Holiday Card Design and Production—2L’s Delivers

2lsmarketing Uncategorized

2ls-holiday-bannerDecember is right around the corner and you haven’t even though about your company holiday cards yet? Don’t worry, there’s still time. I can help you quickly turn around a beautiful, creative and thoughful card your customers, clients, friends and family will love. I will create two design options for you and create copy that delivers the holiday message you want to communicate.

Don’t settle for the typical pointsettia greeting card—stand out from your competition this holiday season.

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Haven’t Planned Your Holiday Campaigns Yet? There’s Still Time

2lsmarketing Campaign Strategy, Social Media , , , ,

plan-last-minute-holiday-campaign

It seems like every year the holiday season comes out of nowhere. I blame Costco for putting Christmas decorations out right after back-to-school. Nothing against Costco. I love Costco. I was literally there today.

Back to business…

If you are a small business, just keeping up with day-to-day tasks, customer service, business development and any other ongoing work that needs handling keeps you busy enough. And now Black Friday is less than three weeks away and you need to get you holiday campaigns figured out.

And don’t think the holiday season is just for retailers. Professional service companies can also take advantage of the holiday season to try to end the year on a high note. Remember, your clients may have some extra “use-it-or-lose-it” budget left. Make them want to spend it on you.

Here are 5 things to consider that can be done without a lot of lead time so you can still partake in the madness that is marketing during the holiday season.

Analyze Last Year’s Campaign

What strategy did you employ last year? What offers did you run? What were your goals? What was the outcome? Depending on the level of success you saw last year, adjust your goals and strategy accordingly.

What Will You Offer?

Determine what offer(s) will be most enticing to your customer. Is it a percentage off, free shipping, or limited time service package? Make

Timing is Everything

When will your offer be valid? Black Friday? Cyber Monday? The entire Black Friday weekend? Last minute holiday deal? Consider running your offer over multiple time periods to catch the planners and the procrastinators. If you have a product that requires shipping, be sure to run your offer with plenty of time for your customer to receive it.

What Channels Will You Use to Promote Your Offer

If you are just now planning your holiday campaign, don’t even worry about any sort of print advertising. But that’s fine—you’ll have a larger budget to capitalize on your digital channels.

Do you have a large email list? Be sure to let them in on your deal. If you don’t have an email database, make a New Year’s resolution to build one. A strong subject line, simple, professional design and timing your email properly are all essential to the success of your email campaign.

Utilize your social media campaigns to spread the word leading up to, and throughout your campaign. Create (or have someone create) eye-catching graphics to utilize on your pages. And be sure to comply with the most recent social media image sizes so your graphics look great on all channels. Put some of that budget you saved not doing print advertising behind your social posts to promote them.

Be Consistent and True to Your Brand

Do not allow the hoopla of the holidays distract you from your brand and your message. Be consistent in your offer, messaging and imagery. And be consistent across all media. Whether that’s through your messaging, imagery or the use of a hashtag, don’t let the last minute frenzy throw you off course. You do not want to spend 2015 rebuilding a brand you’ve worked so hard to create.

If you have any questions, or would like help implementing your 2014 holiday campaign, contact me.

Social Media Considerations: Your Audience Matters

2lsmarketing Social Media

All too often I see brands jump into social media with an “all-or-nothing” attitude, meaning they think they have to have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Google+ and everything in between. When guiding clients to the right solution, I always come back to the content. I will ask, “What content do you see on your Tumblr page?”. Their usual response? “I don’t even now what Tumblr is, but I’ve heard my kids talk about it.”

Not every social media channel is right for every brand, and that is okay. Your law firm probably won’t have a lot of visual content to share, so Instagram probably isn’t the right fit.

The three questions to ask when considering the right social channels for your brand are:

  1. What content will I share on each channel? You do not want to post duplicate content on each page.
  2. Who will create the content and keep the accounts updated? This is always a huge issue. Social media for business is different than checking your personal Facebook page over your morning coffee. It takes time and dedication in order to see the payoffs. This can be done by someone internally, or through the use of an outside consultant or firm. It just depends on your resources. But make sure someone is in charge of your sites. There is nothing worse for a brand than an inactive or outdated social media account.
  3. Who is your audience? Social media does discriminate based on age. Not only in overall usage, but in the channels preferred by users. Be aware of what site your target audience is visiting most when choosing your social media presence. A recent Pew Research Study looked into the topic.

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If you want help determining the right social media channels for your brand, contact us. We can help.