Independence Day is right around the corner, and Lordy, it’s HOT here in Florida – things are slowing down y’all!
Summer activities with marketing in mind can be a great way to overcome a seasonal slowdown and be in the swing of things once business picks up again!
Don’t wait any longer to start marketing yourself for this summer.
Here’s a bunch of ideas for keeping it chill:
Gather testimonials or reviews
You know customers love you! Hubspot suggests business owners cultivate customer reviews and client testimonials for use during the slower months. Business owners can post new testimonials and reviews to their website and across their social media channels as a way of staying top of mind with their customer base.
Treat your customers
Treat your customers by hosting a summer themed event, such as a picnic, baking class, wine tasting, or networking event – a great way of saying “Thank You” and to reconnect. If you’re in the retail industry, you could run a contest or offer free giveaways to loyal customers.
Join or setup a community event
Summer events in Florida are usually packed with art and music festivals, concerts in the park, movie events, food cook-offs and other outdoor public activities. The SBA suggests you check with your chamber of commerce and your city’s parks and recreation department to find out what events are planned for the upcoming few months.
Decide which events are likely to attract your target customers, whether it’s health-minded seniors, snowbirds, parents, or art and music fans. Once you’ve chosen some events with potential, you could:
- Sponsor a local event in return for your name on flyers, programs, a website, or banners at the event.
- Host a booth at an event and give out free samples or sell your product. Be sure bring your own business card and collect contact information with a signup sheet or box to collect business cards.
- Donate products to or volunteer for an event and mingle.
Evaluate your many accomplishments 😀
- Summer is a great time to evaluate what you’ve accomplished so far this year. You don’t have to do this alone! You could plan an outdoor adventure or bar-b-que with your sales people and internal staff – you’re likely to find new ideas and opportunities for expansion.
- Review your website and optimize for leads. Add high quality content and otherwise tweak your website. You can refine your email marketing outreach activities and grow your mailing list by offering freebies such as downloadable eBooks in return for subscribing. Retail stores can offer an in-store Free Gift sweepstakes in return for subscribing to your website email list.
- Evaluate your social media accounts. Social media profile layouts are changing all the time. Is your profile photo and banner meaningful and of good quality? Is it representative of your business and culture? Be sure to post, connect, and be active. Active social media accounts sharing interesting and relevant blog posts are great for better rankings in the search engines.
Tweak your SEO
Assess and bolster your local search rankings, or create a “Microsite” to get the word out when the Snowbirds start showing up. After all, many “snowbirds” often use their vacation time to declare permanent residency.
Most of all, relax and have FUN!
And share the fun on social media! Summer is ideal for sharing your cool photos and building your followers. (Think: Instagram!) Instagram is perhaps one of the most ‘summer friendly’ platforms. It is all about photos and having a good quality campaign going with lots of new followers when summer finally ends.
#summer #summertime #beach #dinnerout #cruisetime #wedding #graduation #vacation
Wishing you an awesome Summer!
Stacy Layman
Director, Marketing and Creative Services
Jacksonville, Florida
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