9 ideas for marketing a seasonal business in the off-season

Most businesses will face ups and downs during the year. Almost no company is equally profitable in each yearly quarter. However, seasonal businesses face a unique challenge in this regard. They typically make most of their yearly profit in a very short time span. Afterward, they try to scrape by for the rest of the year. Prolonged down periods can make things hard for any business, and it can be a struggle just to keep the lights on. For this reason, we are going to discuss nine effective ideas for marketing a seasonal business in the off-season.

#1: Special offers in the off-season

When business is slow you can entice more customers by giving them deals with large discounts. Regardless of the type of business you are running, there are inevitably going to be some upkeep costs. If you have stocked up inventory, you can reduce the cost of storage by having a sale while business is slow. Advertise the sale in advance as a limited-time offer. There is an appeal to exclusivity and urgency that goes with any limited offer.

#2: Have flexible payment plans

If you are flexible and let buyers pay you over a longer period of time, you could secure more sales during the off-season. Stretched out payment plans can secure more sales for the company. Additionally, they can give you a bit of income when business is slow. Once your main business season rolls around, you can temporarily pause the flexible payment plans. However, you can start advertising the delayed payment options as soon as the season is over.

#3: Early buyer discounts

Another marketing strategy is offering early buyer discounts when your main season is approaching. As your main season for business ramps up, you’ll be facing many challenges. It definitely won’t hurt to secure additional funding to take care of incoming fees. Get the ball rolling by marketing to early birds. They can help you build hype for your products as the season starts.

#4: Team up with local businesses

There is no need to do all the heavy lifting by yourself. One of the best ways for marketing a seasonal business in the off-season is to get someone to help you. Local businesses usually have a strong presence in their area and partnering with them will surely boost your SEO. Besides boosting your SEO, there are a few more benefits that come from teaming up with local businesses:

• Year-round promotion. They can have your products on display on their website and in their storefront.
• Present at local events. Boost brand awareness and diversify your marketing by supporting local events.
• Connected to the local community. A collaboration with local businesses can help you get good word of mouth. If you are their go-to recommendation plenty of customers will come to you during the peak season.

#5: Create content

Plenty of seasonal businesses make the mistake of thinking that they should only create content when it’s their main season. That’s definitely not the way to make your products relevant during the whole year. Even when people aren’t buying your products as much, you still need to remind them you exist.

This can be the perfect opportunity to feature some alternative or off-beat marketing. Social media is very receptive to lighthearted and comedic marketing. If you are struggling to come up with ideas for marketing a seasonal business in the off-season, you can partner with experts for social media marketing NYC to create something memorable. You could easily feature your products as being on holiday, and ask your customers to patiently wait for their return.

#6: Have giveaways

Although this strategy doesn’t directly translate to immediate sales, you can use giveaways to promote your products and brand. However, there is another benefit that comes from hosting contests and giving away promotional products. You can use them as an opportunity to grow your user database and generate quality leads. Just ask your contest participants to fill out a few forms or sign up for your newsletter. After you obtain their permission to send them emails, you can later use that information to go after leads.

#7: Use the off-season time to prepare your next campaign

Marketing campaigns take a long time to set up. New product launches are often planned a year in advance. You need ads to slowly build up in the months leading to the actual launch date. Use the period when business is slower to work with designers, copywriters, and experts from digital marketing agencies in New York and prepare your next campaign. Once the rush hour of your peak season arrives, everything will be ready and set up, and you can just focus on running your business.

#8: Expand to new markets

Just because it’s off-season where you live, that doesn’t mean there isn’t demand somewhere else. Depending on the line of work your company is in, you could look into the geographical market segmentation. For example, if you deal in swimwear or pool accessories – you could market to countries located in the other hemisphere.

#9: Use low-cost marketing for your business in the off-season

Not all types of advertising are the same. They can have different costs of production, or perhaps a varied ROI. The off-season is the perfect time to turn to more affordable forms of marketing, while you save the most expensive and effective marketing for your main shopping season. Use this opportunity to test and experiment with different marketing campaigns. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising has a low barrier of entry, and you can easily control the costs and scale the size of your campaign – making it perfect for the off-season. You can inquire with the best PPC services New York to get a PPC analysis and set up a monthly plan.

The bottom line

As you can see, there are an almost infinite number of ideas for marketing a seasonal business in the off-season. All you need is a bit of creativity and the right digital marketing experts who can turn your vision into reality.