Black Friday has been a mainstay promotional event for e-commerce and brick-and-mortar shops for decades. Many a shop owner prepares months in advance for that magical 6 am door opening. While throngs of caffeine-crazed shoppers stand prepared ready to snag the best deals of the year.

Our focus for this particular blog is to share holiday promotion ideas for professional services and SAAS businesses. If you offer a mix of retail, subscription, and member-based offers, read on—much of this may apply to you too. Businesses also seek deals this time of year and not only for traditional products. These holiday promotion ideas for professional services and SAAS businesses can add a revenue boost to B2B companies in a historically slow quarter. However, to take advantage of it this year it’s important to start planning now.

Many marketing experts recommend preparing for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday at least four weeks in advance. We are posting tips every week leading up to Black Friday on our Facebook and Instagram channels to help tackle everything from page load to email testing. With the challenges many of us are encountering with supply chain issues, product deliveries, etc. it’s important to plan as far in advance as possible for all holiday promotions. Retail and e-commerce product sites are especially vulnerable. Brick and mortar retailers and e-commerce shops will want to check availability well in advance to make sure what they are promoting will be in stock. Fortunately, Professional Service companies and SAAS companies are not as affected by the supply chain. However, planning is still critical.

Following are some Holiday Promotion Ideas for Professional Services and SAAS Businesses

Although Cyber Monday began as the online version of the retail industry’s Black Friday (thank you Amazon) it has evolved to include service and digital product promotions. Personally, Cyber Monday/Cyber Week is when I finally purchase the personal apps and training courses I haven’t been able to justify purchasing. From meditations, to music, to digital training courses, Cyber Monday gives non-traditional tech and digital sales a boost. I havee have also taken advantage of stock art subscriptions, annual software purchases, or BOGOs for professional services for business during the big holiday sale days. More and more professional service and SaaS companies are jumping in the holiday promotion wagon and everyone benefits.

Here are a few holiday promotion ideas for professional services to get you started:

1. Offer a percentage off of the entire purchase

We’ve come to expect discounts from retail shops and service companies and SAAS firms can benefit from this promotion too. The biggest consideration is determining the percentage you want to offer. Getting 30% off a pair of $90 shoes is a good deal, offering 30% off an entire construction project could bankrupt a builder. Paying attention to margins here is key. 

• Offering customers a percentage off of services can be the trigger to get in the door for the bid or the customer to choose you instead of another contractor.
• Create an on-demand offer or annual retainer model and offer a percentage off the annual fee
• Monthly website hosting or IT services, $5 off monthly fee when you pay the year in advance, etc.

Industries who can benefit from this promotion: 

• SAAS Companies – percentage off of a download or annual commitment
• Construction service firms: plumbers, remodelers, cleaning services, roofers, etc. 
• Professional service firms: Attorneys, IT service companies, event management firms, Accountants, Bookkeeping, Marketing, Design Firms, etc.

2. Offer One Free of a Multiple Purchase (one session, one month, one download, one window, etc.)

Get creative and think beyond the promise of a free consultation or free estimate. In construction, law, and other industries a free initial consultation or estimate is expected and won’t be perceived as a true ‘freebie’.

• For products or services, you can offer one free window install with the purchase of a full house of windows. Or for professional firms offer a small add-on service for free. Cover a filing or registration fee or offer free set-up or installation, etc.   
• Think of offering a set of services, 11 massages for the price of 10, 10 coaching sessions and one free e-book, one free month with annual membership purchase.
• For digital companies, this could be one or more downloads for free. Think e-cards, meditations, courses, the first chapter, or the introduction of a book. Another idea could be the first download in a series customers usually have to pay for. Give a free introductory training download.  This helps introduce your products and services to customers and can keep them coming back for more or investing in a higher level or longer-term commitment. The customer will save money and when they find value in what they received, you become their go-to company because you helped them get started.

Industries who can benefit from this promotion:

• SAAS (One free month with annual commitment, or one add-on or in-app purchase)
• Coaches (Life Coaches, Business Coaches, Family Coaches, Sales coaches)
• Counselors, Massage Therapist, Hairstylists, Nail Salons
• IT Services, Website hosting service, Marketing maintenance service, 
• Bookkeepers, Accountants, Association Management, Client Management
• Teachers, Trainers, Speakers, Authors,
• Artists (Digital Downloads)
• Construction: builders, skilled trades, plumbers, remodelers, cleaning services, roofers, etc.
• Professional Services: Attorneys, IT service companies, event management firms, Accountants, Bookkeeping, Marketing, Design Firms, etc.

3. Offer Free Shipping/Delivery or a Fixed Amount Discount  

Keep it easy for everyone. Taking $20 off every $100 spent is much easier to understand than 30% off of a $100 purchase. Customers don’t want to do the math. Keep it simple for them Keep it simple for you.

• SaaS companies could do $20 off purchase or $5 off in-app purchase. Coaches, Therapists, Hairdressers, and Nail Techs could do $10, $20 off a session, etc.
• If you have higher ticket items you can offer a scale. $15 off $100, $40 off $200, etc. The more they buy the more they save and the more you sell. Just be sure to keep your margins in mind when you are selecting the discount. Win/Win
• If you have a hard copy study, journal, workbook, calendar or other books for sale consider offering free shipping. Nobody likes add-on fees especially delivery costs. Choose a dollar amount the shopper needs to spend that will earn them free shipping. Set up your e-commerce platform to tally their totals as they add items to their cart. Honestly, who here hasn’t added another $7.00 item so they could get free shipping?
• Always create promotions that are clear. Don’t make shoppers have to think – Black Friday or any day.

Industries who can benefit from this promotion:

• SAAS
• Coaches – Life Coaches, Business Coaches, etc
• Counselors, Massage Therapist, Hairstylists, Nail Salons
• IT Services, Website hosting service, Marketing maintenance service,
• Bookkeepers, Accountants, Association Management, Client Management
• Teachers, Trainers, Speakers, Authors
• Artists (Digital Downloads)
• Construction, skilled trades, builders
• Professional Services

4. Give a Gift, Send a Card

The holidays are about giving. If you don’t have an add-on, training, or a download to share you can look for other ideas. You can still give a gift that brings you top of mind to your customers and prospects during the holidays. Do your best to find an item that connects with your business in some way.

• For companies that have time-sensitive services, calendars with your branding may be seen every day, all year long.
• Work with a promotional product company to discover a gift that is appropriate, on budget, and useful. 
• For small businesses with a local focus personal deliveries of food or homemade goodies are always great ways to get in the door.  
• If you have a large customer and prospect list and gifts are not in the budget this year send a card. In lieu of customer favors some companies donate to a cause. Acknowledging this in a holiday greeting sheds a positive light on your brand. Cards are always appreciated and once again get your business name out there. I recommend resisting sending postcards. Cards are often displayed on customers’ desks, file cabinets, in their homes, etc. Postcards do not fit with standard display options and in many cases won’t be seen by others. The last tip to stand out a little more is to consider sending cards for Thanksgiving or New Year instead of Christmas.  

Industries who can benefit from this promotion:

• Everyone!

Good luck with your holiday promotions!

If all of this is just too much, or if there are pieces that make more sense for us to do instead of trying to plow through them alone, connect with us. We’re happy to help with setting up your website for e-commerce, creating auto-generated emails, or digital graphics and pop-ups to promote your sale. Give us a call or shoot us an email today. We’ll do a quick phone review to get us all up to speed and plan the next steps.

Stay connected!