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Each year has some great shopping days and 2019 is no different. If you plan well, you can profit nicely from the special calendar dates that lend themselves well to shopping.
In this post we’ll cover:
- Calendar dates to take note of
- Types of Promotions for 2019 Special Calendar Dates
- Engaging Promotions
- Special Calendar Dates Create Urgency
- Words to Create Urgency
Calendar dates to take note of
January
- 1 January 2019 – New Year’s Day
- 21 January 2019 – Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday – U.S. holiday
February
- 4 February 2019 to 8 February 2019 – Vietnamese New Year
- 5 February 2019 to 8 February 2019 – Korean New Year
- 5-6 February 2019 – Chinese New Year
- 14 February 2019 – Valentine’s Day
- 18 February 2019 – President’s Day – U.S. holiday
March
- 17 March 2019 St. Patrick’s Day
April
- 1 April 2019 – April Fool’s Day
- 21 April 2019 – Easter – Christian religious holiday
- 22 April 2019 – Earth Day
May
- 1 May 2019 – Labour Day – Singapore
- 5 May 2019 – Mardi Gras Carnival – U.S. holiday
- 5 May 2019 – Cinco De Mayo
- 12 May 2019 – Mother’s Day
- 27 May 2019 – Memorial Day – U.S. holiday
June
- 7 June 2019 to 9 June 2019 – Dragon Boat Festival – China
- 9 June 2019 – Pentecost – religious holiday
- 14 June 2019 – Flag Day – U.S. holiday
- 14 June 2019– Bastille Day – France
- 16 June 2019 – Father’s Day
July
- 1 July 2019 – Canada Day
- 4 July 2019 – Independence Day – U.S. holiday
September
- 1 September 2019 – Islamic New Year – U.A.E. holiday
- 2 September 2019 – Labor Day – U.S. holiday
October
- 14 October 2019 – Thanksgiving Day – Canada
- 31 October 2019 – Halloween
Image source: Sneaker Shouts
November
- 1 November 2019 – All Saints’ Day – France
- 11 November 2019 – Veteran’s Day – U.S. holiday
- 28 November 2019 – Thanksgiving – U.S. holiday
- 29 November 2019 – Black Friday
December
- 2 December 2019 – Cyber Monday
- 13 December 2019 – Free Shipping Day
- 22 December 2019 – Super Saturday – The last Saturday before Christmas.
- 25 December 2019 – Christmas Sales
- 26 December 2019 – Boxing Day
Types of Promotions for 2019 Special Calendar Dates
Each holiday can have its own sale. To promote it, you can use themes from the holidays. For example, Valentine’s Day can have heart-shaped announcements. St. Patrick’s Day can feature four-leafed clovers. Halloween can make use of pumpkins to announce the seasonal specials.
For the summer months, you can use the themes of barbeques and picnics. The fall holidays can go along with harvest and back-to-school themes. Snowflakes are always a hit in the winter and will easily help to promote Hannukkah, Christmas and New Years.
Some sales are a simple percentage off. Twenty-five percent off the entire store! While other sales can get more creative. Some companies involve the customer with fun online social media campaigns that help them earn a few dollars off their purchase.
Is there a sports team in town that you want to win? You can gamify the marketing. If they score a certain number of points, you can have giveaways. While it may be too expensive to run a Superbowl advertisement, this can be a way to piggy-back off the popularity of the Superbowl.
Engaging Promotions
Drawing customers back in for yet another sale can seem dull unless you find a creative way to promote it. However, if there is a way to engage the customer, they’ll feel more inclined to check out your products and see if there is anything new.
Promote your next sale through social media and email. Ask subscribers to “retweet this snippet” in an email. You can also launch creative incentives for shopping at your sale. Post some highly shareable content and add humor and entertainment to your social media posts.
Loyalty and referral campaigns can be worked into these promotion dates. This can invigorate your base of customers and help to expand your reach. Offering rewards for referring friends during the holidays can make the deal seem that much sweeter.
Special Calendar Dates Create Urgency
Keep the promotions focused around the theme of the holiday. This will naturally let customers know that their time to save is limited. It creates a sense of urgency.
In addition to selecting visuals that are related to a holiday or special calendar date, you can also use a countdown timer. This will be an additional reminder that time is running out.
Countdown timers have proven effective at increasing conversion rates. De Nieuwe Zaak, a full-service ecommerce agency in the Netherlands ran a test to determine the effectiveness of countdown timers. Their test discovered that the timer works the best when placed at the bottom of the page.
The presence of the timer created an 8.6% lift in conversions. This is likely due to the urgency that visitors feel as they see that the time for the deal is running out.
Words to Create Urgency
A holiday sale will generate more interest and customers will likely feel more inclined to make purchases. However, using the right words to generate the fear of missing out can help improve your special pro motions.
The following words tend to generate urgency with customers and increase sales:
- limited time
- today only
- act now
- hurry
- deadline
- final close-out
- one day only
- clearance
- don’t delay
- now or never
- don’t miss out
- once in a lifetime
As you plan out your 2019 promotions, make sure that you are using some of these marketing techniques. The more that you engage customers, the greater their loyalty to you becomes. With the right words and a countdown timer, you’ll create fear of missing out on the promotion. Your customers won’t want to miss your sales.