Ahh… business has slowed a bit. What to do now? As tempting as it is to go on vacation, take a much needed break or just disappear from the market for a bit, we don’t recommend that. Continuing to engage with your customers all year long helps with brand loyalty and reminds them to plan now for the season to come.
There are many businesses that have busy and quiet seasons. Swim suit companies, Christmas tree farms, snowboarding companies and play equipment companies to name a few. How can you stay relevant to your customers during the quiet times?
We have a few simple ideas to help you plan ahead, keep people engaged and extend the life of your product.
ADVERTISE
Use advertising to extend your season and keep your prospects and customers interested with promotions during quite times. Offer a discount on last year’s merchandise, making room for new stock! Try an early bird promotion where buying now, gets you the best installation date or the latest model. You can extend your selling season by two months when you plan ahead.
Advertising can let your customer know what they should be doing or thinking about in the upcoming season. For example, springtime is a great time to clean and maintain outdoor products. Because time slots fill up for cleaning and maintaining, this should be advertised in the winter. You want them thinking about what needs to be done in the spring and booking now!
USE SOCIAL MEDIA AND EMAIL MARKETING TO ADVERTISE
Social media and email are great and inexpensive ways to keep your audience engaged with your business all year long, but especially in the slower times. Posting, tweeting, chatting and sending emails will promote brand loyalty and help to provide genuine content – which is priceless! Plan a photo contest, ask interesting questions or just have them post their favorite joke – get them engaged!
Don’t stop there! Provide content relevant to the products you sell. For example, if you sell outdoor products, tell them the best ways to maintain that product, showcase new and cool ways to use it or show them how much fun it is to use your product in the off-season! Bundle up and get out there in the winter! All of this can extend the life of your product.
CREATE INTERESTING SHARABLE NEWS-WORTHY EVENTS TO ADVERTISE
Another way to keep your business up front and center is to host an event in your off-season. Get people into your store to promote a local charity and use social media and email marketing to promote that event. Not only are you helping to do some good, you’re getting people into your store to see what you have to offer. People like helping out a good cause, especially when they get to have fun doing it!
THERE IS NO OFF-SEASON.
The biggest take away from this article is that there is no off-season… not really. It is important to stay relevant and in front of your customer base all year. If they aren’t buying now, they will be soon.
Let’s Work Together!
If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, it’s time to make your brand AuSum. Contact us today to discuss your design needs and let us help you leave a lasting impression on your target market.
