Groundhog Day is an unofficial holiday in early spring in the United States and Canada, celebrated on February 2nd. The day is named after the groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, a small mammal that emerges from its winter hibernation to predict the weather. If the groundhog emerges and sees its shadow, it will supposedly return to its hole. In this case, Phil’s prediction is that winter will continue for six more weeks.
We all remember Bill Murray and his Groundhog Day experience, right? The last thing your company wants is to repeat past years when you didn’t take advantage of a reason for a sale!
Groundhog Day is a day to learn from your mistakes and plan for success in the future.As with any other holiday, business owners should take advantage of this early spring excuse to have a sale.
Whether or not Phil’s shadow scares him, here are a few marketing ideas to increase sales with Groundhog Day marketing:
- Offer a free product as a gift with purchase. This could be anything from a small trinket with your business logo on it to a discount on your next purchase. Silly Groundhog day t-shirts are a great giveaway because your free gift will double as free advertisement for your brand!
- Hold a contest the week of the holiday. This can be anything from a guessing game to see who can guess how long Phil the groundhog will be out before it sees its shadow, to a fun pin the tail on the groundhog game to engage customers in your brand where the closer they get to the bullseye, the higher the discount.
- Create a buy one, get one free promotion on winter styles if the groundhog predicts six more weeks of winter.
- If the groundhog doesn’t see his shadow, create a buy one get one free promotion on spring styles instead!
- Run a social media contest in the weeks leading up to Groundhog Day for your brand. Your contest could be anything from reposting animated gifs or a dedicated hashtag to a photo contest. Don’t forget to use all of your social channels for your groundhog day marketing! Showcase the rules of your contest on Facebook, IG, Twitter, and any other social media you use, along with your company website. These should all be updated with posts about your Groundhog Day marketing frequently to keep people engaged! Get creative, and don’t forget to post the rules of the event, including how you will choose the winner. Once a winner has been selected, be sure to contact them and confirm that it’s ok for you to showcase them on all of your channels.
- If you’re in the restaurant business, market an event in which you offer a free dessert to customers who come in dressed for summer (if the groundhog doesn’t predict more winter.)
- Run a special promotion for your products or services. This could be anything from a free consultation to a discounted rate. Again, be sure to post to your website, Facebook, and any other social media you use to engage customers. Extra clicks are all potential for more sales!
- Offer a discount to customers who spend a certain amount of money on your brand’s products or services.
No matter what business you’re in or what service you offer, there are plenty of ways to capitalize on Groundhog Day marketing. Companies should take advantage of the excuse to have a sale on all holidays!
Whatever marketing ideas you choose, make sure you promote them well before Groundhog Day using Facebook and other social media. You may want to arrive early one day and decorate your store!
Most importantly, get your store involved in marketing for all holidays from the beginning of 2022 and have fun with it! After all, it is the silliest unofficial celebration day of the year. So get creative and have some fun with your Groundhog Day marketing ideas, and you’re sure to see an increase in sales. Everyone loves a deal!
If you’re interested in other great small business marketing ideas for the holidays, including more Groundhog Day sale ideas for your store, check out this article!
