Andrew Ludlam of Maverick Marketing Consultancy believes it’s something of a misnomer that you should stop your advertising during the summer months. The world really doesn’t beat a hasty retreat to the beach during July and August and not all of them will be glued to the Olympics! Your prospects are still out there….
Now whilst it’s true that it maybe a little quieter at this time of year, the last thing you ever want to do is cut back on your marketing. Cut back on ineffective marketing: yes and always (you are testing and measuring all of your promotional activities aren’t you?). However, never cut back totally on your marketing, after all, this is what drives your business!
In fact it’s very important to continue to advertise throughout the summer, as it will give you that much needed momentum for the autumn. Use this time to continue to generate leads that can be followed-up over the coming months. Similarly if you stop advertising in July and August, you can be assured that your competition won’t be.
One strategy that I’ve used with clients, and urge you to adopt, is to create a specific appeal or promotion during the summer. Where possible try and skew your promotion and give it ‘summer theme’. For example, I recently worked with a hypnotherapist who offers weight loss hypnotherapy services. And rather than just promote this service, we created a ‘Get fit for the beach’ offer.
So do look at your current offering, and see if you can adapt it and make it ‘seasonal’. Have you noticed how the big high street retailers use any and every opportunity to run a seasonal promotion, be it spring, summer, autumn or winter. In other words, they keep on advertising!
Finally, here are some additional pointers to ensure you run a successful advertising campaign at any time of the year:
The above article was kindly provided by Andrew Ludlam of Maverick Marketing Consultancy who is recognised as an expert on advanced marketing strategy and tactics. As a consultant, trainer, copywriter and author, he has advised many hundreds of business owners one-to-one, and many more have attended his private training programmes.
