The countdown to the end of the year is happening now. Do you feel it? Today is November 17, the 321st day of the year. 3-2-1! It would be appropriate to call this Countdown Day because there are a mere 44 days left before we start a new calendar year.

The holiday season is about to launch. With it comes a hurried pace to the end of the year. Is this a good time to push your marketing or to shut it down until next year? On one hand, many people are too busy to spend much time on business - so the thinking goes - and marketing should just take a break. On the other hand, that crunch of time is often the push many people need to sign a contract and complete a deal. I believe marketing does its finest work in this crunch time. Why? When you are limited on time, you need to cut marketing down to the basics. There is no time to schmooze in crunch time, you simply put your best foot forward, stick out your hand and ask for a deal. Don't shut down your marketing, but rather get ready to launch it.

When marketing is doing its job, it doesn’t stop at just making the consumer aware of your brand, it also sees the process through to a sale. This is where marketing and sales work hand-in-hand. Marketing that falls short of making a case for a sale is not fulfilling its role.

During the shortened days at the end of the year, the essentials of brand marketing are what matters. What would those essentials be? First, there are your features. Your brand’s best features should be compared to two very specific measurements: the needs of the customer and what your competition is offering them. Don’t try to market a feature that the customer cares little about. Likewise, don’t bother emphasizing a feature where your competition can beat you. Essential marketing is about making a pitch where your brand is the solution to a problem and it is also the winner compared to all others.

The second essential is a hard deadline. This is one of the oldest and most effective marketing tools you can use and a marketers best friend. A great deal can be cut if you buy before the end of the year but not afterward. The price goes up after December 31. This does two things. It loosens up tight dollars that might have been held until a later time. It also puts you in prime position to access money that has been budgeted to be spent by the end of the year. If you market a deal at this time of the year, it often pays dividends.

Finally, consider marketing the speed of delivery this time of year. Amazon delivers to your door usually within the next day. People have come to expect delivery to be part of the customer experience. If you can, market the fact that you can deliver whatever products or services before the end of the year. This is the new golden nugget in marketing. The bottom line is people don’t like to wait. You can put your marketing to good use if you can get the order and deliver it fast.

3-2-1… are you ready to launch into the holiday season? Better yet, is your marketing ready to launch into hyper mode to close deals before the end of the year? If you are in marketing, now is the time to go to work, not shut down.

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Image by NASA/MSFC