The holidays are full of more than just family gatherings, gift giving and your favorite cookies. They are also full of marketing promotions! As a company, have you identified your holiday promotion(s) for 2009? If you haven't even thought about it, don't panic, it's not too late!

With the power of the Internet, marketing campaigns can now be launched in a matter of minutes. Traditional forms of marketing typically require that you build your media plan for your radio, TV, magazine or billboard space in Q3 of the previous year to ensure key placement, but luckily, there are more and more people buying, and researching what they buy, on the Internet. Online, your campaign space is unlimited. You have the ability to purchase ad space on search engines and key websites, market your promotion through affiliate marketing networks and develop your own landing page for the promotion that can be marketed through social media outlets instantly.

Now let's talk about e-mail marketing. If you're looking for a quick and easy way to get your promotion out to your contacts, start by building an e-mail piece. There are some great and inexpensive softwares that can help including Vertical Response, Constant Contact and MailChimp. We always recommend you work with an experienced graphic designer to produce quality e-mail pieces, but using an e-mail program will help you easily deploy and track the results of your e-mail campaign.

To help jog your thoughts for your company's holiday campaign, here are some promotional catch phrases you may consider:

• Buy One, Get One Free

• Recycle Your Old_____, get a New_____ For ___% Off

• ___% Off Your First Purchase

• Buy One ______, Get One _____ For Yourself at ___% Off

• First Month Free

• Buy _____, Get a _____ Gift Card to Help You Shop for the Holidays

• Free Shipping if You Purchase by ______

• Free ____ Minute Analysis (or Consultation, ____Service, etc.)

Remember, when running a promotion it is important to think about the fine print.  Set a deadline for when your promotion will end, think about how many times one person can redeem the offer, if you will allow sale items to be eligible for the offer, etc. But don't delay, your customers are waiting to hear from you today!

Photo by Ed Yourdon