Mother's Day is Not Another One-Off

Today, I dedicate to The One-Off Marketing tactic. Holidays like Mother's Day are a great example for a business that never advertises to break out the check book, fill an ad with hearts and flowers, send out the message that moms need you to buy this stuff for them, and cross their fingers that May 13th will be their best Sunday ever. This is not a casual sale message. It fits for a one-night-stand sort of marketing ploy. "I want you to get in, get out, and not ask any questions," says this business. I believe most businesses enjoy quick, easy sales but overall, have to admit the tremendous value that their regular buyers, the faces they know, the wallets that open most for them, have.

How can you use a one-off day of quickie customers to create some long-term love affairs between client and company? 

Let the biggest proponent of Mother's Day give you a tip. Hallmark celebrates the 100th year of Mother's Day by introducing cards that reach a family dynamic previously ignored, the 2-mom household. These feature messages that I imagine some children are crying as they read, or beaming with joy that their family is being recognized. One 2-Mom card I loved read, "Heck Yeah Two Moms are Better Than One." I heard on the radio, part of one that read, "When it comes to big hearts, moms are second to none, how does anyone ever get by with just one?"

Do you think Hallmark needed to sell a few more cards and decided they'd throw these into the mix? YES! But could it be, in addition, that this was this something deeper? Perhaps this effort was a way to show value to a family that exists, deserves recognition, and well, needs a card that says so. My belief is that Hallmark used one day of the year to create a more meaningful celebration, showing families that they are part of the reason Hallmark does what it does.

So, for us in businesses that are not packing the kind of punch that Hallmark might have, or McDonald's with that stupid catchy red couch song, let's know that WE can turn our message away from HURRY ITS MOTHER'S DAY, BUY SOMETHING to something deeper. Let's make an impact in our client's life, in order to take a customer from a one-time fling and make them a part of what we do every day.