New Mexico True Certified Holiday Gift Guide generated over 12,000 referrals for small businesses
Press Release By New Mexico Tourism Department on Mar. 18, 2024
SANTA FE, NM – The New Mexico True Certified Holiday Gift Guide became the gift that kept on giving for independent businesses and merchants during the 2023 holiday shopping season.
The New Mexico Tourism Department (NMTD) conducted a survey of the 132 businesses and merchants that participated in the 2023 New Mexico True Certified Holiday Gift Guide to learn more about what sort of sales activity could be attributed to participation in the gift guide. Roughly 48 percent of participating businesses completed the self-reported survey.
NMTD asked participants to report the number of sales of their product included in the gift guide over the duration of the gift guide campaign. According to respondents, a total of 31,831 units of products featured in the gift guide were sold in November and December 2023, resulting in a total revenue of $582,263. When asked whether they would partake in a future New Mexico True Certified Holiday Gift Guide, 97 percent survey participants agreed they would.
“The positive feedback we received from the public and the small businesses that participated in the holiday gift guide demonstrate to us that there is an interest in campaigns to encourage residents to shop local,” said Acting Secretary Lancing Adams. “Being able to evaluate how campaigns like this impact independent businesses and merchants allows us to build on these campaigns for future holiday shopping seasons.”
Additionally, NMTD conducted a first-of-its-kind shop local advertising campaign targeted at New Mexico residents during the holiday season that focused on the New Mexico True Certified Gift Guide. Over the course of the campaign, the online gift guide received 26,789 visitors, resulting in 12,000 click-throughs to participant websites. The campaign also included a special edition gift guide pull-out in the December 2023 edition of New Mexico Magazine.