What can businesses do to increase revenue in a slow summer season?
To help local financial businesses boost their profit during typically slow seasons like summer, we asked marketing experts and business leaders this question for their best growth strategies. From launching social media campaigns to getting involved in the community, there are several key suggestions that may help your sales boom for this summer.
Here are eight ways to increase your revenue during a slow season:
- Launch Social Media Campaigns
- Host Educational Events
- Partner With an Influencer
- Immerse Yourself In Summer Community
- Get Creative With Summer Specials
- Build Value for Customers
- Reconnect With Clients
- Optimize Sites For Mobile Users
Launch Social Media Campaigns
Summer is a slow season for a lot of companies, but it is also a great time for business leaders to employ innovative marketing strategies! I would recommend using your excess capacity to launch social media campaigns to generate more word-of-mouth referrals. We did something similar on our Facebook page last summer, and it helped increase the number of virtual tours and enrollments in our schools despite the uncertainty of the pandemic.
Jeanne Kolpek, Cadence Education
Host Educational Events
Since we are in the financial industry, we filter through hundreds of questions about personal, business, and start-up loans. An idea we have bounced around during the slower summer months is hosting virtual educational events to share more information about unsecured finance loans to business owners– or even our referral partners such as business brokers or franchisors– to encourage them to look into this as a financing option. This is a great way to educate people about something we are passionate about as well as find new customers that are in need of our services.
Grant Ferguson, Unsecured Funding Source
Partner with an Influencer
One of the biggest opportunities for growth that we’ve seen is brand and influencer partnerships. While summer months may be slow for your business normally, there are other brands and opportunities that are likely booming. How can you partner or develop a relationship with a brand, influencer, or other opportunities that can help boost your brand during slower months? Knowing that things will be slower means you have more time to get creative and see if you can make something exciting happen!
Stephanie Schull, Kegelbell
Get Out and Network
One of the best ways to grow your brand is by making personal connections with people. Summer is the perfect time to do it! Sign up for various industry-branded events, conferences, and even social gatherings. You never know who you’re going to meet. While you are out there, talk about your brand and why your product or service is important to you but even more important and valuable to them as potential customers or clients.
Rronniba Pemberton, Markitors
Get Creative with Summer Specials
A businesses’ slow season is time to get creative to reduce inventory and drive traffic. Suppose you have some merchandise to clear; you could run a special or giveaway. Doing so will help make way for new products and introduce new customers to your business. Partnering with a complimentary or neighboring business can also help expose your business to new customers. Running a promotion around gift cards will also help with cash flow. Keep in mind those gift cards will be redeemed in the future, which will impact revenue at the time of redemption.
Kimberly Bogues, Flourish Business Services, LLC
Build Value for Customers
Create content to help your customers. Answer FAQs, offer recipes, or lifestyle tips that tie into your brand. How do you feel when someone helps you and doesn’t ask for anything in return? That’s how you want to make your prospects and customers feel. Creating this emotional connection will amplify your brand awareness.
Tanya Gagon, Miss Details
Reconnect With Clients
Businesses that reconnect with their customers in an authentic fashion whether through social media or direct contact can generate more lift during slow cycles. Take a moment to thank those that got you to where you are, showcase how your business serves the community and where you want to be in the future. Communication is always key and transparency of purpose strengthens trust.
Marc Young, MyCreative Inc.
Optimize Sites For Mobile Users
When two-thirds of internet users are using shopping apps on their mobile devices, there needs to be a big push to appeal to this market. Especially when we may only have our phones with us on vacation. In 2021, people are more likely to compare, order, and review products and services on their mobile phones; we need to do more to appeal to this market. This is even backed by Google’s rollout of including Core Web Vitals in their search rankings, which means that websites need to be operating faster if they are going to keep up.
Jacob Byers, Ohmni
This article originally appeared on AZ Big Media.
