February Promotional Ideas

by Amanda Bowman

Promoting your business is important, but it can be difficult when there isn’t a holiday or some sort of festivity to capitalize on. Luckily, there are two holidays in February where you can do a fun promotion to attract customers to your shop.

Valentine’s Day The most romantic day of the year is the perfect opportunity to run a promotion. Here are some examples of what you could do to get people to fall in love with your store: • Buy an oil change, have someone you love get theirs half off. If a customer comes to your shop on Valentine’s Day (or make it Valentine’s Week; February 9-14), give them a coupon

to share with someone they love. That person then comes back to your store within an allotted time frame with the redeemable coupon for a half-priced oil change. • Feel the love: Half-price oil changes from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Valentine’s Day. If you’re in the loving spirit, promote half-price oil changes for a few hours (or the whole day if you’re feeling extra generous), on Valentine’s Day. • Perfect Pairs If you offer other services besides the standard oil change, this would be a good place to offer a discount

. Bundle an oil change with a tire alignment and balance

at a lower rate than purchasing the two separately. Mix and match any combos you can think of to help entice customers to purchase more services from you. To make your customers feel appreciated, you can simply hand out a rose or a piece of chocolate (make sure it’s wrapped) after a service has been completed. Small touches can make a big impact.Presidents’ Day Presidents’ Day celebrates the birthdays of two of the greatest presidents in history

— George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Presidents’ Day is celebrated on the third Monday in February, which falls on the 16th this year. Here are some ways you can incorporate a Presidents’ Day promotion: • $6 Off an Oil Change Since Presidents’ Day honors Washington and Lincoln, discount the price of the denomination each one is featured on — the $1 bill and the $5 bill, respectively. • Military Gets a Discount It’s an honor to give back to the men and women who have sacrificed so much for the United States. Offer a discount to veterans, active duty and reserve military servicemen and servicewomen. Better yet, get some other local businesses involved and put on an event. See if a food truck or restaurant will cater in an area of your parking lot, have music and balloons and make it a must-attend event. Contact

local news outlets to report on the store beforehand for maximum exposure. Unable to put together a big event? Handing out miniature American flags can be a fun freebie

, tooIncorporating promotions

into your

shop can be as easy as giving out chocolate and miniature flags or as extravagant as a full-on party. Remember, don’t think of promotions as just an expense. They’re a great way to get new customers — or those who haven’t returned in a while — into your shop. Once they’re there, you can turn them into repeat loyal customers with your outstanding service.