… And just like that, anchors are up, and we’re rapidly sailing towards the busiest and most commercially lucrative time of the year. Sellers are rolling out their heavily marked-up sales plans, marketers are deep in trend research, analysts are cooking up gross sales forecasts, and buyers are eyeing their piggy banks to determine just how much they can splurge come the holidays.
At some point in the glorious madness, all of the above personalities find themselves being sifted down multiple sales funnels and making both calculated and impulsive decisions – and yourself? How do you and your business capitalize on such ripe activity? How do you swerve those prospects toward the ‘current client’ foyer? How do you reward your loyal clients, staff, and associates? And most importantly, how do you turn stagnant business relationships into lucrative ones?
In this blog, we highlight how ‘holiday impulses’ affect the general human purchasing behavior, we dissect the benefits of pre-planned holiday-based gifting campaigns and give you some valuable gifting tips that may raise those POs and increase your ROI. Keep reading for the full gist.
Redefining Buyer Personas For Targeted Gifting
While launching out-of-season gifting campaigns may prove a tad difficult given the fact that for most consumers gifting is often reserved for the holidays, joining the holiday bandwagon is certainly more thrilling and gives senders plenty of legroom when it comes to themed gift selections. This ‘ease of sail’ can be attributed to the unlimited region-relevant gifting options presented by vendors globally, and the general holiday euphoria, of course.
It is, therefore, essential for businesses to redefine their client/associate buyer personas for the duration of the holiday season. Put plainly, CEOs become family wo/men, decision-makers become consumers, loyal customers are exposed to a plethora of other products, and staff members simply can’t wait to bask in holiday niceties.
Fuel the “Urge To Splurge”- Everyone Is Looking For a Good Deal!
Whether you’re looking to seal a new supplier deal, be named a vendor of choice by a prospect, extend an existing contract, or simply create an atmosphere that allows for brand refamiliarization, launching well-planned holiday-based gifting campaigns is the way to go. The why? According to psychological research, there are three ‘markets’ on which buyers base their decisions, and these align with their most basic needs: Wealth, health, and relationships. By offering gifts that appeal to at least one of these markets, you’re guaranteed to receive some kind of response.
The mention of markets above is but a simple example. The highlight here is that humans have a natural urge to seek instant gratification and are more susceptible to making ‘speedy’ decisions. Consider the holiday season your fuel to ignite such decisions, and launch holiday-based campaigns to optimize your sales funnel.
Research Regional Holiday Customs
The hype around the magical holiday season is felt globally, and multi-national businesses take advantage of this by offering each of their operational regions holiday products, services, and experiences that align with said region’s holiday norms. It is imperative that when planning your campaigns, you consider how different people celebrate and observe holidays differently. This way, your gift selections, messaging, and offers are relevant. Remember, while snowballs and eggnog are representative of American Christmas, it’s all sun, blue skies and beach walks on the other side of the globe.
Launch Your Campaigns Through the Giftsenda Platform
With the difference in holiday norms and some challenges in deciding what is appropriate across the globe, holiday corporate gifting campaigns may not always be a simple task, especially in instances where senders aren’t acquainted with their recipients. For this reason, we recommend initiating your holiday-based campaigns using the Giftsenda corporate gifting platform, backed by a multi-lingual and multicultural team that boasts 20 years of gifting experience to over 200 countries worldwide. Here’s what you can cross off your checklist when using the Giftsenda platform:
- No import/export duties are payable: The items in our marketplace aren’t only categorized by theme, but are distinguished by region too. Sending gifts to Europe? Rest assured that your item options will be from Europe and be culturally appropriate.
- Shipping included with some gift collections: Our Gift Collections feature makes sending collections of gift options to recipients as easy as sharing a link. Depending on the Gift Collection type that you choose, you may just skip the shipping costs queue.
- No need for contacts and addresses: Direct works, but digital works even better. You do not need your recipients’ addresses or contact numbers to send them gifts. The platform allows you to create gift links that can be shared via email or through social media. Let them provide their delivery details and rest assured that the gift will arrive at their doorstep.
- Campaign engagement information: Thanks to the Giftsenda platform’s user-friendly dashboard, you’re left in full control of your campaigns, and receive alerts on when, how frequently, and by whom your gift offers have been accepted, rejected, or donated.
Make Use Of Our Holiday Collections For Ease Of Gifting
To further support seamless international corporate gifting, we’re continuously hard at work to take the nag out of choosing gifts at random. Have a look at our region and theme-based collections that feature unique locally-sourced items that make for the perfect gifts.
Pre-Plan Campaigns To Avoid The Holiday Rush
Holiday gifting cannot be initiated amid the holiday rush, because so much could go wrong, and businesses can’t afford to get anything wrong where clients, associates, and prospects are concerned. Shipping companies are hard at work during this time, and to be fair, shelves get empty. It is therefore imperative for businesses to prevent glitches and non-deliveries by planning well ahead of time. The below points may be helpful:
- Categorize your recipient list and highlight what holidays are relevant to them, what their gifting norms are, and when these holidays are celebrated or observed.
- Do some research to identify items and collections that fit your recipients’ holiday themes. This will help with budget allocations.
- Allocate your budgets and ready up for the busiest time of the year.
- Ensure that your recipients will be available to receive the gifts, and make sure you send them before they are on leave.
While corporate gifts are given to foster stronger business relationships and create lucrative opportunities for both the sender and the recipient, the holiday season adds a different flavor to the cocktail. The appeal is as unique as the atmosphere, and recipients’ emotions are sharpened enough to be receptive to your business advances. For these reasons, launching holiday-based corporate gifting campaigns is recommended for businesses of all sizes.
