22 Dec

3 More Valuable Last Minute Holiday Shopping Tips

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 22.12.15 by John Meloche

Christmas: red and white presents with clock and  pink teddy bear on white background - last minute shoppingHaving a busy month? Most Canadian retailers are. And, as a result, we know that you may not even have had the opportunity to do your own holiday shopping yet. In yesterday’s blog, we revealed a few last minute holiday shopping tips that we felt would help you prepare for the big day this Friday. In today’s blog, we’ll continue our list of tips in hopes that you and your loved ones will enjoy your merriest Christmas yet!

Here are three more valuable last minute holiday shopping tips:

1. Donate your time. Not all of your gifts have to be store-bought. The giving of your time can be an even more valuable and appreciated gift. Create your own “coupons” and uniquely gift wrap them, so that when your loved ones open their gifts, they’ll be surprised to see that you’d be willing to offer them experiences that they aren’t used to. On CanadianLiving.com, Renee Sylvestre-Williams clarifies the type of generous gift we’re speaking of.

She writes that your time or your skills can be given as gifts instead of spending money on things your loved ones may need a lot less. “Offer babysitting time to new parents or a movie date to your best friend, or bake cookies or other goodies as gifts,” Sylvestre-Williams offers as suggestions, “If you’re crafty, consider making your gifts instead of buying them.”

2. Set a shopping time limit. If you do plan on venturing into the busy malls, be sure to set a shopping time limit for yourself. That way, you’ll be sure to stick to the things on your list (as per yesterday’s tip) and not get too caught up in spending unnecessarily. On FamilyEducation.com, Lindsay Hutton warns of the ways in which store owners attempt to keep customers in their stores longer.

As a business owner, you’re likely well aware of these attempts. You may have even adopted them for your own store! “Retailers have a few tricks up their sleeves to get you to linger in their stores, such as playing catchy holiday music and scenting the air with pleasant holiday smells, making it more likely you’ll buy something on impulse,” she reveals, “To avoid this trap, make plans immediately following your shopping trip to limit the amount of time you spend in the mall.”

3. Donate to others. Arguably (but maybe not so much), there is no better gift than a donation to those who are less fortunate than you are. By giving to charity in the names of your family members and friends, you will be providing incomparable gifts to both your loved ones and the people who will benefit from your donations. The holiday season is often a tough one for those who can’t afford to celebrate it themselves.

“Consider donating to a charitable organization in your friend’s or family member’s name,” suggests Sylvestre-Williams, “Some charities will send a card (real or virtual) to recipients letting them know about the gift. As an example, charitable organization Plan Canada lets you buy gifts for friends and family like these handmade bracelets and the money goes to helping children around the world.”

To effectively market your business in the new year, don’t forget to call Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 to order the best promo products in the industry! Our office will remain open until midday tomorrow!

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21 Dec

3 Helpful Last Minute Holiday Shopping Tips

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 21.12.15 by John Meloche

Depositphotos_36474121_s-2015The big week is here! Christmas Day is this Friday and people all over Canada (and most of the rest of the world, we would imagine) are preparing for the big day. And by “preparing”, we mean that there is a lot of last minute shopping left to do. If you happen to be one of those procrastinators, you can certainly be excused. As a business owner, you have likely been so busy managing your own company and preparing it for the holidays that you haven’t gotten to do much shopping of your own just yet!

Don’t fear. With four shopping days left until Christmas, there is still time for you to locate and secure great gifts for your loved ones. You’ll need a plan, however. In today’s blog, we’ll provide you with the tips you need to knock your holiday shopping out in a much easier way than you may have expected. It will start, of course, with giving yourself some time to shop.

But how can you make the most of that time? Here are three helpful last minute holiday shopping tips:

1. Make a list. Just because you’re about to embark on some last minute shopping doesn’t mean you have to go about it hastily. It’s probably safe to say that you don’t want to go over your budget and you certainly don’t want to pick up gifts that aren’t worthwhile for their recipients. Creating a shopping list keeps you focused on what you need to buy and for whom. It will also help you to waste a lot less time looking around for the right purchases.

