If you haven’t already sent your holiday promotion off to the printers by now, then you probably have made a big mistake.

Every year, retail stores signal the beginning of the Christmas holidays. It also seems like they start their holiday promotions a little earlier each year.

I went to a national chain pharmacy earlier this week (no free PR for them) and they already had all of their Christmas candy and decorations set up for sale… and it wasn’t even Thanksgiving yet.

Another retailer was opening their store for shoppers on Thanksgiving night from 9 p.m. to midnight. I’m guessing that they had a store full of people looking to get an early “jump” on their holiday shopping.

As much as I’m surprised by how early the major chains are promoting the holiday shopping spirit, they know their market. They know when people start buying holiday-related stuff and they plan accordingly. Because if putting their holiday merchandise out at the beginning of NOVEMBER didn’t work… they wouldn’t keep doing it year after year.

My point is, if you haven’t even planned your holiday promotion, then you need to do it. Like as soon as you finish reading this article.

Here are my tips to putting together a successful holiday promotion… consider them an early holiday gift from me.

1. The easiest product to do a holiday promotion around are massage gift certificates.

I’ve tried other products without much success. People would come into my massage center ask if they could buy gift certificates instead.

2. Tie your promotion into the holiday spirit.

I normally offer a 6 month expiration date… but for the holidays, I extend it a one-year expiration date at no additional charge. Besides showing some customer good will, you are also encouraging existing customers to stock up on gift certificates for their loved ones and themselves.

3. Offer a special deal that isn’t offered any other time.

You could offer a different price. If you normally sell prepaid packages of 10 appointments, try a holiday package of 7 or 12. Package your certificate with a holiday item like a Christmas floral bouquet. Be creative!

4. Promote it to your own mailing lists.

5. Promote it to your local area.

6. Hang onto as much of the sales as you can.

Many therapists I know get excited when they have a successful holiday promotion. The money starts rolling in and they go on a big shopping spree. Huge mistake.

Traditionally, January is a slow month for the massage therapy industry. If you live in an area that is experiencing winter weather that time of year, you could also be faced with frequent snow storms or icy conditions. I remember one year I had two weeks of daily ice storms… dozens of cancellations and thousands of dollars in lost income. If I had spent all of the extra money I got in December, then I would have been in big trouble in January.

7. Track your results.

Track your results and see how your holiday promotion worked. Then next year, pull out those results and use them to plan your next holiday promotion.

Until next time,

Michael Humphreys