Three Ways to Capture the $65 Billion Tax Return Windfall
Contributed by SBOC Member:
Pat Miller
Founder of the Small Business Owners Community
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February is coming and your customers are about to get paid.
Bank of America just released the numbers: Americans will receive $65 billion more in tax returns this year than last—an 18% increase. The total? $135 billion flowing back into consumer pockets over the next few weeks. The average return is $3,400.
If you’re a B2C business, this is your moment. Here are three promotional frameworks to theme your February social media around this windfall.
1. Return to Your Service
Go into your CRM and pull up everyone who used to be a customer but isn’t anymore. Past gym members. Former clients. People who bought once and never came back.
Now offer them a “return” promotion—as in tax return—with a deadline tied to April 15th.
“Your tax return is here. Use it to return to [your service]. Sign up by April 15th and get [discount/bonus].”
This works because you’re catching them at a moment when they have unexpected money and giving them a reason to re-engage with something they already know and (hopefully) liked.
2. Buy Buy Bills
The number one thing people do with their tax return is pay off bills. According to research, that’s the first behavior—pay down the credit card, catch up on the mortgage, clear the slate.
Use that psychology. Offer annual plans.
“Tired of getting a bill from us every month? Pay for the year with your tax return. One payment. Done until 2027.”
You’re not asking them to spend more. You’re asking them to simplify their life by eliminating a recurring bill. And you get cash flow locked in for 12 months.
The Bigger Principle
Jack Butcher taught me this: find 1,000 ways to say the same thing.
If you know your transformation—what you actually do for people—then your job is to keep coming back to that same message with a fresh camera angle. You don’t want to be way over here one day and way over there the next. You want consistency with variety.
Tax season is a fresh coat of paint on your existing offer. Same transformation. New reason to buy now.
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Contributed by
Pat Miller
Founder of the Small Business Owners Community
Pat spent two decades in broadcasting management and hosting. After leaving the radio industry, he spent time consulting small businesses and realized the support system for entrepreneurs was broken. Where could you find help for improving small businesses and building real connections with other like-minded people. In June of 2020, the Idea Collective Small Business Community was born.