Summer Marketing

With little exception, the fall and winter are high revenue-producing months for most businesses. In order to make the most of the time you should have a solid plan for how you will approach this important season.

Some key questions to begin with are:

1. What did I do this year that worked?
2. What didn't work?
3. Are there any new media I should try?
4. Did I make good use of my customer data?
5. What is my competition doing?
6. What is my marketing budget?

Even creating a rough marketing budget is a good start. Some companies use a percent of sales; others use a hard dollar amount knowing what they can afford. Unsure what's right for you? Consult guidelines for your particular industry. These can usually be found in an industry trade journal and in industry association publications. However you put yours together just be sure you have some budget set aside for the purpose of marketing.

So, now what?

Once you establish a rough budget, you'll have to narrow down precisely how you will market your business. With more options than ever, this can be a difficult task. So, here are some guidelines by type of business:

Service Businesses:
If you have face to face contact with your clients, you have a much easier route to establishing a relationship with them - such as a service person that goes to someone's home or business, or a consultant meeting with a client. You can:

• Use the person's contact information to stay in touch with them via email and direct mail
• Always follow up a meeting with a handwritten thank you to stand away from your competitors
• When a job is finished don't forget to ask for a testimonial and a referral

Retail Businesses:
Take advantage of the fact that you actually get to meet your customers and engage them when appropriate. Ways to do this are:
• If you have employees, make sure they are well trained in customer service (including knowing by name your best customers and greeting them that way when they come to your store)
• Create a "member" club for those best customers and offer them special sales or shopping hours just for them
• Collect their emails to keep in touch via email newsletters
• If you carry a manufacturer's product line, ask your rep if they offer any co-op marketing support as this can substantially increase your budget without using your own money

Online Businesses:
Establishing a relationship here is a bit more difficult and will heavily depend on having a website programmed with customer service in mind; then creating a plan to use it in a timely manner without being annoying. Some things you can do are:
• At the checkout offer upsells and add-ons (but NOT by a third party as some do with magazines and the like)
• Offer free shipping for orders above a certain dollar amount
• Email a thank you once the order has been placed
• Notify the buyer once the item has been shipped (this is SUCH a great service), and I just had the experience of returning an item and I was emailed when it was received by them and approximately how long it would take to process my refund, then they confirmed when the credit was applied - this is GREAT
• Deliver coupons online
• Consider having a one day sale

Pulling it all together
This entire process becomes easier as you begin to translate business goals into marketing goals in small, and then larger, bites. Having a plan (even if it's rough) is a way to see what's ahead. This is especially true if you are thinking of using print advertising since deadlines for ad submissions are often two months ahead of the actual issue date for monthly publications. And, this is also helpful for laying out an annual email marketing and messaging strategy plan.

So...while you're relaxing in the sun, have a pad and pen at the ready to jot down any creative ideas that inspire you so that you're ready to hit the ground running when you return to work.

Remember...get started marketing TODAY so that TOMORROW your business will still exist.