It’s a Wonderful Life. Miracle on 34th Street. I love them both – for their soaring holiday spirit and because each has one of my favorite movie moments. Never fails…When George Bailey’s brother toasts him as “the richest man in town” tears are always running down my face.

And sure when the post office floods the courtroom with barrel after barrel of letters to Santa – well you’d really have to be the Grinch not to love that. But my favorite scene is when Santa tells a mother looking for a special gift to go to Macy’s arch rival Gimbels. That’s the 34th street marketing strategy that I love. Serve customer first – lose a sale now to keep them coming back to you forever.

Ah Santa. So many lessons jolly St. Nick has for us. So in the spirit of the season, I’m passing along some marketing strategies inspired by Santa others have written aboutin recent years.

The Goodie Bag

• Santa’s message is short–Hope and joy. His target market– children and the young at heart. When you think of name Santa, you automatically associate it with giving, kindness, thoughtfulness, joy, magic, and usually a lighter heart.

• Be inspiring. Santa’s given you proof it can be done. Santa looks invisible until you see the children’s eyes and smiles. Even as adults, we set aside our worries and allow joy in.

• Be consistent.  For hundreds of years he’s delivered one brand, one message and a powerful visual image. It works for him, thus, it will work for you. Your message needs to be consistent everywhere in your business — voice service, web site, advertising, literature…It is walking our talk. Consistency makes bank accounts ring jingle bells.

• Know your customer. Have you heard of the naughty or nice thing. He sees you when you’re sleeping for goodness sakes. Is your finger on the pulse of your customers. Do you know what they’re thinking.

• Leverage relationships to spread the message. Nobody’s more ‘viral’ than Santa. He provides the message so that you know exactly what he wants you to say to others. Give others the tools to smoothly give your message away. People appreciate having the “right” words.

• Stand apart, be unique. Santa, like FEDEX, stands out with his delivery system. The US mail carrier comes close but still misses the mark. Yet, their uniforms don’t compare, do they? How bout the hat, furry red suit and boots. Do you know anyone who delivers their product on a sleigh, with reindeer, and gifts in the middle of the night?

• Give first. Santa delivers and then receives his cookies and milk. Are you asking for the cookies and milk first? Psychologically, people like people who first give their time, money or knowledge. But know where the boundary is on how much you give so that your energy doesn’t change to anger. Even Santa has boundaries.

• Build customer loyalty. Who has more loyal and life long customers than Santa? Even though the relationship changes with his customer’s age, his message of joy and good cheer remains generation after generation. Santa ties you into a solid loyalty program that people want to keep.

[acknowledgments to Catherine Franz, http://abundance.blogs.com and Sean D'Souza, www.psychotactics.com]

Most of these things you already know.  Santa’s lessons aren’t new and surprising, they’re tried and true.  It’s just who he is.  He’s authentic.

Tough times can make us all doubt ourselves. Many are lured into becoming something they’re not in an attempt to capture any opportunity they can.  In doing so, it’s possible to forget who we really are

No matter the times, whether up or whether down. We always know that the spirit of Santa is coming to town.

We wish you all the spirit of goodwill along with the optimism and hope to remain true to yourself.

Posted by: Steve Banis