Four Tips to Spice Up Your Holiday Marketing Plan

With Thanksgiving behind us and December just days away, it's time to get serious about your holiday marketing plan. This season, don't lean on the same old vanilla marketing ploys (fridge calendar magnets, anyone?). Instead, put a little sugar and spice into your promotional efforts that will make your clients and leads remember you.

In the video above, real estate coach Tom Ferry offers some excellent strategies to do just that. Below, we expand on his ideas with a few of our own, along with extra resources that can help.

1. Send Gifts to Key Members of Your Sphere

Gifts are a powerful way to build your business--but who should you send gifts to? Ferry suggests thinking about this strategically. Consider giving a small token of your appreciation to clients under contract, your best referral sources, professional partners (lenders, contractors, managing broker, etc.), and your best clients from the past two years.

Ferry calls these your W.O.M.A.N. (word of mouth advertising network). Treat your W.O.M.A.N. right, and you can look forward to business bliss in the year ahead. For advice on gift selection, see the following articles:

• Tips on Thanking Your Clients, Customers, and Contacts
• Building Relationships in Your Network: How a $20 Gift Can Have a Huge Impact

2. Host a Holiday Event

According to Ferry, hosting an event over the holidays is so effective, that it can replace the gift giving strategy altogether. That's because gifts only go to the most important members of your sphere, but events can (and should!) be open to your entire sphere--from VIPs to new leads.

• When planning an event, these are the four major factors to consider:
• Will there be a theme (like family or charity)?
• Who's invited, and who else will be involved in hosting/planning?
• Should you offer "prizes and surprises" to make things more exciting? If so, what will you plan/offer?
• Where is the ideal location to hold the event?

3. Plan Out Your Marketing Content Now

From holiday greetings to promotional postcards, content is the heavy hitter of your marketing plan. If you haven't already started to plan your content, do it NOW. You'll need as much lead time as possible to execute the designs, get them printed and mailed out.

Ferry offers a few ideas for holiday marketing content:

• Home valuation offers - A change in political power can affect the housing market--or, at the very least, it can make people feel that it affects the market. Ferry suggests tapping into these emotions with postcards or online ads that send people to your website for a free home valuation. Sample headline: Curious about the value of your home after the election? If you're sick of politics, we suggest changing to a New Year's focus, e.g. What's your home worth in 2017?
• Article about selling during the holidays - People are hesitant to buy or sell during the holidays, but it can actually be one of the best times to enter into a real estate transaction! Outline the reasons why in a post on your blog or a free lead generating download on your website. For more seasonal article ideas, see December Blogging Plan: 5 Topic Ideas.
• Postcard with a map of all closed transactions - It's time to toot your own horn just a little. Show off what you've accomplished this year by sending out a postcard to your farm area that displays all of your closed transactions on a map. Sample text: We helped x families buy/sell this year. Happy holidays and thank you! This is a great way to convey holiday well wishes while underlining your track record of success.

And don't forget the old stalwarts of holiday content: the greeting card and seasonal email blast. Click the links for advice on executing both ideas.

And here's a piece of amusing advice for achieving a higher success rate with your content: Put a snowflake on it. Yep, you read that right. According to Ferry, designs with snowflakes on them perform much better than those with Santa, snowmen, Christmas trees, etc. Keep your eyes peeled this season and you'll surely notice a ton of snowflakes on all kinds of marketing materials. There's a reason for that--it works!

4. Do Something Different and Fun

The best way to stand out against a sea of competitors is to do something that no one else is doing. Ferry suggests making whatever you do fun like, say, a Facebook Live video that answers the question that Realtors get asked most: How's the market? Talk a little about the market, and end the video with a call-to-action that directs viewers to your website for a free home valuation.

Don't underestimate the power of a good social media content. Consider running a contest for, say, the best local holiday lights display. To enter, people can nominate a light display by posting a photo to Facebook and tagging your business profile and/or a predetermined hashtag. For more seasonal marketing strategies, see 7 Special Holiday Marketing Ideas for Agents.

These are just a few ideas to jumpstart your seasonal marketing strategy. What are your favorite holiday marketing methods? Let us know in the comments below!