Seasonal holidays are incredible opportunities for small businesses to attract customers and spread the word about their products and services. While holidays such as Christmas are must-do occasions to boost a sale, smaller holidays like St. Patrick’s Day are also golden opportunities to increase sales and draw in new customers.
If you’re looking to do a St. Patrick’s Day promotion, here’s six useful tips that you can follow to draw from the luck of the Irish and stand out from the competition.
Offer Discounts For Impulse Shoppers
On St. Patrick’s Day, you’re gonna have a lot of foot traffic from local pub crawls and festivities. With a simple change of letters on your swinger sign to holiday banner stands, take the time to provide some exclusive discounts for individuals who stop in on St. Paddy’s proper.
Whenever you make a holiday deal, consider taking the extra step to reward celebrators. You can also provide additional discounts to people dressed in green or any other outfit that goes with St. Patrick’s Day.
Use the Color Green
With that note, a key part of St. Patrick’s Day is green. No matter what type of products you offer, just adding some green is a simple way to embrace the season without breaking the bank.
There are a litany of ways you can utilize green for the occasion. If you own a craft supplies store, place green decor behind your display window to entice customers. Restaurant owners can include green dishes and fare on their menus. You can also add these splashes to employee uniforms, shelves, and other fare.
Make Your Venue an Event on St. Patrick’s Day
Once you’ve drawn in customers, add some simple entertainment options to your store on St. Patrick’s can do wonders to keep them shopping. Here’s some St. Paddys’ options:
Hire Fiddle Players to Play Irish Music
Live music is a popular option to draw new patrons in, and it will make your space buzz-friendly and Instagrammable.
Install a Photo Booth
A photo booth can be a great add-on to your social media profile as well. It will attract customers who will take pictures and post them, thereby spreading the word about your business.
Social Media Photo Contests
Photo contests are a great way to tie your small business into Holiday festivities. Start by having your employees put on green outfits and take a picture of the entire team. Then, create a post with a St. Patrick’s Day hashtag specific to your business and encourage your followers to repost in their own green outfits.
Whenever you’re doing a promotion such as this, it’s important to offer a prize or incentive for your followers. While some individuals may join in for their own sake, a prize really encourages your followers to produce the best content they can muster.
Some More St. Patrick’s Activities
No holiday event is complete without games. Here’s some suggestions for some games with St. Paddy’s flair
Irish Dancing
If you’re ready to get those feet stomping, hire a local dance instructor for an Irish dancing workshop. Dancing can always lighten up the mood and entertain a crowd.
Gold Coin Toss
First, purchase a set of chocolate gold coins and a few “leprechaun” pots. Assign players to two teams. Then, have the participants toss coins into the pot, with each successful throw earning a point. The team with the highest points wins a prize.
Lucky Charm Jar
Buy a set of plastic “lucky charms” and place them all within a jar. With a timer in hand, challenge each player to take out as many Lucky Charms from the jar as they can before time runs out. The player with the most charms wins!
Organize a St. Patrick’s Day Festival
If you really want to go all out to draw attention to your small business, collaborate with other local businesses and organize a festival. Festivals can be incredibly rewarding for small vendors, who can sell their theme-based merchandise in large quantities. For St. Patrick’s, make sure to include holiday-relevant activities.Along with vendors, who will set up booths for merchandise, having a set of sponsors can boost fundraising. Another key element for a successful event is promotion. Utilizing a mix of social media and physical advertising, such as banners outside your store, can draw in a large crowd for the festivities.
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