A great promotion that is easy to run over Christmas is the 12 Days of Christmas. It works by having a different special or promotion each day, on the 12 days leading up to Christmas.The secret to making this a success, is to let your clients know that you are having this promotion, but don't let them know what the special is. The special is released on the day. This gives your clients an excuse to come in, so they can see what the special is.

To run this promotion, what you need to do is work out 12 specials. Then do a poster or sign for each of the items. Could be A3 or A4 that will sit right next to the register or point of sale area.

You start promoting to your clients that you are running a 12 Days of Christmas special. Through Swim®, you can email, text message or send direct mail letters to your clients letting them know about the promotion.

Then starting on the 13th, your first special is released. Each day of the promotion, you can email or text message your clients letting them know the special is announced. (You can choose to keep what the special for that day is a secret, or you could include it in the email or text message).

Do this each day for the 12 days.

If you run a loyalty program, you could have the 12 Days of Christmas as a special just for loyalty program members. This way, if a client comes in and wants the special, but are not on the loyalty program, you have a reason to sign them up.

Have fun with the concept and start your planning now, so it is easy to run for the last 12 days of the Christmas trading.