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Summer’s almost here. Is your business ready?
Memorial Day is considered the unofficial start of summer, when thoughts turn to things like long sunny days and vacations. But your customers aren’t the only ones preparing for the summer months ahead. Businesses, too, can take steps now that can really boost productivity and sales—and smallbusinessbranding.com’s Cecilia Camps says you don’t have to be in a “summer town” with lots of tourists to make summer work for you.
Here are four areas in which Camps says you can be exploring new opportunities:
- Summer marketing. Create a promotion in a popular gathering place—community pools or a park, perhaps. You might even see about partnering with the location or another business. Offer free samples (if your products lend themselves to that) and/or promotional items like tote bags or Frisbees).
- Summer industries /customers. Is there a summer camp, a mall, a country club that could use your products or services? Offer them a special deal; it’s a good time to build new relationships and get exposure to their customers at the same time.
- Low-cost labor. Like a lot of us, you keep a running list of things you want to accomplish or try out but just can’t get to. Summer’s the time to take on an intern or two—college or high school students are always looking. They can help you work through the list while getting invaluable experience at the same time. If you decide to go this route, keep in mind that there are federally mandated rules for internships.
- Explore the market. If you don’t immediately see opportunities to boost your own business during the summer, don’t despair. The rest of the year you just can’t find the time to get out and do some market research—but now you do. Camps suggests going everywhere you possibly can, including fairs, farmer’s markets, flea markets and festivals to soak up some valuable insights about your competitors, how other products/services are priced and most of all, customers.
The hot summer months pair up perfectly with cool marketing ideas, according to contributor Brian Morris on Yahoo Small Business. Morris points out that during the summer, we all adopt a more relaxed, laid back mindset—we’re more mobile and spend a lot more time outdoors. He suggests 10 great ideas for turning summer attitudes and habits into new ways to engage and interact with customers:
- Sponsor an event
- Have a cookout
- Put out some fun posters and flyers
- Offer rainy-day promotions and discounts
- Do water-bottle giveaways
- Find a surprising place for a massive vinyl banners
- Strike up some new partnerships with other businesses
- Try a new twist on door hangers
- Be a sponsor of a golf outing
- Try some holiday-focused postcards and emails (4th of July, Labor Day)
And while you’re at it, it’s not too early to be planning your fall and winter holiday marketing strategy. It’s not that far off!
If you’re looking for still more ideas, community moderator Caron Beesley focuses on how businesses can get ready for summer tourists on sba.gov’s community blog. Sure, some U.S. locations are more natural magnets for national and international travelers, but it’s also important to remember that people travel everywhere, for a variety of reasons—reunions, weddings, summer conferences. So you definitely have travelers in your area, wherever you are, and Beesley suggests some ways you can connect with them. And, she says not to forget “staycationers” who are enjoying recreation and entertainment close to home and who are also a potentially lucrative target market segment.
Image courtesy of hinnamsaisuy / FreeDigitalPhotos.net