• by Maria Bailey , Columnist, December 1, 2010

I love the holidays. On a professional level, I watch with interest the marketing efforts of retailers, big and small, to reach the Mom market and drive traffic to their local stores and online sites. On a personal level, I embrace holiday shopping and gift buying for an often-lengthy list. Rather than complain about it, I head out on Black Friday at 5 a.m. armed with my list, which I typically work through before my family has even had breakfast.

This past Black Friday, as I made my way through the aisles of merchandise, I started thinking of the importance of holiday marketing plans and the impact of holiday sales to a company's bottom line and indeed, the entire year. One of my favorite holiday songs started playing over the store's speakers and I couldn't help but apply my own marketing tactics, set to the lyrics of the song. (It was pretty early in the morning.)

To get you in the holiday spirit, I've decided to share it, along with my holiday gift to you: you don't have to listen to me sing. The lyrics: a list of marketing tactics and successful programs that is sure to put any CEO, Marketing Department, Creative Team, etc. in the holiday spirit! Start by singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" in your head to get the tune, or out loud if you can sing a cappella and you're not embarrassed. Then plug in the following lyrics:

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On the first day of Christmas, my marketing plan gave to me ... an increase in holiday sales.

On the second day of Christmas, my Agency gave to me ... $2.1 trillion Mom shopping dollars and an increase in holiday sales.

On the third day of Christmas, my CMO gave to me ... three iPhone apps, $2.1 trillion Mom shopping dollars and an increase in holiday sales.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my Social Media Team gave to me ... four Facebook contests, three iPhone apps, $2.1 trillion Mom shopping dollars and an increase in holiday sales.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my Creative Team gave to me... five solution-based emails, four Facebook contests, three iPhone apps, $2.1 trillion Mom shopping dollars and an increase in holiday sales.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my Marketing Team gave to me ... six Twitter parties, five solution-based emails, four Facebook contests, three iPhone apps, $2.1 trillion Mom shopping dollars and an increase in holiday sales.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my mom marketing efforts gave to me ... seven Mom influencers, six Twitter parties, five solution-based emails, four Facebook contests, three iPhone apps, $2.1 trillion Mom shopping dollars and an increase in holiday sales.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my offline marketing gave to me ... eight MommyParties, seven Mom influencers, six Twitter parties, five solution-based emails, four Facebook contests, three iPhone apps, $2.1 trillion Mom shopping dollars and an increase in holiday sales.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my website gave to me ... nine thousand unique impressions, eight MommyParties, seven Mom influencers, six Twitter parties, five solution-based emails, four Facebook contests, three iPhone apps, $2.1 trillion Mom shopping dollars and an increase in holiday sales.

On the tenth day of Christmas, my Mom Engagement efforts gave to me ... ten faithful Mom bloggers, nine thousand unique impressions, eight MommyParties, seven Mom influencers, six Twitter parties, five solution-based emails, four Facebook contests, three iPhone apps, $2.1 trillion Mom shopping dollars and an increase in holiday sales.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my YouTube channel gave to me ... eleven viral videos, ten faithful Mom bloggers, nine thousand unique impressions, eight MommyParties, seven Mom influencers, six Twitter parties, five solution-based emails, four Facebook contests, three iPhone apps, $2.1 trillion Mom shopping dollars and an increase in holiday sales.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my mom engagement plan gave to me ... twelve turbo tweeters, eleven viral videos, ten faithful Mom bloggers, nine thousand unique impressions, eight MommyParties, seven Mom influencers, six Twitter parties, five solution-based emails, four Facebook contests, three iPhone apps, $2.1 trillion Mom shopping dollars and an increase in holiday sales.

Did you sing along? At least you weren't in a store getting lots of interesting looks. Thanks for letting me take some poetic license (including the use of the word "Christmas"), and remember to use these tactics year-round, not just in the fourth quarter. Have a happy holiday season.