Creating Your December Monthly Marketing Campaign Calendar

Here come the holidays, and with it the Santa-sized responsibility of trying to balance your marketing strategy during the busiest time of the year with making sure you’re there for every merry moment spent with family and friends. In retrospect, Kris Kringle and his elves have it easy. At FetchRev, we’re no strangers to the season. For family entertainment centers, health and beauty businesses, and everything in-between, December is a month to maximize your revenue opportunities and end the year with a big bang—ideally, without breaking a major sweat. As such, we’re filling your proverbial stocking with actionable campaign ideas that are ready to convert way before Christmas day. Follow us as we guide your way to success this season without all the stress.

Christmas Season (Dec 1st through 24th)

Every year, the inflatable lawn ornaments tend to come out a little earlier, festive latte flavors start popping up a little sooner, and we’re all a little giddier to get a jump start on holiday shopping. If you’re like the rest of us, you’ve already busted out the Mariah Carey Merry Christmas album and decked the halls (or the lanes) with seasonal scenery. However, the month is still rich with opportunities for cashing in on the Christmas season in a big way—our favorites being in-store special events and gift cards.

Families are hungry for festive activities, and your business can play host to some seriously crowd-pleasing events. Dust off the red suit and hold a skating with Santa party, complete with post-skate photo opportunities. Provide evening supervision at your trampoline park as a place for the kids to burn off some energy while parents finish up their holiday shopping. However you plan to celebrate at your venue, lean on smart email marketing to get the word out and get customers through your doors. Try running a Buy Now campaign to sell early-bird admission to your event for increased urgency.

Gift cards are both a smart present for shoppers looking to satisfy everyone on their gift list, and a money-making machine for businesses who utilize them. In 2017, 73% of consumers decided to purchase at least one gift card during the holiday season, according to a report from Mageplaza.com.What’s even better news for your business? 65% of gift card recipients spent nearly 38% higher than the face value of their card when making a purchase. This means that even if you run a dollars-off or percent-off special around your holiday gift cards, you’ll likely make back the difference. We recommend discounting by at least 20% over the holiday season.

Christmas/Winter Break (Typically fourth week of December, dates may vary) 

From kindergarten to college students, winter break temporarily closes the book on semester’s worth of school with approximately two-to-three weeks of holiday and home time. Of course this almost always leads to them sitting around the house and being bored by the third day of vacation. Being clear about your holiday hours and offering incentives such as 2-for-1 admission specials or discounted all-day passes to give kids a reason to stop scrolling Instagram and start having some major fun before break’s over. For beauty or med spas providing loyal, local customers with a much-needed massage or facial staycation from a suddenly full house can make for a fresh start with the new year ahead.

First Flight Anniversary (December 17)

We love a good outside-the-box holiday here at FetchRev, but this one might just be too perfect not to include on our December marketing calendars—especially for trampoline parks. Easy to overlook in the days of Frequent Flyer miles, December 17th is the anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first journey in their flying machine back in 1903. Your trampoline park can get in on the excitement with a First-In-Flight Coupon campaign, offering discounted admission to the first 50 customers to claim. The FetchRev platform works behind the scenes to automate this process for you so that you can focus on providing the best experience for your guests to catch some major air.

Noon Year’s Eve/New Year’s Eve (December 31)

Naturally, we’ve saved the best for last. No, that’s not a typo. Noon Year’s Eve was first brought to our attention as an event hosted by a rather innovative family entertainment center that sought to celebrate the biggest party of the year minus the midnight sleepy kids factor. Perfectly designed for little ones ages ten and younger, Noon Year’s Eve transforms your place of business into a pint-sized shindig complete with party favors, play, and an apple juice toast at noon! Best of all, it gets all their energy out so babysitters and parents can enjoy the festivities without worrying about the kids bouncing off the walls later that night.For the more mature crowd, creating a bowling package complete with food and beverage or tapping the teen market by organizing a NYE skate or jump night headlined by the hottest DJ around should make your center the place to party come the last day of the year. With your party or group packages presumably in place, tweaking an existing special with a New Year’s Eve twist is all it takes to get your customers in the door and celebrating big while you wave 2018 bye-bye.