On FamilyEducation.com, Lindsay Hutton advocates for making a list and checking it twice. “One of the biggest traps of last-minute shopping is going over budget,” she asserts, “Before you brave any store, make a list of how much you’d like to spend on each person you are buying for, and stick to it. Resist the urge to keep shopping for the perfect gift, and leave the store as soon as you’ve crossed everyone off your list.”

2. Stick to your budget. It will defeat the purpose of writing a list if you don’t pay attention to what’s on it. Not only should you focus on buying the gifts that you know your loved ones will enjoy, but you should also be focused on spending within your budget. Holiday shopping isn’t all that much unlike marketing your business. It’s important to spend your money wisely in order to feel that you’ve received maximum benefit.

On CanadianLiving.com, Renee Sylvestre-Williams champions this view. “Try your best to stick to your budget despite any pressure or stress,” she writes, “You’ll feel pleased and proud when you don’t get a massive credit card bill in the New Year. The best way to stick to your budget is to bring the right amount of money with you when shopping and not carry your credit or debit cards. There’s no reason to keep temptation in your wallet.”

3. Look for expedited shipping. What if you don’t have time to hit the mall? Does that mean none of your loved ones will be getting anything for Christmas this year? Not necessarily. Online shopping is still a viable option. However, it will be very important to look for expedited shipping options. Many websites offer one-day deliveries, knowing that Christmas Day is drawing near. Look to shop with those that offer this option.

Sylvestre-Williams reveals that, due to the often-large costs of expedited shipping, you may also want to go the route of buying online coupons that offer significant discounts on highly sought-after items. “Consider making use of group buying sites like WagJag (WagJag.com), TeamBuy (TeamBuy.ca) and Groupon (Groupon.com),” she suggests, “All have holiday sections where you can buy gifts at a discounted rate and just print off the coupons to give on the day itself.”

Be sure to check back for tomorrow’s blog, as we continue to offer some helpful last minute holiday shopping tips! And don’t forget to call Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 to order the best promo products to advertise your business. Our office will remain open until midday, Wednesday, December 23rd to take your orders!

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09 Dec

5 Ways To Promote Your Brand In 2014’s Final Weeks

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 09.12.14 by John Meloche

Shopping cart with boxes and bags, happy holidaysWell, there’s still a couple of weeks left for us all to complete our holiday shopping. But, as a business owner, that doesn’t mean that there’s a whole lot of time left for you to promote your company’s holiday deals. Promoting your business for the holidays is something that generally begins in November. We should know. We’ve been blogging about it since before Halloween! The question is, how much attention have you given your holiday marketing strategies?

Perhaps, the question is better asked by Wendy McCance on SearchingForTheHappiness.com when she asks “What are you doing to make sure you get your message out during the holiday season?” Getting your message out is what is bound to get more of your customers in – to your store, that is. “This is the most critical time of year to promote your business using social media,” McCance insists.

But it isn’t just your social media profiles that are bound to boost your…well, profile! There’s a lot that you can offer your customers so that they are encouraged to finish their holiday shopping with you over your competitors. There are only a few weeks left in 2014, McCance reminds us. And with that, she offers up some tips on how to promote your business during the year’s final weeks. Here are five great ideas.

1. Offer gift certificates, and special events on your social media platforms. In case you couldn’t already tell, McCance is a big supporter of social media. And, as readers of the Synergy Marketing Blog are well aware, so are we! “Use Twitter or Facebook to pass out special holiday codes that can be used in store during certain days and times,” she insists. Social networking is arguably the easiest and cheapest way to get the word out.

2. Put together a contest with a holiday theme. Contests are always exciting. They are great ways to drum up interest in your brand. “Mention it on Twitter, your Facebook page and your website,” advises McCance. Not only will this work to grow your friends and followers, but it is likely to increase the traffic in your physical store location as well. People love getting things for free – as we often say. Contests are great ways to attract attention thanks to that fact.

3. Offer a buy one get one free promotion. Speaking of getting things for free, people enjoy getting good value for their money through the popular buy-one-get-one-free deal. Remember that shoppers are looking for discounts wherever they can find them, especially since they are doing more shopping this month than at any other time of year. Naturally, McCance recommends that you promote your special two-for-one offer on Twitter.

