The holiday season is notoriously brilliant for running a new marketing campaign. And Thanksgiving is no different. In fact, Thanksgiving and marketing are almost entirely intertwined, especially with the consumerism behind those ornate dinner table layouts. Family time and celebration naturally give way to generosity and liberal spending - ideal times to target potential customers. Getting together for Thanksgiving celebrations often overlaps with purchasing or booking restaurant experiences. Whether you run an email marketing campaign or utilize your social media channels, Thanksgiving marketing is a golden opportunity. You need some high-quality Thanksgiving marketing ideas.
In this guide, we’ve got everything you need to know about marketing this Thanksgiving and beyond. You can boost customer loyalty, attract potential customers, and scale profits with the right campaign. Our advice? Make sure to launch a special Thanksgiving marketing campaign. And don’t risk running such a marketing campaign blindly, either.
Let’s look at the top marketing ideas you can utilize for Thanksgiving, regardless of your industry. Whether you work in e-commerce, real estate, or the restaurant industry, you’ll find specialist tips and tricks in this guide. Ready to take your business to its next level? Here’s how Thanksgiving provides the next step.
Why Should You Care About Thanksgiving Marketing Ideas?
Holiday marketing ideas are incredible; we all know that. But why specifically should you care about Thanksgiving marketing ideas? The answer is simple: Thanksgiving is about family, celebration, generosity, and indulgence. These things create a perfect storm for marketing and explain the shift in consumer behavior and increase in purchases. The fact that Thanksgiving sparks these traits and behaviors means that you can access some fantastic marketing benefits. These are the top three:
- You can take advantage of higher purchase behaviors.
Higher purchase behaviors mean that you get more profit and a higher positive response to your marketing. This is brilliant, as you get more for doing less. Or let massive amounts for doing more. Either way, you should definitely take advantage of this window of extra-impulsive consumer behavior. Who doesn’t want a spike of cash in their pocket?
- You can entice potential customers.
Another benefit of Thanksgiving marketing is that it allows you to attract new and potential customers. This is fantastic, as you connect with people you might otherwise never know. Indulging in some seasonal and festive marketing is a one-way ticket to investing in your business long-term. Don’t let short-term holidays trick you into thinking that holiday marketing is short-term. You get extra foot traffic and new faces, then it’s your job to convert them into loyal customers.
- You can boost customer loyalty in existing customers.
Similarly, you can boost customer loyalty amongst your existing customers. For instance, offering discounts on Thanksgiving products and experiences. The best way to increase loyalty in existing customers is to make them feel exclusive and appreciated. You should invest in customer rewards and training staff to build connections. Since Thanksgiving is all about connection, it’s the perfect time to research Thanksgiving products, loyalty programs, services, and decorations.
Top 3 Thanksgiving Restaurant Marketing Ideas
Are you ready for some Thanksgiving restaurant marketing ideas? We all know how to market a restaurant, but handling Thanksgiving restaurant marketing is slightly different. There are a few other options you can go for - for instance, will you be opening on Thanksgiving?
Or will you offer takeaway options? Or even open for the day after and offer post-Thanksgiving experiences for those who missed out? Whatever you decide, it pays to be creative and consider your target customers.
It is always fun drafting marketing plans for restaurants, and Thanksgiving marketing is no different. Check out these top three marketing ideas for your restaurant:
1. Sell Thanksgiving Themed Food
A brilliant way to market your restaurant this Thanksgiving is by selling themed food. This helps to capitalize on all the excitement in the Thanksgiving run-up. And as a huge bonus, you don’t even need to open on holiday dates. You could use it for the month leading to the celebration - selling things with pumpkin and turkey themes.
2. Offer Thanksgiving Experiences
The most obvious way to market your restaurant is by offering Thanksgiving experiences. This could be as simple as taking reservations or considering live events - like an early or post-Thanksgiving celebration. Everyone loves an occasion, and not everyone wants to cook on Thanksgiving. Take advantage of those two things.
3. Run Fundraising Events or Donate Proceeds
Finally, you could run fundraising events or donate proceeds to charity during the month leading up to Thanksgiving. The reason this is so effective with restaurants is that it capitalizes on the essence of food, charity, and connection. These three things already embody the holiday season. You can use the shared values to market your restaurant during Thanksgiving authentically. And this way, you can help your customers feel great about themselves.
