Benefitting from the 4th of July on the 5th and Beyond

It’s right around the corner! The sun, the picnics, the fireworks, people bleeding red white and blue. That’s right, the 4th of July is only a few days away. Although no gift-giving is involved in this national holiday, the 4th of July like all holidays is a gift in itself to companies and their marketers as they present so many opportunities to improve all types of relations. Here are three things you can do to get the most out of the 4th of July for your business this year.

1. Decorate your brand

You worked long and hard to design the perfect logo that represents your brand. Now don’t just let it sit. For the week of the 4th, use red white and blue, stick a flag somewhere in your letters, or insert some fireworks behind it. Decorating your logo attracts more customers because it produces a shared sentiment or spirit between the company and its customers. It also personifies the brand as it says hey, we’re celebrating too! and this helps customers feel more connected. If altering your logo doesn’t fit well with your brand, altering your packaging designs for a limited time does the trick on the shelves too. Consumers want USA themed anything to go with their USA themed everything on the 4th. This includes food, beverage, clothing, etc. Another good practice would be to bundle your products into holiday-themed packages. Bundling strategically will increase sales and revenue, and can decrease costs otherwise incurred by individually packaging the goods.

2. Celebrate together

Don’t just connect with your customers, connect with each other! Throw a 4th of July office party with some delicious treats and fun drinks. Making the workplace fun now will create more productivity later. Company-wide events boost employee morale and encourage cohesion within the workplace. Achieve team building and cross-departmental interaction by having friendly competitions between your departments through fun games.

When planning the party, be sure to remember that you’re throwing it for your employees not for yourself. That means you have to know your team well. From food to drinks to activities, you want to make sure that everyone feels cared for and welcomed. Know who your vegan, gluten-free, or lactose-intolerant employees are and make sure there are at least a few options for them. Know who tends to be shy or who is rather outgoing, and plan activities that will include and entertain both.

3. Implement promotions

Sales generally go up around holidays, but there’s a way to boost them even more through promotions. Customers love deals. It gives them an excuse to whip out a few extra benjamins. Some ideas include buy-one-get-one-free (BOGO) offers, store-wide discounts, or free shipping for a low or non-existent spending price. To mix it up and keep it fun for your customers, try a mystery promotion. Victoria’s Secret does a great job of this every November. With Victoria’s Secret’s ‘Secret Rewards,’ around the month of November,  whenever a customer buys something worth $10 or more, they get a ‘giftcard’ with an unknown value that can be redeemed in December. There are two approaches you can take with mystery promotions One is to have a small handful of high value rewards while keeping others low value. Shoppers tend to be optimistic, so they will make more purchases to increase their chances of winning the big prize. The second option is to make all of the prizes of higher value to the customers than they anticipate. Most customers assume discounts will be around 10% to 20%. This 4th of July, make your discount between 35% and 50%. When customers see these high numbers, they will be more likely to make purchases because they think they are saving more than they thought they would.

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Making general customers happy is great, but you should also pay attention to your frequents --make them feel special. Last month, I got a call from Aritzia, a clothing retailer I wish I could afford to shop at more often. The call was to inform me that I made some sort of list, inviting me to a customer party to access their big sale before they opened it up to the general public. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the area and couldn’t go, but regardless it made me feel like an insider and drew me closer to the brand. Reward customer loyalty by giving your best customers the biggest discounts. Send out an email blast to this select group, wishing them a happy 4th and thanking them for choosing you. Or, if your budget allows it, send them a neat USA-themed freebie like sunglasses or a bandana with your company’s logo on it.

As always, don’t forget about the power of social media. Whether you’re giving your products some 4th of July flair, throwing a company bash, or dishing out discounts, make sure you let the world know that you’re doing it! Post some fun pictures or start a new hashtag trend.