In many industries, there is a busy season. Accountants have tax season, doctors have flu season, retail has Black Friday. In Maine we have summer tourist season. The off-season, while being a chance to work at a slower pace is also a time to do marketing.
The off-season, while being a chance to work at a slower pace is also a time to do marketing.”
I love to sew. I love the construction process, I love picking out fabrics, and I love the final result. However, I learned that the part that takes the most time is planning the project. It takes much more time to research your pattern, figure out what you need (zippers, buttons, interfacing, elastic…), cut out the pattern pieces, and pin pieces together than it does to actually construct the garment. Running the fabric through the sewing machine (the part you think about when you think of sewing) is actually just a tiny fraction of the project.
Similarly, marketing is the same as sewing. It requires a lot of planning, and getting the parts needed. When we are in the off-season, we need to take advantage of that time to use our imagination, play with ideas, prepare ads and social media posts, and finally store finished projects away for your busy time.
I recommend getting your calendar out. Look at your calendar and think about what is coming up in the year ahead. In the case of Kennebunk, we have leaf-peepers to come in the Fall, we have visitors who come up for Christmas Prelude, Memorial Day weekend is big, and of course we have Summer Tourist Season. Looking at the calendar helps us to think about what events we need to plan for. Do we need advertisements, do we need artwork to be done. Brochures, press releases, magazine submissions and social media posts can all be prepared while business is slow.
Did you know that customer emails and social media posts can be scheduled to send weeks in advance of going out to customers? You can have readied things to go out when you are too busy actually running your business to worry about reaching customers.
Marketing takes planning and preparation. Good luck using your quiet time to make the most of your business growth.