Many of our clients deal with seasonality which causes peaks and valleys throughout the year. This can be due to many factors including weather, holidays, school schedules and more. Summer seems to be a difficult time for nearly every niche.
Slow sales can be very discouraging to business owners. That feeling of discouragement during seasonal slow downs can often result in cutting costs, including one of the most important parts of your business; Internet marketing. However, to end your marketing efforts during your off season means that you are hurting your online efforts in your peak season too. Why? Internet marketing strategies such as content marketing, SEO and social media are all about building a relationship with your clients. Your customers and major search engines like Google require consistent and fresh experiences with your business. In other words, if you stop talking to your clients, they will feel like you don’t care about them and it could break the relationship you have worked so hard to form.
Here are a few #trustytips on how to keep your Internet marketing efforts going, and how to increase sales and avoid seasonality dips.
Time To Plan
A seasonal slowdown in your business can mean dropping sales, but it can also give you a break so that you can take valuable time to plan for your busy season. Your marketing efforts are essential in getting new customers and speaking to your current customers. It can be a time to get your website revamped, create a new one, kickstart your social media, or get your promotion plan set in motion.
Customize Your Message & Target Your Market
Plan a more custom focused marketing message to your customers. This can build your relationship with your customer on a more personal level and they will feel like you care about them. After you build a customized message on a large scale, think about customizing your message within a targeted group. Many family entertainment centers could reach parents by connecting online with local “mommy” bloggers and online publications. Work on a specific and focused message to each market.
Networking With Other Businesses
Stay humble and open up to learning from other businesses in your community. Network with other businesses and stay open to finding new ways to partner with them. You never know which relationships could transform your business. Networking isn’t a one way street though. There are many ways that you can help connect people and businesses for the benefit of your local community. You can accomplish this on and offline. Connect with other businesses on Twitter and Facebook, and even promote others within your facility (if it makes sense) to keep the positive relationship.
Clean Up Your Email Lists
It can be a challenge to clean up and reorganize when it comes to your marketing efforts, but it’s important to not get overwhelmed and to start somewhere. We recommend that you begin with your email lists. Over the years, you can accumulate email addresses from many different sources, but many of those could be bouncing, showing up in spam folders, or not showing any return whatsoever. Delete them and refresh your email lists with new emails that you have acquired. If you haven’t started an email database, this is the perfect time to start! We recommend using MailChimp.
As always, our #trustytips are here to help you navigate the digital marketing space but if you feel overwhelmed or want more advice on how to best assess where your business is currently – connect with us today!