4. Have your staff put together a fun holiday video to show customers what a fun, personable business you have. YouTube cannot be forgotten when you’re talking about the popularity of social media. People love viewing and commenting on photos. But they love viewing, sharing and commenting on videos even more. Filming a video that will shine a favourable light on your brand is simply a smart business choice.

5. Host a holiday Tweet chat with your customers. Hashtags are all the rage these days. Go ahead and create a #chattime or #timetotalk hashtag (or one of your own choosing) to encourage people to speak with you via Twitter at a set out time. Offer those who converse with you, during your Tweet chat, special deals and discounts during the holiday shopping season. It’s bound to get you some new customers.

Be sure to check back for tomorrow’s blog as we continue to look at McCance’s ideas for boosting your sales this holiday shopping season. And since people love getting things for free so much, it would be a good idea to get your hands on some great promotional gifts from Synergy Marketing. To place your order, give us a call at 1-877-748-9884!

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02 Dec

6 Ways To Market Your Brand This Holiday Season

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 02.12.14 by John Meloche

Depositphotos_23516015_xsChristmas is just a few weeks away. And people are hitting the malls harder than ever before looking for gifts for their loved ones. As a business owner, this is clearly welcome news. But what are you doing to ensure that you welcome as many visitors to your store as possible? Sure, we can rest on our laurels and just assume that business will pick up. But it’s important to take steps to ensure that business will be booming well into the new year.

On ECmag.com, Mike Dandridge writes that that are several ways to market your business during the holidays. And although his focus is on the electrical contracting business, his many ideas can serve to help business owners of all kinds. After all, the holiday season attracts many different customers who have a wide range of needs and requirements when it comes to their shopping lists. Here are six ways market your brand this holiday season.

1. Hold an open house. Why not invite over your customers as guests to an exclusive marketing event? This may work excellently for realtors or other salespeople who have products to be showcased outside of a traditional store. Dandridge writes that “personalized marketing is most effective at turning clients into loyal customers, and nothing is quite so personal as inviting people over to ‘your place’ during the holidays.”

2. Mail holiday cards. Even with the social media-crazed, digitally-enhanced, tech-savvy world that we currently live in today, traditional holiday cards still carry with them very personal and considerate touches. As Dandridge states, “everything old is new again, and a sure fire way to stand out is to go back to ‘snail mail.’ Send cards but not just any cards.” We agree! We highly suggest our absolutely amazing Holiday CDs & Greeting Cards!

3. Send a holiday newsletter. Even though it’s an excellent idea to give out your holiday cards, you certainly don’t want to forget about the power of email. Dandridge suggests that even if you don’t regularly send out newsletters, you should create one for the holiday season. “Provide your customers with information that will benefit them first,” he recommends, “Identify some trends that may be of interest in the coming year. Give a recap of the past year.”

4. Get involved in the community celebrations. “You don’t have to be Santa Claus in the town parade,” says Dandridge, “but getting involved in traditional celebrations is great for relationship building.” As we’ve often said on the Synergy Marketing Blog, any involvement in your community is always a win-win. Giving back to those in need is what the holiday season is truly all about. And, of course, it looks great on your business too.

5. Follow the 10:30 rule. This tip is one of the more unique and interesting ones. “The 10:30 rule is about staying within 30 days of your top 10 customers,” Dandridge informs us. He goes on to note that one of the best ways to practice this rule is to “send a new year card in January. People receive many cards in December, but a card in January will make your name stand out. In February, make a personal visit and leave a company brochure.”

6. Dust off your website. You can never underestimate the power of the internet. Now where have we heard that before? Perhaps, it was in one of our recent blogs about the popularity of online shopping in Canada! Dandridge points out that keeping your website updated is important to reflect the changes in your company. Unlike the Yellow Pages, he highlights, your website shouldn’t remain unchanged all 365 days of the year. Update it with your holiday specials!

Get your hands on those Holiday CDs & Greeting Cards in addition to many other promo gifts that may better suit your business by calling Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 today!

