Hospitality Marketing and Your Sales Projections Over the Holidays

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B2B Companies Need to Get in the Game on Holiday Marketing

It’s a known fact that most retailers do not achieve their annual revenue projections until after they have survived the year-end holiday season. Employees of B2B companies may be relieved that they don’t have to suffer the long hours of retailers over the holidays, but they can take a few lessons from the B2C companies when it comes to their own marketing efforts, especially when it comes to the focus and the message, as well as when it comes to loyal, repeat customers.

Black-Friday-nightmare

Chances are, you won’t see new customers lining up in the middle of the night outside your door or forcing your website to crash from too much activity, a la Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. But why would you want to consider such a scenario when you likely have an untapped source of revenue in your existing customers?

According to a customer retention study by Kissmetrics, 63 percent of marketers felt that new customer acquisition is the most important advertising goal. However, it costs up to seven times more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one, according to Bain & Company.

Consider some of these simple social media tips for staying in front of your existing customers over the holidays. In the process, you will be investing in valuable customer retention efforts.

1. Send out a hearty thank you from your social media connections to your customers

Retailers are always taught to emphasize customer service, and to say thank you to everyone. It’s a simple gesture, but the message will still get across to your customers that are connected to you on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. This is known as social sharing, and allows for wider reach through your network, as well as the potential that your customers will share your message of thanks with others.

2. Social media channels can also be used to send simple updates on your company’s success this year

Plan to send out at least two social media updates over the holidays that tell your network about highlights of your company’s year. This is known as social connecting, and helps your company create a more personal connection between your network and your brand.

3. Not-so-secret Santa

Offer your social media networks a special discount or gift, that can be claimed during the holidays, and potentially applied to their next project with your company.

CONCLUSION:

By embracing social media platforms, your company can enjoy some of the same loyalty and renewed interest that retailers are seeking. This simple activity can help fill your sales pipeline in the year ahead, and may even possibly make or break your year-end sales efforts. In the process, you will give your brand the gift of more engaged and active followers.