Top 3 Thanksgiving Real Estate Marketing Ideas
Yes, even real estate can benefit from some holiday season marketing. If you run a real estate business and want marketing ideas for Thanksgiving, this section is for you. These are the top Thanksgiving real estate marketing ideas. You are welcome to steal any of these to boost your business.
1. Incorporate Thanksgiving and the ‘Family Home’ Into Your Marketing
Nothing sells a house like the feeling of a home. One way to effectively use Thanksgiving real estate marketing ideas is to use the ‘family home’ idea. You can add pictures of a family at their dinner table celebrating Thanksgiving to social media channels. You can even do the same with billboards. Whatever marketing campaigns you are already using, tweak them to a Thanksgiving theme.
A turkey bowl is just a football game specific to the holiday season. You could sponsor one of these games to get an edge in marketing and building brand awareness. You could also sponsor or participate in a Thanksgiving fundraising event. This is a great way to connect more widely with potential customers outside your immediate demographic. For instance, people may sell or buy a house in a few years, but not now.
3. Reward Existing Clients or Past Clients
The benefit of real estate is that you have addresses. Reward your past and existing clients with things like food vouchers or discounts. Bonus points if you partner with a local vendor or retailer, so you save yourself upfront investment. You are reinforcing a sense of community and exclusivity by reaching out with thoughtful presents around Thanksgiving. This is key to building long-term positive reputations and customer loyalty.
Top 3 Best Thanksgiving Marketing Ideas for E-commerce Business
Next up, what are the best Thanksgiving marketing ideas for e-commerce business owners? E-commerce is simply selling products online. But it is one of the most relevant industries during the holidays. Just take a look at the history of e-commerce and online shopping. If you run an e-commerce business and you are looking to capitalize on Thanksgiving marketing, check out these three ideas:
1. Thanksgiving Themed Decorations
Everyone loves a bit of themed decor, and Thanksgiving decorations are the perfect choice. You can market your business by providing specific products to appeal to the spike in demand.
2. Run a Thanksgiving Sale
Another thing people love on holidays is sales. Remember what we said about a rise in impulse purchases? Well, now is the time to create a perfect storm. You can market and rocket your business’ sales through a Thanksgiving sale.
Lastly, you should utilize your social media channels. Incorporate Thanksgiving references and use holiday visuals to drive marketing traffic and sales.
Top 3 Thanksgiving Email Marketing Ideas
Last but not least, let’s quickly cover email marketing. There’s tons of email marketing advice for small businesses and large corporations. You may be in the email marketing industry or just be using it as a marketing strategy. Either way, these Thanksgiving email marketing ideas are all worth your salt.
1. Send Thanksgiving Discounts
This is one technique that always goes down a treat. Email marketing is one of the best ways to lure loyal customers back in and just connect with the new. Discounts, on the other hand, are just popular all around. You can ping an email to your list with discounts of as little as 10% or as much as 75%. Your subscribers can get holiday-themed discounts on your products or services, and you get better open rates.
2. Use a Thanksgiving Color Palette
A smart way of using Thanksgiving in email marketing is through a symbolic color palette. You can use orange and brown colors to create a more eye-catching and engaging email campaign. And this has a celebratory undertone that helps drive sales - just research the color theory for marketing.
3. Highlight a Charitable Endeavor
Finally, one of the best email-related Thanksgiving marketing ideas for your business is advertising charitable endeavors by advertising how you are helping the charity to fine-tune your brand image in a positive light. You also increase your open rate. What’s not to love?
Final Thoughts: When To Start Planning Thanksgiving Marketing
If you are launching products, you should start planning Thanksgiving marketing at least two months in advance. This allows you time to design, trial, and launch the products. You want to have them on the market for November, at least. Similarly, with services and strategies, you should allow around a month of pre-planning. This way, you can analyze your strategies and get them as effective as possible.
As you can see, there’s lots to think about with holiday marketing. Generally, you should start prepping in September or October for Thanksgiving marketing. And that’s without considering the pros and cons of opening on Thanksgiving.
With tools like Beambox’s elite WiFi platform, you can fine-tune little details so you can focus on bigger stuff. Beambox can provide you with an incredible WiFi system that collects contact details automatically for your marketing campaigns. Start your Beambox free trial today. Forget just Thanksgiving marketing ideas; let’s make holiday marketing a breeze all year round.
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