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10 Nov

5 Benefits To Handing Out Holiday Cards To Customers

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 10.11.14 by John Meloche

Xmas-CD-2011-160x160‘Tis the season to be merry! And if you’re a business owner, having this philosophy will do your company a great service in the coming weeks. You see, we’re officially now at the time of year when spreading holiday cheer is the norm. But more importantly, it can be quite a lucrative practice for you. Naturally, the increase in the number of shoppers coming your way will give your more opportunities to build stronger relationships.

And making sure to pass along warm holiday wishes is the ideal way to grow those connections. One way to achieve that is to hand out holiday greeting cards. It’s an age-old practice that hasn’t lost its lustre over the years. People appreciate kind gestures, especially during this time of year. So there’s no time like the present to hand out these “presents”. StudioMirageGreetings.com agrees and lists five benefits to handing out holiday cards to your customers.

1. It communicates your appreciation. The website states that giving customers Christmas cards is the perfect way to show how much you appreciate them. It lets them know that they are special. According to the site, “the holiday card will allow you to convey a personal message. Your clients will know that they are important to you and this will also help in maintaining customer loyalty.”

2. It strengthens relationships. As we mentioned before, your kind gesture of a holiday card will help to build the relationships you’ve been developing with your customers. No matter the business type, clients appreciate their interactions with companies over and above the actual products and services they pay for. As StudioMirageGreetings.com points out, the holiday season provides “a good opportunity to acknowledge your working relationship and extend a friendly gesture.”

3. It markets your business to new clients. As great as holiday cards work to grow the relationships you’ve already made, they work just as well in growing your client base. “They enable you to put your business name out there,” reads the website, “Sending cards to prospective clients shows them that you are willing to go the extra mile by taking the time to send them a personal greeting during the busy Christmas season.”

4. It provides a personal touch. There are many informal ways to express thanks. A holiday card is not one of them. This is especially true when you are thanking your employees. “Show your appreciation to employees and co-workers by giving them a greeting card with a personal message,” advises StudioMirageGreetings.com, “Acknowledgement of employee effort is good for morale and in maintaining good communication and work productivity.”

5. It helps you to stay organized. Admittedly, sending out holiday cards may take up a bit of your time. But considering how important a gesture it is and how much it can benefit your business, it’s certainly worth doing. Organizing your time this holiday season will be of paramount importance. “Stepping it up” to organize your time will hopefully become a practice that you carry on right into the new year.

At Synergy Marketing, we can do you one better than a traditional holiday card. We offer cards that come with wonderful holiday CDs! They make the perfect promotional giveaways during the holiday season. The CDs include 12 memorable holiday classics and the two different card designs are not dated so that can be used year after year! To place your order, give us a call at 1-877-748-9884!

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27 Oct

5 Tips To Ringing In A Lucrative Holiday Season

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 27.10.14 by John Meloche

Christmas tree ornaments on the clotheslineWell, we’re officially in the last week of October. And you know what that means. Halloween is almost here! But, for business owners all over Canada, it also means that the holiday season is just about to begin. Can you believe it’s that time of year already? Before you know it, shops of all kinds will be displaying Christmas colours and decorations in order to celebrate the holiday season. What will you be doing to celebrate?

More importantly than just celebrating are the ways in which you will be promoting your business during the holidays. Naturally, the upcoming season encourages more people to do a lot more shopping. So that means that you’ll have many new opportunities to welcome new customers into your store. How will you advertise to them? It’s important to not simply assume that business will pick up.

And even it does – which it will – it’s important to impress your customers in ways that will encourage them to return to your store long after the holidays are over. On SocialSolutionsCollective.com, Nancy Babcock writes that “with advance planning and a well-thought out fall marketing strategy you can position your business to ring in the holiday season with a minimum of stress and sleigh full of success.” Here are five tips.

1. Plan Your Strategy. “Begin with a thorough review of your holiday campaign from last year to determine what should be repeated, tweaked or avoided,” writes Babcock. Letting your client base know that your place of business has much to offer them during the holiday season is an important way to ensure that they walk through your doors. Consider offering special coupons for discounts or gifts with each purchase.

