Marketing is important at any time of the year, but it becomes especially important during the holiday season. Any time that there is a holiday, you should take advantage of it to boost your sales with some specific marketing ideas.

New Year marketing ideas are especially useful, as people are likely spending money on things to help them complete their resolutions. Or they may be spending money they received as gifts during the holidays, or the money they got back from returning physical gifts they received.

Additionally, attracting shoppers at the beginning of the year gives you an extra cushion when sales slump in the following months. People spend less in the first few months after spending so much during the holiday season, but New Year’s marketing ideas let you secure sales before this spending reduction.

Some thoughts about New Year’s and January marketing before we start

New Year marketing ideas are refreshing because of what comes right before this time of the year-the holiday season. Celebrating the major holidays, and while that is fun, it also involves high-stress shopping as you struggle to find last-minute gifts. But the ending of the New Year’s Eve celebrations lets people start anew. Great New Year’s marketing ideas will incorporate this refreshing change and feeling of hopefulness into your strategy.

ESL Lessons - New Year's Resolutions

What motivates people to make New Year resolutions?

Resolutions come with the new year, with many people creating new goals or methods of reaching existing goals. People tend to choose resolutions that will help them achieve their long-term goals.

Statista graph on New years resolutions

For many people, New Year’s resolutions are a way for people to quantify or outline their hopes and wishes for their new year. They also offer a way to overcome or erase mistakes from the previous year.

It is smart to be conscious of this as you create your New Year marketing strategy. For example, one common theme among New Year’s Eve marketing ideas is showcasing how your product or service will help shoppers achieve their goals for the new year.

When should I start my New Year marketing ideas?

It is almost never too early to start your New Year marketing campaign, as long as it doesn’t interfere with your other marketing ideas and campaigns.

Some sources may tell you that people start thinking about their resolutions and the products that will help them achieve them as early as September, but you don’t have to start your campaign that early. In reality, if you start your New Year marketing ideas before Christmas, you will be competing with your holiday marketing campaigns. You may also overwhelm customers.

Instead, the best time to start implementing your New Year’s marketing ideas is right after Christmas. Dec. 27 is a good starting point, as it gives people a day to rest after their Christmas shopping and celebrations. This also allows time before the New Year’s Eve celebrations start.

You should also take care not to end your New Year marketing campaigns too early. Don’t stop them on the first. Run them for the first week in January, at least. At that point, you may still want to run the campaigns but reduce them slightly as interest will start to wane.

5 New Year marketing ideas

With that background in mind, take a look at some of the best New Year marketing ideas that will give your business a boost as you ring in the new year.

1. Cater to impulse purchases

Any retailer, whether online or with a physical store, knows the importance of impulse purchases. They are a key part of the checkout process, with items surrounding the checkout line and last-minute cart add ons.

During the New Year, you need to think about how to take advantage of impulse purchases when people make returns as well. Remember that the New Year is a prime time for returns. After all, many people get holiday gifts that they don’t necessarily want. Or maybe they bought something to celebrate the holiday or New Year but didn’t get to use it.

The important point is that when someone visits your store (or website) for a return, this gives you a chance to get them to buy something. The easiest way to do this is with impulse purchases, as those have shorter decision-making and buying cycles than most items.

Spending Habits Graphic

If you have a physical store, do this by placing impulse purchases by your return counter. Your goal is to make them as easy to buy as possible. For online sales, list some impulse purchases as “suggested products” on a page of the return process.

2. Launch new products

The idea of “New Year, new me” or New Year’s resolutions doesn’t just apply to individuals. Your store can also use this to your advantage as a way to promote your new products.

If you aren’t quite sure when the best time to launch a new product is, consider doing it for the New Year and give it a New Year’s theme. You can highlight how it will help shoppers get their year off on the right foot.

To make your new product a success, remember to start marketing it in December across various social media and online marketing channels. Ideally, your New Year marketing ideas will run throughout the entire month.

Just remember to outline what makes the product new and exciting.

3. Boost sales with a New Year marketing promotions

There are plenty of ways to boost sales and generate brand awareness with a New Year’s promotion. You can come up with any type of sale or promotion you want.

Dillards New Year Marketing Ideas

For example, consider offering a freebie or discount on each customer’s first purchase of the year (within a given time limit). Or you can just offer a general discount, discounted bundles, coupons, or even extra rewards in your loyalty program. Consider running a New Year’s Day clearance sale or post-New Year sale.

As you plan promotions, remember that the best-performing ones will be related to New Year’s celebrations. So, if you sell fashion or beauty items, advertise before the end of the year, highlighting how your product is perfect for New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Promotions that help people work toward common resolutions are also very popular. Use phrases like “New beginnings” to play into the spirit of this time of year.

Fivestars Reebok Ad

As with any other promotion you create, include a sense of urgency in your New Year marketing campaigns. Phrases like “Don’t miss out” or “Limited time” are great examples. Or include a countdown timer on your website. People are more likely to take advantage of your promotion if you highlight that it will be gone soon.

Rifle Paper Co New Year Ad

4. Incorporate traditional marketing

Not all of your New Year’s marketing ideas have to be innovative. Some methods have lasted over the years because they are so effective. The perfect example of this is creating a display in your store or store window with the theme of New Year’s.

Plan your display well ahead of time and get everything ready. After all, you will likely need to quickly swap out your holiday decorations and displays for the New Year’s ones on Dec. 26 or 27.

If you are in a shopping center or mall, get permission to post banners in prominent locations in addition to right in front of your store. The idea here is to get the attention of shoppers and attract customers.

This type of strategy, whether your displays are just in your store windows or also in the adjoining area, takes advantage of the increased foot traffic early in the year. Remember that people are likely making a lot of returns this time of year. We already discussed getting impulse purchases as people make returns to your store.

But having a New Year’s display in your window or banners in the shopping center may be the push they need to get them in your door. From there, let your promotions or impulse purchases do the rest.

5. Start a customer loyalty or referral program

If you don’t already have a loyalty or referral program, the New Year is the perfect time to start one. These programs are popular because they work.

With a well-formulated loyalty program, you will encourage repeat customers. Loyal customers are also more likely to refer others to your store, even if you don’t have a direct referral program.

Loyalty Holepunch Card for Donuts

For this new program to be a success, create New Year marketing campaigns that highlight it. Those campaigns should mention how easy it is to sign up and all the great benefits that program members will receive. As a bonus, this can also improve your review rate. Social media and other online marketing channels are a great way to spread the word about your loyalty program.

Conclusion: why New Year marketing campaigns are relevant to your business

Simply put, if you aren’t taking advantage of New Year marketing ideas, you are missing out on potential sales. On top of that, New Year’s is your last chance to make the sale before spending starts to reduce and stays low until about March.

With the right marketing campaigns, you will get a nice boost to sales. You will also get to take advantage of the lingering spending spree from the holidays. On top of that, if you launch a new product or loyalty program at New Year’s, this can lead to increased interest in it in the following months. You can even use your New Year marketing ideas as a way to gather leads that you can then convert into new customers.