A lot of work goes into running a small business, and with each change in season comes a new opportunity to reevaluate your goals and assess the marketplace that your company calls home. Consumers and businesses alike have different wants and needs throughout the ebbs and flows of the year, and summertime holds its own set of possibilities and challenges.
Some businesses do better than others at staying strong and reliable during the season of barbecues and pool parties. To help your company thrive during the warmest days of the year, read on to discover how successful companies are prospering in the heat.
They’re Centering Sales
From revamping their marketing strategies to implementing solid sales forecasting methods, successful companies take time during the summer to rework their sales goals to maximize profits. In addition to selling to existing customers, successful businesses find novel ways to reach new customers by performing ongoing market research and better tools to communicate with all potential clients.
By keeping sales in your field of vision at all times, your company is more likely to showcase its full potential to customers because you’re better able to visualize the potential financial wins and losses associated with each decision.
Before taking another look at your sales strategies, reconnect with your company’s objectives and make certain that you’re acting in both your company’s and your clients’ best interests. It can be easy to compromise values in the name of sales, and vice versa, so make decisions with both integrity and an effective marketing plan in mind.
They Have Seasonal Promotions and Content
Marketing is a big task year-round, but seasonal marketing presents a unique challenge in itself. Evergreen content helps to keep your brand identity as trustworthy, reliable and consistent as is needed to develop consumer trust. Companies that launch seasonal content, however, know it will bring in new kinds of business.
Seasonal campaigns demonstrate that your company is present, relevant and active in the world in which you’re doing business, which generates traffic and encourages customer participation in a new way.
Summer content doesn’t need to be based around increasing sales in order to be effective. From relevant blog posts to seasonal products, seasonal content is more about finding new and interesting ways to engage with your potential and current customers–and the resulting sales may be a big bonus.
They’re Meeting Customers Where They Are
The way your potential customers spend their time in the summer time is going to be drastically different than the ways they holed up during the winter. Customer behavior shifts with the seasons, and smart companies know to shift their own company’s behavior, too.
Look at where your customers are spending their time during the summer and find ways to connect with them in these seasonal environments.
Local farmers markets, outdoor fairs, concerts in the park and summer-only venues are typically filled with people from all walks of life when the weather heats up, meaning there are numerous opportunities to get the word out in these spaces.
You may need to get a little creative. For example, if it isn’t feasible to set up your own booth at a farmer’s market, consider reaching out to a vendor to collaborate or form a partnership through which you can advertise or develop a new product or service.
They’re Adaptable
A small business demanded adaptability from the moment it began, and summertime is another chance to demonstrate this skill. Successful companies survive in the long run when they’re able to adjust to each change environment, both predictable and unpredictable alterations.
These changes, and subsequent adaptations, will look different for each company in each part of the world, so make sure to look around at your own environment to assess areas of growth, areas of weakness and ways you can grow to fit the current reality.
Reach out to your current network, or try to build new connections with business owners new to the scene. Look to companies you admire to see how they’ve adapted to challenging circumstances and ways they’ve taken advantage of the change in seasons. Above all, stay true to yourself and why you started your company. You had what it took to get to where you are today, and you have what it takes to grow, too.
