Skip to content

5 Ways to Leverage Thanksgiving as a Great Promo Opportunity

There are lots of ways to show gratitude for your clientele. What better time than Thanksgiving to express your genuine appreciation for those who’ve supported your business?

If you’ve never tried a gratitude promotion, here are five reasons Thanksgiving is the perfect time to ramp up your promotional marketing strategy.

1. You can capitalize on the Black Friday Hype.

Now is the time to prime your customers for holiday shopping by touching base with them. Stay top of mind with a special offer, coupon, or freebie that they can redeem on Black Friday.

If you don’t want to be part of the “Buy! Buy! Buy!” hype of Black Friday, you can take a different route on Black Friday. Here are some easy ideas:

  • Host an open house with coffee and simple snacks.
  • Coordinate a charitable event. If it seems too much for you to manage, ask for local chamber of commerce members to help.
  • Volunteer at a soup kitchen or shelter. Invite a group of clients to volunteer with you.
  • Be like REI and close up shop for the day. This is a balancing act and, let’s face it, a gamble. But what you might lose in sales, you could make up for in customer appreciation and loyalty for giving your employees a hard-earned day off.

2. Also, Cyber Monday.

While not as highly publicized as Black Friday, Cyber Monday is worth investing in if you have an e-commerce website or even if you sign-up forms on your website.

Planning a Cyber Monday promotion can help drive traffic to your website. Where can you advertise your Cyber Monday promo products special?

  • Email
  • Social media (posting in your feed and creating ads)
  • PPC – Google and Bing
  • Being in the promotional products industry, check marketing, advertising, or small business-focused websites for listing of Cyber Monday specials.
  • If you’re a member of your chamber of commerce, see if they offer advertising opportunities.

Create a special landing page on your website for this campaign, generate a UTM code, and use Google Analytics to measure and track ROI driven from your promotion.

3. Express gratitude and people will remember you.

Sometimes, a simple heartfelt “thank you” means more than that $100 gift.

This year, give thanks with a thoughtful sentiment. Include a personal gift, card, or offer—or just keep it to the simple sentiment and message. Don’t forget to hand-sign your note—this small detail makes your efforts more thoughtful and genuine.

4. Beat the holiday rush.

As the holiday season ramps up, customers will be inundated with offers, emails, mailers, and long to-do lists.

It might be hard to capture your customers’ attention in December, so stay ahead of the curve and touch base with them in November instead.

If you’re sending Thanksgiving cards to customers, plan to send them to arrive a week or two before Thanksgiving so as to stand out from the Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions.

5. Spread the gratitude.

Your customers, your community, the world can always use more positivity.

Let your social media followers share their positive stories as part of your promotion. Host a contest or giveaway asking your customers to share what they’re thankful for. Those who participate can be entered to win a gift card, complimentary service, or another meaningful prize. Select several winners to send promotional gifts as a thank you for participating.

As an added bonus, you can create a blog post from the content generated by your customers (get their permission first).

Bonus: Give back.

Sponsor a food drive or a “Giving Tuesday” fundraiser for a local non-profit or a charitable cause that is special to you. Invite employees and clients to contribute, and post your progress on your website and social media. This is a great way to give back to those in need, spread awareness, and have fun!


Whether you decide to send out greeting cards, calendars, or another custom promotional gift to your customers, don’t miss the chance to leverage this oft-overlooked holiday as a promo opportunity.

Have another great Thanksgiving promo idea? Share with us in the comments, or let us know on the Warwick Facebook page.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *