Many businesses have a seasonal component – meaning a bulk of their sales happen during a specific part of the year. For example, wedding, fireworks and travel-related businesses make most of their revenue during the summer months. Some seasonal business owners struggle with how to market their brand in both peak times and off-seasons. Seasonal businesses only have a small time frame to turn a profit and must leverage in the off-season to help achieve that goal. The primary risk during the off-season is falling off the customer’s radar, which is why advertising during this time is crucial. Strategic marketing planning will help attract new customers and ensure current customers return season after season. Cloudsent has created a list of tips to help seasonal business owners stay on top of their marketing game all year round!

Take Advantage of the Off-Season

The off-season should only be a downtime for your seasonal business operations, not for your marketing campaigns. The “slow season” is the perfect time for working on your website, revamping your logo, writing blogs, collecting reviews and staying engaged with your customer base via social media. Just because customers can’t utilize your product or service right now does not mean they still do not value the information found on your social media channels and blog posts. Which brings us to the next item on the list…

Stay Social

Social media is a conduit to help keep the conversation going with your customers all year round. Utilize blogging and social networks to stay in touch with your customers and ensure you stay on people’s minds. Offering valuable, insightful content keeps readers returning to your site throughout the year. During peak times, use social media to share promotions, news, product launches and keep tabs on your competition. TIP: Use the off-season to create social media content and schedule posts in advance to make sure your social media pages are covered when your peak time rolls around.

Collect Reviews

Consider adding a small sign at the checkout counter or sending an email blast asking happy customers to add a little word of praise in the form of a review on your website or social pages. Reviews build authority for your brand and help drive new customers to your door. When it comes to building trust, consider the following: according to Bright Local, 91% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Not to mention, reviews tend to contain strong SEO words for your business. Getting those reviews up can boost your company’s ranking in Google search results.

In-Store and External signage

Potential customers judge a company by its appearance – eye-catching business signage is crucial to give the right first impression. Drive down any Main Street and you’ll find examples of good shop signage – and bad ones. Attractive storefront signage increases the appearance of any retail outlet and lures customers onto the premises. In-store signage is critical for communicating messages and helps customers find their way throughout your facility.  Signage captures attention, points the way, reinforces your brand and drives traffic into your store – make sure it looks great.

Traditional Advertising

Traditional advertising vehicles include print publications, such as magazines and newspapers. Broadcast advertising options include radio and TV, with local radio stations and low-power stations or cable channels the TV choice for businesses on a budget. Long-used outdoor advertising options include billboards, car and truck signs, skywriting, commuter benches, rapid transit vehicles and taxis and sides of buildings.

Branded Apparel

With so many advertising techniques in existence, using promotional items remains a top marketing tool. Branded t-shirts are an excellent way for businesses to market their ideas and tend to outlast all other promotional channels. They are economical to produce, contribute to brand recognition, make great customer appreciation gifts, are the perfect employee “uniform” and can even be sold in your store. Every time someone wears your company printed t-shirts, they will be walking billboards for your business. Make sure you produce high-quality t-shirts that your customers can wear for a long time.

The earlier you start your seasonal marketing

efforts, the more likely you are to get noticed.

Start Early

The earlier you start your seasonal advertising efforts, the more likely you are to get noticed. Wait for the rest of the pack and you might get lost in the shuffle. Utilize tools like email marketing, digital and print ads, radio and tv spots and social media posts to start sharing your message and get people into your store. 

Build a Solid Online Presence

Set yourself up for success – maintain a solid online presence comprising of an attractive website, SEO, social media and managed local listings. A good SEO strategy, including a mobile-optimized website, relevant content, and well-researched keywords, is important no matter when searchers are looking for your products and services. Ongoing digital marketing efforts are important to long-term success and shouldn’t be neglected at any point throughout the year.

Utilize Earned Media

Earned media coverage is when a newspaper, magazine, TV station, radio station or website, includes your company, product, service, expert opinion, or ideas in a news story. If you gain earned media, you are more likely to get through your audience’s filters. Earned media gives you third-party credibility and enables your brand to reach a wider audience – an audience that may not know about you but can benefit from your content, products, or services. You can earn media by sending press releases to your local TV and radio stations, submitting photos to area newspapers and magazines and always saying “yes” to news station interviews! The best part about earned media? Its FREE.

Add New Marketing Tactics

Once you have the basics of a successful digital marketing strategy down, you can add additional tactics to increase success when your season starts to pick up. For example, trying out geofencing for your Christmas tree farm or adding Facebook advertising to invite prospective customers to check out your pumpkin patch this fall. You can even start growing your customer email list for future marketing. Experiment with new and exciting marketing tools to stretch your ad dollars and reach more customers.

Marketing your seasonal business doesn’t have to be difficult. Outlining a comprehensive plan that can be scaled up or down depending on the season but is built on a solid foundation can help you stay top of mind with customers when your business is slower and get new customers when your business picks up.