2. Use Facebook. Is there ever a bad time to use Facebook to promote your business? We think not. Babcock suggests that you begin your holiday campaign via social media by offering “exclusive holiday discounts or insider sales for your followers. “Announce upcoming specials and offers; add eye-catching images along with your status,” she continues, “Ask your customers to post a review and analyze their engagement and interaction to your product or service.”

3. Use Twitter. You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone recommending Facebook who doesn’t recommend Twitter as well. This awesome and incredibly popular social networking platform offers many unique opportunities to spread the word about your company’s holiday promotions. “Host tweet chats for target market areas. Use a tag to invite your local followers to tweet parties and discuss gift ideas with your target audience,” suggests Babcock.

4. Use Pinterest. Evidently, Babcock strongly believes in the power of social media. Who doesn’t, right? Pinterest is another great promotional tool, she reminds us. “Pinterest has new contest guidelines,” she informs, “If you host a holiday contest, make sure that your contest rules are clearly posted on your board or profile and that you follow the updated Pinterest Brand Guidelines. Pinterest wants people to pin based on inspiration and creativity.”

5. Use E-mail. Tried and true emailing is still an effective method for informing your customers about your store’s special deals and holiday events. Babcock encourages you to draft email newsletters to offer your client base compelling content that will draw more of their interest to you. “Strategically create subject lines with captivating ‘calls to action’ so your email stands out amidst the deluge of the competitions,” she advises.

And hey, don’t forget to give out those amazing promotional gifts of yours! Be sure to place your order for them by calling Synergy Marketing at 1-877-748-9884 today!

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20 Dec

Happy Holidays From Synergy Marketing!

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 20.12.13 by John Meloche

Blue bird with balloon and Santa hatWelcome to the last Synergy Marketing Blog entry for 2013. It’s been an amazing year for Synergy Marketing and we sincerely hope that we’ve helped to make it an amazing year for you as well. In 2014, we will remain dedicated to serving you with the best promotional products in our industry. We will also remain committed to keeping our blog informative and interesting in ways that will help to boost your brand.

In our last blog for 2013, we’d like to take the opportunity to thank each and every one of our readers and clients alike. We know that, thanks to you, we have been able to grow exponentially as a company. Serving business owners all over Canada is a great joy for our staff. This is, in part, because we know that when we help their businesses to grow, our business grows as well.

As readers of our blog are well aware, Synergy Marketing goes a lot further than selling promotional products in order to help Canadian business owners. Our blog is often filled with helpful tips that cover business advertising in a variety of ways. We enjoy researching the internet for various perspectives and taking looks at the many pieces of expert advice that are out there.

This week has been no different. We’ve been studying an article by Krista Bunskoek on SocialMediaToday.com that details a number of ways that Twitter can be used to promote your business during the final week of holiday shopping. All week long, we’ve been reviewing her tips in hopes that that they will help your brand boost its sales before Christmas. In today’s blog, we’ll review her final tip.

Show Your Product. “When you do tweet about your products – show them,” writes Bunskoek, “Always keep your customer in mind, too. Craft your message to explain how your product will solve a customer problem.” Keeping in mind that your job as a business owner is essentially to be a problem solver, use Twitter to literally show how your products can lives easier.

You may also want to include links to short demonstration videos that you’ve posted on YouTube to show just how fun and easy it is to use your products or services. The personal tone you use in both these tweets and videos will go a long way in securing new customers. “Include a link directly to your product on your ecommerce site. Make it easy to buy your product during the busy holiday times,” reminds Bunskoek.

Twitter is a great place to advertise your promotional gifts, by the way. In 2014, you may want to utilize this social media giant as your way of drawing in new business by promoting your gifts. In other words, offer all new customers who come into your store the opportunity to walk away with a free gift. For decades, promo gifts have proven that they encourage customer loyalty – and this will only continue.

Give us a call today at 1-877-748-9884 to order your promotional gifts so that they will be available to you to begin your new advertising push early in 2014. Today is our last day of operations in 2013. We will be closing our offices and reopening them on Monday, January 6th. We look forward to speaking with you in the new year and wish you the happiest of holidays until then!

