Try a Back to School Sale Slant Giving the Parents Something


Janine Popick at the Vertical Response blog suggests using a back-to-school slant for some last-minute promotions for your business.

Does your product or service have a back-to-school slant? Remember, back-to-school isn’t only for the kiddies and teeny-boppers, it’s also for college kids.

Later on she lists a number of special offers she has run across, when the back-to-school slant was taken in the hospitality industry. In some cases, the offer was targeting a service for the parents, not for the students:

Offer something special for last minute, end-of-summer vacations. How about trying an offer from your spa or salon for “after” back-to-school, to give parents a little breather for a day.

It is now the back half of August, and time is getting short to offer a back-to-school promotion to target things for the kids. But you have the whole month of September to target a promotion that gives the parents a chance to “recover,” if you want to put it that way.

Why use back-to-school promotions? They grab attention. They give you a reason to offer a special promotion. And never downplay the power of suggestion. Parents may not think they need a breather after the kids go to school — until they see that ad or that email offer. Then they remember, ‘hmm, it was hectic getting the kids back to school or off to college. Hmm, that offer doesn’t sound bad.’

As an aside, I happen to think that the Vertical Response blog is one of the best-done blogs by a small business. I frequently am asked to suggest examples of world-class small business blogs, and Vertical Response is one that I usually walk people through. The content is relevant to the industry that Vertical Response is in, helpful to its customers, with a light touch when it comes to selling. And Janine comes across as genuine — from her photograph to her writing style.

1 Comment ▼

Anita Campbell Anita Campbell is the Founder, CEO and Publisher of Small Business Trends and has been following trends in small businesses since 2003. She is the owner of BizSugar, a social media site for small businesses.

One Reaction