In addition to May Day and Mother’s Day, there are many May-only opportunities to creatively and inexpensively market and promote our businesses to current and prospective customers.  A potential side benefit internally…a boost to morale and productivity.    All good for bottom line performance.

1. BBQ month
2. Physical Fitness and Sports Month
3. Get Caught Reading Month
4. Hamburger Month
5. Women’s Healthcare Month
6. Hoagie Day is May 6
7. World Red Cross Day is May 8
8. Chocolate Chip Day is May 15
9. Lucky Penny Day is May 23
10. Scavenger Hunt Day is May 24

If you sell any of these or related products, don’t miss the opportunity to celebrate these occasions.

How?

1. Display simple point of purchase posters that say it’s National: Get Caught Reading Month or Physical Fitness Month or BBQ Month or whatever.
2. On these ads or posters, offer a special deal if you can.  Like buy one BBQ plate dinner and get one free.  Or feature an item like buy one pair of socks,  get a pair for a penny.
3. If you have any advertising money, run ads inviting people in to celebrate with you.
4. Tweet about your in-store celebration and special offer if there is one.
5. Put it on your Facebook page.
6. Announce it to your e-mail subscriber list.

If you don’t sell any of these or related products, you can be involved with a little creativity.

A few ideas:

1. Display a jar of pennies and have a contest to guess how many pennies are in the jar in honor of lucky penny day. The lucky winner receives a gift certificate to your store…maybe you say it’s worth  2500 pennies ($25)
2. Give branded promotional products to your customers.  For example – give a pedometer to customers in celebration of National Fitness or National Women’s Healthcare Month,  or give a bookmark and tell them to Get Caught Reading this month.
3. Offer hoagie sandwich slices to your customers.  Be sure to tell them why. You don’t even have to be a sandwich shop. Shoppers who come in around lunch or dinner will love the free food samples while they shop.
4. Have a plate of chocolate chip cookies out in your store and tell your customers you’re honoring Chocolate Chip Day. A glass of ice cold milk will make the occasion even sweeter.
5. In celebration of World Red Cross Day, sponsor a blood drive or a non-perishable food drive.
6. Run a Scavenger Hunt promotion in your store…hunt for the red dot deals.

If you sell advertising…

be sure to contact your clients about ideas for May celebrations.    They may not accept all your ideas but they will appreciate your creativity and commitment to bringing them results.  You’ll be delivering added value and setting yourself apart from the competition.  For an example this type of creativity in action, go to:  Mick Mixon’s Homer at Texaco.

There you have it!  A month of  marketing opportunities!  Make it fun and see some serious results. If you put any of these ideas to work this month, share your story and photos with Business Class Inc. We’ll post them for everyone to see just how your business boosted morale, productivity and maybe even the bottom line!

Note:  These are fun things to celebrate  with your staff as well.  See 10 Wise Ways to Put Nonsense to Work.

Copyright 2010 – Business Class Inc