Reinvent Your New Year Promotions: Ideas and Examples

New Year is all about new beginnings. It’s a time for introspection. As the year draws to a close, we like to reflect and take stock. We think about the changes we want to make and the experiences we want to try in the year ahead.

Many of us make resolutions, focusing particularly on how we can improve our health and wellbeing in the year ahead. And this makes it a great time to run promotions....

With the right approach, brands can tap into this spirit of renewal and reinvention. Here are our top tips to make your New Year promotions a success, along with examples from some of the world’s most recognizable brands.

5 Tips for a Happy New Year Promotion

1. Lean into the New Year Spirit

37% of Americans and 21% of Britons made a New Year’s resolution at the start of 2023, with goals related to diet, exercise, and wellbeing among the most popular.

Embrace the New Year spirit by creating promotions that motivate customers to achieve their resolutions. For example, run a promotion that offers relevant rewards to customers who share the steps they’ve taken to get active or make positive dietary choices on social media. Not sure where to start? Working with promotions and contest management experts can help you find ideal rewards that resonate with your customers.

2. Create Urgency

The midnight countdown is one of the highlights of many New Year celebrations. New York has the iconic Times Square ball drop, London has the resonant chimes of Big Ben, and Paris has its jaw-dropping annual fireworks display.

You can capture some of that excitement and anticipation by running a timed promotion to coincide with New Year. For example, offering 25% off selected products until midnight on December 31^st. Incentivize customers to participate by including phrases like “limited time offer” and “New Year special” on your preferred channels. You could also add your own New Year countdown.

Never underestimate the power of FOMO (fear of missing out) and the impact it can have on your sales. Amplify your FOMO game on social – get viral!

3. Partner with Other Brands

Co-branded promotions are the perfect way to share the love over the holiday season. Pooling your resources and combining your customer networks allows you to create more enticing New Year promotions that reach a much wider audience.

For example, a vitamin brand could team up with a healthy meal delivery service to offer customers who buy $30 worth of vitamin supplements a free, one-month subscription to the latter’s nutritious meal plans. Co-branded promotions are a great way to raise awareness, boost brand visibility, and tap into new markets.

4. Offer Exclusive Rewards

Increase the value of your New Year promotions by offering exclusive perks and rewards to your most loyal customers. Rewards should always be relevant to your customers, but typically include things like:

• Early access to new products or services
• VIP discounts on popular products
• Tiered loyalty rewards that recognize your biggest spenders
• Unique gift with reward programs for purchase of your highest end products (see these gift with purchase examples for inspiration)

Everyone likes to feel special. Showing customers that you appreciate them helps you build customer loyalty and set the tone between you and your customers for the year ahead.

5. Collaborate with Influencers

Brand messaging only goes so far with today’s consumers. 37% trust influencers more than brands, with millennials and Gen Z the most receptive to influencer endorsement.

Influencers have dedicated followers who trust their opinions and recommendations. Partnering with them on your New Year promotion helps you get your products in front of a larger audience, as many influencers like to share their New Year's resolutions with their communities. For example, a health and wellness brand could sponsor an influencer to advertise their products.

There are two important things to bear in mind when collaborating with influencers:

1. Relevance. Work with industry-relevant influencers who align with your and your audience's values.
2. Authenticity. Look beyond follower count. Customers respond better to authentic influencers who have a genuine interest in or passion for the brands they work with.

New Year Promotion Examples to Help You Start the Year with a Bang

Well Within Reach (Haleon)

Haleon encouraged customers to prioritize their health with its Well Within Reach New Year promotion. Customers who spent $20 or more on select products could upload a picture of their receipt to the promotion website to earn a 2-month membership to health and wellness app, Daily Burn.

#DDSMART (Dunkin’ Donuts)

Dunkin’ Donuts harnessed the power of community to encourage customers to stay active with its social media promotion. The multinational coffee and donut brand invited customers to share one piece of advice that would keep them running in the new year, using #DDSMART. Each day, the person with the best tip won a $50 Dunkin’ Donuts card.

Buy Centrum, Get Fit with obé (GSK)

GSK partnered with obé Fitness to help customers get New Year off to a healthy start. The limited-time, co-branded promotion gave customers two months of free online fitness classes with any Centrum purchase.

Rise to Mornings Your Way (Danone)

Danone created a purchase-based sweepstakes to reward customers for making healthy purchases over the holiday season. Customers who bought qualifying Danone products and uploaded their receipts to the promotion website earned the chance to win free groceries for two years.

Open to Better (Coca-Cola)

Coca-Cola partnered with a host of famous faces, including Marcus Rashford and Laura Whitmore, to highlight mental health for its 2021 New Year promotion. Limited edition packs of original Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, and Coke Zero featured a range of positive messages. These included urging people to take breaks and make more time for their loved ones.

Trim Your Waistline, Not Your Wallet (Hydroxycut)

Hydroxycut ran a New Year promotion to help customers achieve their fitness goals. Customers who completed the form on the Trim Your Waistline, Not Your Wallet website earned the chance to win one of five grand prizes of $2,023.

New Year, New Promotions

New Year marks a turning point as we wave goodbye to one year and say hello to the next. The best promotions acknowledge this by supporting customers in their resolutions or rewarding them to ensure next year begins on a high.

Get in touch to discover how our customer acquisition, retention, and engagement platform and expert support can elevate your New Year promotions. Click here for more sales promotion examples to get you going!