Frontline Perspectives

The B2B marketplace tends to slow down during the holiday season, but that doesn’t mean you have to postpone your marketing efforts till 2011. Just be sure your communications are purposeful. Here are a few ways to get in front of your prospect or customer one last time this calendar year:

1. Stick to your routine. If you typically send a quarterly newsletter, go ahead and send your winter one. Just don’t send it too close to an actual holiday, or people might not see it. Likewise, go ahead and follow up on any leads that might come in over the next couple months. If a customer or prospect expects to hear from you, be sure to follow through.
2. Share news. If something happens that might interest your customers, be sure to tell them about it. But don’t make something newsworthy that isn’t.
3. Send a holiday card — with a holiday offer. Mike Hotz of Responsys argues that if you send a generic “happy holidays” e-mail, “your subscribers might not deem it relevant, especially when they are cleaning out crowded holiday season inboxes. They will either ignore it or, worse, unsubscribe.” Make sure your greeting has value for your customer. Offer a discount on your products / services, or even just a business tip of some kind.

In short, your customers and prospects don’t want to be outright bothered during the holiday season. Most cold calls and their equivalents won’t get great results at this time of year, so don’t waste your time. But it’s perfectly acceptable to continue delivering value and service the way you would any other month. Your customers and prospects will appreciate it! Even if they don’t respond during this busy season, they will remember you the next time they need your services.

On that note, happy holidays!