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19 Dec

Using Twitter To Attract Last Minute Shoppers

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 19.12.13 by John Meloche

Blue Christmas BirdTwitter is used worldwide by millions of people on a daily basis. It’s no wonder that Krista Bunskoek of SocialMediaToday.com believes so strongly in its ability to promote businesses. With Christmas Day almost here, there is no doubt that Twitter can help to spread awareness about your brand and all it has to offer in the days leading into the big day next week.

This week, the Synergy Marketing Blog has been dedicated to analyzing Bunskoek’s take on how Twitter can help to boost your holiday sales in the final days of the holiday shopping rush. There are still a lot of last minute shoppers out there! How can you get them into your store? In today’s blog, we’ll look at a few more tips that should help to increase your sales before Christmas.

Twitter Ads. Now we all know that the use of Twitter is free. But Bunskoek reminds us that if you have some of your holiday advertising budget to spare, you may want to invest in Twitter’s Promoted Tweets. As she informs, “they’re super highly targeted, and you only pay when people engage with your ads.” That way, you know you’re not throwing your money away.

Using Promoted Tweets, says Bunskoek, is a great way to get a step up on your competition. When people are searching for information about your industry, this strategy will help to put your tweets in the forefront. She advises that you promote your most engaging tweets, such as the one that contain images, links to your online store or even videos that you’ve put together that are filled with holiday spirit!

Be Easy to Contact. Clearly, all of these Twitter tips are meant to provide your company with one specific outcome: get more customers. So it’s important that your Twitter account makes it easy for all of your potential new followers to get in contact with you using methods outside of this huge social media platform. “Put your contact info on the right hand side of your Twitter page,” suggests Bunskoek.

You may even want to design a new Twitter background that includes your contact information. It would be a good idea to make this new background holiday-themed simply to increase the festive concept of your new push on social media during this time of year. Don’t forget to include information such as store locations, hours of operation and your phone numbers.

Ask for a RT. Retweeting is “a classic on Twitter,” writes Bunskoek. It’s as easy as writing “please RT” somewhere in your tweet. This encourages your followers to retweet your message so that their followers can read it. You may even want to provide incentives to those who retweet your message by offering them discounts if they visit your store.

Bunskoek reminds us that a great way to engage your customers is to ask questions in your tweets. Sometimes you can garner responses by asking for “Retweets” from those who agree or identify with your messages. For example, “Retweet if you still have last minute holiday shopping to do”. That way, you’ll accumulate a lot of knowledge about those who may directly benefit from the discounts you plan on providing.

In tomorrow’s blog, we’ll conclude our look at Bunskoek’s tips on how to use Twitter to boost your holiday sales and wrap up our blogging for 2013!

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18 Dec

Boosting Holiday Sales Through Twitter

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 18.12.13 by John Meloche

Cute blue christmas bird with speech bubbleThe holiday season is a fun time for a lot of people. And business owners are no exception. This is the time of year when shoppers are looking to spend more money and purchase more items than at any other time of year. This also means that business owners need to step it up in order to ensure that shoppers are not going to the competition for the products and services that they see as great gift ideas.

There are tons of ways to promote your brand during the holiday season, and we’ve been looking at many ideas over the past couple of weeks. But this week, we’re taking a look at how using the hugely popular social networking site known as Twitter as a means of advertising can be beneficial. On SocialMediaToday.com, Krista Bunskoek offers an array of ideas on how to use Twitter to boost sales. Let’s look at a few more today.

Seasonal Hashtags. If you’re familiar with Twitter, then you are certainly familiar with hashtags. Very often used in tweets, these hashtags help to spread your messages that much further. Simple hashtags including #giftideas, #lastminutedeals, #discounts, #coupons, #holidayshopping and more can help for your tweets to become part of conversations that involve a great deal of people.

People often research such key words on Twitter in order to get in on some these conversations. You may be surprised at just how many new people will discover you thanks to the hashtags you’re including in your comments. Bunskoek even reports that Google is now including hashtags in their searches. Therefore, “using seasonal hashtags can get your tweets found beyond Twitter.”

