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We are now in the second half of October, and while you might not be ready to think about the holidays quite yet, they will be here before you know it. In just a couple of weeks, retail stores and malls will have their holiday decorations on full display and Christmas music broadcasting throughout their premises.
Now is the time to prepare for your holiday marketing campaigns.
Many advisors take advantage of the holidays to reach out to their clients and prospects. While the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years can be an excellent time to thank your clients for their business, it can also be a great time to network and reach out to prospects and centers of influence (COIs).
Take advantage of all the opportunities the holidays provide to market your business. Here are 20 ideas you can utilize this year;
- Send Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, Holiday or New Year cards to clients, prospects and COIs.
- Host a Holiday Open House in your office and invite clients, their friends and family members, prospects and COIs.
- Sponsor of a fundraising gala or event to get your name out in the community while helping a worthy cause.
- Purchase a table at a fundraising gala and invite top clients and prospects to join you.
- Attend a fundraising gala to hobnob with the “Who’s Who” of your community.
- Send a holiday centerpiece or wreath to your top clients that they can use for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.
- Send a dessert to your top clients for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.
- Send a unique 2011 calendar as a New Year’s gift that clients and prospects will want to keep throughout the year.
- Host a toy or food drive in your office and ask your clients to drop by the office to make a donation.
- Make donations to charities supported by your top clients.
- Host a holiday lights bus tour for your clients and their children or grandchildren to tour the homes spectacularly decorated in your community.
- Organize a team of clients, prospects and COIs for your local 5K or 10K Turkey Trot and order matching shirts.
- Organize a team of clients, prospects and COIs to volunteer at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen during the holidays.
- Conduct a New Year’s resolution workshop in your office the last week of December and invite nutritionists and life coaches to co-present with you.
- Host an end-of-year tax planning workshop in your office the first week of December.
- Send clients a bottle of wine etched with a custom designed, personalized message or company logo. (See here for examples.)
- Send clients a holiday letter stating that you are making donations to several charitable organizations in lieu of sending gifts this year. Include information about each organization and how clients can make their own donations to the charity.
- Purchase group tickets to a holiday pops concert or Nutcracker performance and invite your top clients and their family members.
- Set up a tent and chairs at your community holiday parade and invite your clients to join you for the parade and some eggnog.
- Write and distribute a press release about your company’s charitable activities over the holiday season.
Planning events, registering for fundraisers, ordering cards and buying gifts all take time, so don’t delay. Make it your goal to have your holiday marketing activities finalized by Halloween so you aren’t scrambling at the last minute. Happy pre-holiday planning!
About Kristen Luke
Kristen Luke is the Principal of Wealth Management Marketing, a firm dedicated to providing marketing strategies and support for Registered Investment Advisory firms. Kristen works with individual advisors and firms to develop effective marketing plans and her firm provides the back office support required to implement the strategies. For more information, visit www.wealthmanagementmarketing.net.
