Rescue your small business from the summertime blues!
Every summer a lot of readers find an article I wrote a few years about on special summer marketing ideas.
I wrote that in anticipation of the summer season but right now summer is winding down and if you’re like most small business owners, you’ve probably blasted through most – if not all – of your summer sales ideas.
The end of summer has become an unusual time. In some areas, kids start back to school in almost the first week of August. In others, they don’t go back until after Labor Day. Further, there’s no national holiday in August around which business owners can organize a promotion.
However, rather than allow yourself to get overcome by the summertime blues (or blahs), let’s brainstorm some ideas that can reinvigorate your marketing and send you into the next season in a stronger position.
Use some visual “pick-me-ups.” Find inviting summery photos to use in your marketing materials, even if they don’t relate directly to what you’re selling. If you’re brick-and-mortar, spruce up displays with appealing imagery. Do the same with your website and emails.
Back-to-school. I don’t have to tell retailers who sell school clothes and other school-related items to leverage the back-to-school theme, but let’s look at the other side of that coin: Lots of parents eagerly await the day when their kids are back in school and out of house. (You know it’s true!) How about restaurant owners offering back-to-school long-lunch specials so those parents can decompress after having a house full of kids all summer? Ditto for local gyms, yoga instructors, or massage studios.
There’s change in the air! Summer officially ends and fall begins on Sept. 22, but by the end of August, people are sensing the change. Promote final flings at summertime activities and encourage your customers to start preparing for the colder weather and what it brings.
Eclipse. This year a wide swath of the country is going to be treated to a full eclipse of the sun on August 21. It’s being called The Great American Total Eclipse. Work it into your marketing. Pepper newsletters and advertisements with some fun facts.
I want to make one final point: You don’t have to use these ideas to sell to your customers. Some businesses can take themes like these and turn them directly into promotions. However, if that’s not you, use these and similar ideas to strengthen your relationships with your customers and clients.
For example, you might make personal recommendations on great end-of-summer weekend getaways. Customers appreciate hearing from you even when you aren’t trying to sell them something!