Steps Marketing & Sales Need to Plan for Ahead of Christmas

It seems like only yesterday that Spring Promotions went from planned to launched and still there is plenty to be done before the annual migration of the property industry to Noosa for the holiday period.

With less than 50 days until Christmas, a willingness to plan ahead can be the difference between a healthy Q2 or losing traction over the long stretch from Client Christmas Luncheons to Australia Day, which is about 10% of the year!

So before you set your OOO, here are 3 tips that we recommend marketing and sales teams begin to plan right now.

Communicate with Customers

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Schedule an update to go out to your database, on social channels and your website about the display office closure period. Plan a voicemail recording for your 1300 number and onsite signage at the display with a ‘just in case’ point of contact.

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Take the time to prepare meaningful communication by email or SMS to mark both the beginning of the closure period and a ‘welcome back’ in time with the opening. Segmenting lists by MQL, SQL and partner businesses to further personalise your holiday greeting is a nice touch.

This is also a great opportunity to include messaging on the benefits of purchases made before the holidays, with reference to the timeline of receiving keys.

Stocking Your Sales Pipeline for the New Year

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Stagger your lead generation and display closure period by 3 days. This means your sales team has a few days to follow up with new leads before the closure. And as they return, there is activity for them to start with on day 1.

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The number of active users online and the hours people spend on digital platforms is significantly higher outside of work, particularly if it’s a rainy day. This is your opportunity to use channels where there is under-priced attention and build on your brand awareness.

Create a concentrated audience of current opportunities to target with messaging that continues to tell the story, reinforcing your product as their preference choice.

If you’re in a position where there are ambitious targets for Q2, continual lead generation activity can be done with supporting touchpoints to ensure prospects don’t feel forgotten. Autoresponders that link to more detail on your website or forms for customers to book an appointment when the display is open are great examples.

Video on Lead Generation over the holiday period

A Creative Start to the New Year

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Confirm and brief the new year messaging and promotion details before the holidays.

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Confirm and brief the new year messaging and promotion details before the break. Getting the creative approved by all stakeholders will allow for January campaigns to be launched, radio booked and flyers printed, so that when the tinsel comes down in the display it can be replaced with exciting new messaging.