A lot of people tell me that their business slows down in summer. And unless you sell vacation packages, swimming pools and water wings, I suppose it can happen. But here’s the thing…all you need to do is what those travel agents and swimming pool sellers do to get things revved up for summer. No, you don’t have to sell vacations and pools, but you do need to understand what your customers are thinking about in the summer months and cater your marketing to that.
A few questions to ask yourself:
• What are your customers’ worries and concerns in summer? Are they concerned about the safety of their home while they’re away on vacation (perfect for home alarm and monitoring companies)? If you’re in the B2B market, are they worried about having time to get their work done in the summer? Grab a piece of paper and a pen to write down every worry you can think of and how it relates to your business.
• What are they busy doing? When you know what your customers are doing and what’s on their minds, you know how to speak to them. With a heat wave going on in a lot of places in North America right now, you know your customers are probably trying to find a way to beat that heat. How can you help them?
• What would they rather be doing? While we’d all love to be out lazing about on the beach, most of us probably aren’t. What do your customers really want to be doing, but can’t (but possibly could with the help of your product or services)?
Coming up with a summer marketing plan doesn’t require any magic or genius skills, but it does require some thought. Take the time to jot down your answers to the questions above and things become much clearer. When you know what’s on the mind of your customers, it’s much easier to deliver exactly what they want.
