Digital marketing is fun when those Instagram likes are piling up, website traffic is sky-high, and you’ve got a line of customers out the door! When the slow season hits, though, and engagement is harder to come by, it can be hard to find the motivation to write another caption.
Don’t be discouraged! The slow summer months (or whenever your slow season might be) are when the digital marketing rubber really meets the road. Now more than ever it’s important to stay connected with your existing customers and prepare for things to pick back up so you can make sure the fall rush turns into winter, spring, and summer business. Here are some slow-season digital marketing tips from the GreenCup team.
Clean Up Your Online Presence
No matter your industry, most potential customers will likely find your digital presence long before they visit your physical one. To make sure that first-time visitors turn into long-term business, take advantage of the slower season to put your best foot forward so you make a great first impression.
- Check your Instagram handle: People will have a hard time finding your Magical Surfboard Emporium if your Instagram handle is @tracysinstagram. All your online content, no matter how small, should point back to your business!
- Get your website in tip-top shape: Improve your site speed by compressing large photos, put a call-to-action in your header, and put the most engaging elements of your site above the fold. Once the flood of potential customers comes rushing to your site, you want to keep them from bouncing right off!
- Update your online info: Remember when you updated your business hours? Well, Google probably doesn’t. Make sure your website, address, hours, and social media channels are correct across every digital platform where your customers can find you (yes, even Yelp).
Just like cleaning up your house before guests arrive (or at least shoving everything in the closet), this refresh will help you turn new business into loyal customers once the slow season ends.
Stock Up On Digital Marketing Content
A steady stream of content can be hard to keep up at the best of times, let alone during the busiest shopping seasons of the year. To keep your digital marketing (and your sanity) going strong, use the slow season as a chance to stock up on content for your busiest months (Black Friday, we’re talking about you…).
- Get a backlog of social media posts ready. It will be a lot harder to find the time to post on social media in the busy season, but that is when social media is most important (ain’t that just the way)! Get those posts ready now so the content keeps coming, even when you’re neck (or eyeballs) deep in filling holiday orders.
- Write SEO blogs. Like all good things in life, a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy takes time. If you wait until your customers start their online shopping to create SEO content, you’ll be playing catchup. If you start writing now, you’ll give Google a few months to notice you so that you’re at the top of the rankings when the searches start!
- Build email marketing templates. Set yourself up to make the most of back-to-school sales, holiday product launches, and spooky Halloween deals by flexing your email marketing muscle! Once business picks up, you’ll hopefully have a much bigger email subscriber list, and you want to make sure those first-time customers turn into repeat business.
While you’re inventorying your products in preparation for the fall and winter rush, make sure you include online content in your list of essential supplies.
While you’re preparing to hook new customers that are on the way, don’t forget to use digital marketing best practices to stay connected to the customers you already have.
- Get active on social media: Catch me in the comment section, how ‘bout that? Interact with customers on Instagram comments, do Q&A’s, and respond to messages to build stronger connections with customers who already engage with your content.
- Share customer testimonials: Everyone loves a feel-good success story (how many Air Bud movies are we up to now?). Solicit long-running customers to share their stories on your website and social media, deepening an existing relationship and showing the human side of your business.
- Reward the folks who stuck around: “Slow season” doesn’t mean “dead season.” Some loyal customers will stick with you all year round, so consider a summer sale or off-season deal to keep those relationships going strong.
Need help getting your online presence up to snuff before business gets busy? Let the GreenCup team give your website and social media pages a digital makeover! With years of experience in digital marketing and a client-focused attitude, we’re here to take the tough work of marketing off your shoulders so you can focus on running your business and serving your customers. Get in touch to get started!