Share your @mentions. “Use @mentions to connect directly with customers and partners,” writes Bunskoek, “Use it to respond to people who’ve tweeted to you, or used your brand or campaign hashtag. Use it to send out messages to people about your sales or events.” Now a lot of people who use Twitter may not know this, but when you begin a tweet with an “@mention”, it only appears to the person you’re mentioning.

Bunskoek points out that in order for all of your followers to see your tweet, you should include words in front of your “@mention”. For example, write “Thanks to” or “Happy Holidays” before the person’s handle in order to both communicate a message to that person as well as allow your list of followers to see your tweets in their timelines. This is a handy tip that will help to increase your brand’s popularity.

Personalize Your Tweets. As we have previously mentioned, you don’t want all of your tweets to be strictly business-oriented. In fact, the more you show your “human side”, the more likely it is that you will gain new followers. This is because people have shown that they enjoy reading tweets that they can relate to. The more people you can relate to you, the more likely it is that they will buy from you.

Use personal tones, advises Bunskoek. She suggests the use of pronouns like “you”, “me” and “us”. She also reminds us to include photos in your tweets that highlight the personality of your brand. Tweeting photos of your happy and friendly staff will go a long way. The pictures will present your business as one that is inviting and enjoyable to visit. This will help increase your holiday traffic.

Check back for tomorrow’s blog as we reveal some more amazing Twitter tips for the holidays!

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17 Dec

More Twitter Tips To Top Up Your Sales

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 17.12.13 by John Meloche

Blue bird in christmas cap.It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! And that’s because the big day is just over one week away. It also means that stores will be packed with last minute shoppers all week long. But that’s no reason to assume that you don’t need to promote your brand any further. In yesterday’s blog, we began looking at ways that you can use your Twitter account to boost sales over the course of the next week.

On SocialMediaToday.com, Krista Bunskoek explains that Twitter is a great way to increase your brand awareness without having to pay an additional penny towards your holiday advertising budget. Promoting your business doesn’t always have to come at a cost. And during the time of year when you have the potential to increase your customer base more significantly than ever, it’s definitely a time to tweet! But what about?

Holiday Contests. Who doesn’t love a good old contest? Will there ever be a time when people aren’t interested in winning something? Contests are always fun, and this is especially true during the holiday season. As Bunskoek writes, “Contests generate excitement, and increase engagement with your customers. Use holiday themed contests to increase sales in both your local stores, and your online shopping sites.”

One of the ideas she suggests involves the giving out of gift cards. These prizes make holiday shopping that much easier for your customers. Not to mention, they pretty much guarantee increased traffic to your store. With only a week of shopping days left until Christmas, consider the power that giving out at least a gift card a day can have in popularizing your brand in the new year.

Add Some Goodwill. “The holiday season is also a time for charity and giving, “writes Bunskoek, “Show that you are a company that cares. Support a charity, and tweet about to your Followers.” There is no time of year when giving back to your community is a bad idea. But during the holiday season, people sure do need examples of goodwill a whole lot more.

Not only will this be a great thing that you’re doing for those who are in need of helping hands, but it will shine a great light upon your business. Bunskoek suggests that you choose a charity that suits your brand. For example, if you own a restaurant or grocery store, you may want to support a food bank. No matter what charity you use, be sure to tweet about it and follow their handle, encouraging others to do the same.

Recipes. Not all of your tweets need to be directly based on advertising your business. In fact, social media experts have advised that you keep the majority of your tweets generally-based. This way, you’re not turning away Followers who may lose interest due to constant advertising. Tweeting about tasty recipes during the holidays is a great way to generate interest without directly advertising.

And you would still be doing your customers a great service. “You can solve your customers’ lifestyle problems by showing them great recipes and entertaining tips,” says Bunskoek, “Use images in your updates, and tweet links to either your own blog with recipes – or someone else’s.” This is also a great opportunity to learn a few new recipes from others who are likely to tweet you back.

Be sure to check back for tomorrow’s blog where we will be furthering our look at Bunskoek’s tips on how to top up your holiday sales through Twitter!

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