Getting Ready for the Holidays

Believe it or not the Holiday shopping season has already started with back-to-school and Labor Day.  Over the last 25 years margins/profits have continued to decline do to deep discounting for stores.  So the question is as a business owner who is dependent on the holiday season…how do I drive traffic in my store when everyone is discounting?

The answer is begin your advertising early in the holiday season.  While Black Friday the day after Thanksgiving is a barometer for the Christmas shopping season it equates to only about 10% of the Christmas shopping season.  Consumers still do most of their Christmas shopping the week before Santa arrives.

The real question that every advertiser has to ask themselves is…how can I guarantee that consumers will see my ad? The answer is sticky notes.  Every subscriber of the newspaper is compelled to touch and then do something with the sticky note on the front page of their respective newspaper.  That’s not something you can say about other forms of advertising.

3M offers 8 ½ x 11 (yellow) sticky note paper with 6 sticky notes on the page.  Have your creative services department design an ad and then present the sticky note on the paper for your presentation.  I guarantee this will have a huge impact on your advertiser.  The 3M paper can be purchased at any office supply store.

“The biggest mistake you can make is always be right.”- – Steve’s Fortune Cookie, Bethesda Chinese Restaurant 1998

Each month there are some dates/holidays that you may want to consider when placing a NoteAds sticky note on the front page of your newspaper.  Here are those dates and some deadline information to consider.

Question – How long does it take to have the sticky notes printed and mailed to our newspaper?

Answer – As soon as NoteAds receives the Acknowledgement form and artwork it takes typically 14-days to have the notes printed and received at your newspaper.  Rush quotes are available upon request.

Question – What is the deadline that my newspaper has to have notes in-house?

Answer – Each newspaper requires a different deadline.  Check with the decision-maker at your newspaper.  Typically newspapers require the notes be in-house 7 working days prior to the publishing/application date.

(October 2010)

• Columbus Day – Monday, October 11^th
• National Boss Day – Saturday, October 16^th
• Halloween – Sunday, October 31^st

(November 2010)

• Election Day – Tuesday, November 2^nd
• Daylight Savings Time ends – Sunday, November 7^th
• Veterans Day – Thursday, November 11^th
• Thanksgiving – Thursday, November 25^th
• Black Friday (Big Shopping Day) – Friday, November 26^th

(December 2010)

• Hanukah begins at sundown – Wednesday, December 1st

• Pearl Harbor Remembrance – Tuesday, December 7^th
• Winter Begins – Tuesday, December 21^st
• Christmas – Saturday, December 25^th
• New Years Eve – Friday, December 31st

Anyway, let me know what you think.  Let’s start a good conversation.

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Photo Credit

Post by Scott Christman.