Win customers with convenience
You can’t turn on the news without hearing the newest poll numbers on the mental stress that Americans are enduring. Between working second and third jobs, and all the time it takes to worry about your financial future, consumers will be looking for convenience this holiday season. While everyone in the marketplace is offering lower prices, advertisers should get noticed by offering shoppers a way to avoid high gas prices, long lines, and the other headaches that usually accompany the holidays. Offers of free gift wrap and free shipping for online purchases are likely to attract time and cash starved consumers. Hotels should increase offerings for free shuttles and discounted tickets for local attractions to lure hesitant holiday travelers.

Win customers with “real” value
A great way to differentiate yourself during this tough season would be to offer customers something of perceived value. Rather than advertise that third price cut, why not offer a buy one, get one free on a popular item? Shoppers will see this as a way to get that hot new gadget for “Uncle Bob,” and keep one for themselves, too. Throwing in smaller, “stocking stuffer” type items with larger purchases are another way to draw in customers. These items are often the ones left in the clearance bin for after-holidays sales, so why not use them to entice more buyers now? And, rather than dropping fares, airlines could offer to waive the fee for extra baggage to customers who book flights early. The elimination of that $20 will cost airlines less than a substantial drop in fare would and have more perceived value to consumers.

Nostalgia is always a winner
The holidays are a time filled with reminiscing of years past, and this is never more true than in difficult times. Families are likely to go through this holiday season wishing for the carefree feeling of Christmas past, so a sense of nostalgia will really resonate with consumers. This could create a strong market for toys and games that parents remember from childhood. Classic board games, Cabbage Patch dolls, and Rock ’em Sock ’em robots are great lower cost alternatives to today’s highly computerized toys, and kids love them just as much today as they did 30 years ago. We have already seen one use of nostalgia in marketing with the holiday campaign for Macy’s department stores featuring images of Macy’s in the media throughout its 150 year history. The great thing about nostalgia is that it’s easy to infuse into most any industry. It could be as simple as playing classic recordings of Christmas carols on your website (think “White Christmas” by legend Frank Sinatra), airlines serving milk and cookies to kids on holiday flights, or a hotel having Santa come visit the kids on Christmas Eve. These are all pretty simple steps that you can take to ensure your promotion gets noticed in this sea of sales.

Online news Web sites have seen tremendous growth in recent years. A recent Harris poll estimated that 80% of Americans read news online. Those Americans that do read news online say that on average they read online news about seven times per week for at least 30 minutes. The most commonly visited sites for online news according to the poll were Internet service provider home pages, newspaper Web sites, online news provider’s sites and the Web sites for television networks.

One of the most obvious reasons for this growth is the lagging numbers of consumers subscribing to daily newspapers. According to the same Harris poll, 47% of Americans who read news online say that it has decreased the time they spend reading newspapers. It is widely believed that the availability of accurate, up-to-the minute news online has diminished the need for a daily news paper for many American families. This is particularly true of Baby Boomers who are just beginning to venture into the digital market. Studies have shown that as older Americans begin using the Internet, they are most likely to do two things: email and read online news. This offers a huge opportunity for marketers to reach a group of Americans who currently have the largest disposable income. This particular group is most likely to read online news on Web sites that are linked to prominent names in print or television news, such as The New York Times or CNN.

Generation X can also be readily reached by marketers through online news sources. While much of this generation may not have grown up with computers they have become an integral part of their daily lives. Generation X can be the Holy Grail for online marketers because this group is most likely to do a large percentage of their shopping online. Generation X is also highly regarded as a work addicted, over-scheduled generation, so they appreciate the speed and convenience of online shopping. Generation X is likely to get their news from more traditional news sources, such as those used by their predecessors the Baby Boomers, and from newer sources like blogs and Internet radio.

And then comes Generation Y, the most technologically savvy and highly connected generation yet. Generation Y grew up with computers and most importantly Internet, and therefore doesn’t have some of the wariness and mistrust of online resources that previous generations have held. While a decade ago marketers might have felt that reaching Generation Y through online news sources was impossible, this is no longer true. With the popularity of satirical news shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report along with the so called “Obama effect,” the youth of America have been drawn into both the political and news arenas. Generation Y has become interested in the events of the world outside themselves, and are most likely to go to the Internet to get informed. While Generation Y looks for news in a wide variety of places (Wikipedia, Google desktop, blogs, etc.), they are also likely to frequent the more traditional news resources.

The beauty of the growth of online news sources for markets is two-fold: it provides an opportunity to reach a massive and diverse audience, and an opportunity to continue to reach them everyday. Online news sites have the elusive quality of continued, repeated visitors. Because the average American who gets their news online goes to these sites about seven times per week, it offers advertisers repeated exposure for their product or service. So next time you are looking for a simple way to maximize exposure for a new product or service, look no further than your favorite online news source.