How to Leverage a Slow Season in Your Business

Although it may be discouraging to have a slow season in business, it doubles as the perfect opportunity to focus on business development or internal projects that you typically don’t have the time for. Summer tends to be a popular time where things slow down for many businesses, as people use that season to go on vacation, take time off, and relax after a busy first half of the year. However, depending on your business or industry, a slow season can happen at any point and can vary from year to year.

If you find yourself in a slump, follow this list of tasks and projects that you can focus on to keep moving your business forward.

Business Development Tasks to Complete During a Slow Season

Marketing

If you don’t have an in-house marketing team or you’re not working with a marketing agency, chances are that you may not be as consistent with your marketing as you would like to be. Having extra time in your schedule is the perfect opportunity to focus on these activities that you normally neglect and ensure they get done.

Blogging

Although it’s not a requirement to blog multiple times per month, aim to publish at least one new blog post each month, for SEO purposes. Because blog posts typically take a longer amount of time to brainstorm, produce, and publish, they’re likely (and understandably!) the marketing tasks that get left at the bottom of the to-do list and forgotten about. During a slower season where you have extra time on your hands, it’s always a good idea to batch write several blog posts that you can have on hand and schedule throughout the year. Being able to get blogging out of the way ensures that you’re consistent in publishing new content without needing to worry about finding a few hours per month to make that happen.

It’s best to focus on writing blog content that’s evergreen, which means that the information in that blog post will always remain relevant and true, no matter when it’s published. This is key because it means that you don’t have to worry about publishing blog content a few months down the line that may no longer be applicable or may be considered out of date. Taking this approach also gives you the flexibility to add more timely blog content as new topics arrive and may appeal to your audience.

Your blog posts can focus on FAQs, case studies, tutorials, interviews with your team, and more.

Social Media

If you struggle with maintaining consistency in all parts of your marketing strategy, make sure that at least your social media profiles are active. You may not want to plan too far in advance with your social media content, as you want to make sure you have the space to write about new and timely topics, you can at least prepare ahead for the next few weeks. Especially if fall tends to be a busy time of year for you, it will be a relief to know that you have social media posts planned, written, and scheduled during your busy season. No company wants to worry about their social media profiles being completely bare and empty for months on end.

Your social media posts should always aim to provide value to your audience, establish yourself as a thought leader, and build interest in your products or services. Examples of social media posts you can write include:

• Blog post promotion
• Press feature promotion
• Information on your products or services
• Client testimonials
• Tips
• Staff introductions

If you’re feeling stumped on what to write, always think about the questions your customers ask you or problems they’re facing. These conversations can be a great starting point for thinking of relevant and value-driven social media post ideas because you’re providing information or solutions to what your customers are looking to achieve or know more about.

Although you may be scheduling your social media posts in advance, don’t go for the “set it and forget it” approach. Engaging with your audience once the posts are live, whether it’s responding to comments or messages or interacting with other accounts, is crucial for building relationships and getting seen in front of the right people.

Website

Whether you want to make small updates to your website or completely revamp it, a slower period in the year is the perfect opportunity to work on your website, as it’s typically a more time-intensive project. It’s crucial to consistently update your site to ensure that you’re accurately showcasing your work and speaking to your ideal client.

Website projects can include:

• Rebranding completely or just tweaking your logo
• Publishing new blog posts
• Adding customer testimonials
• Sharing client case studies
• Updating your website copy
• Linking to new press features
• Tweaking the products or services that are listed

And more.

Email Marketing

If you have an email list that you’ve been neglecting the entire year, use this time to focus on reengaging your subscribers. Make a goal to send at least one newsletter per month, which can be used to share:

• Company updates
• New blog posts
• Press features
• Tips
• Events

An easy way to format this newsletter is to focus on a “digest” template, where you have several sections that showcase all of the new and exciting things your organization has been up to throughout the past month. Include several calls to action within the newsletter, whether it’s encouraging people to click through to your website to read a blog post or schedule a consultation call with you.

Additionally, you can focus on revamping your current lead magnets and correlating nurture sequences. If you feel like your current lead magnets are a little bit stale or outdated, create new resources that will attract your ideal clients or customers and help grow your email list. Be sure to read through your current nurture sequences as well, as they may require new copy.

Public Relations

Public relations and pitching yourself to the media is another time-intensive project, which means that now is the time to get it done and cross it off your list! Whether you want to be a guest on a podcast, speak at in-person or virtual events, or write a guest blog post for a publication, you can work on sourcing the press opportunities where your ideal clients or customers will be most likely to find you and start reaching out to the correct contacts.

Don’t forget to promote these press features through your website, social media, and newsletter once they’re live.

Sales

During other points of the year, you may not need to dedicate much of your time to sales and lead generation because you organically have leads coming in. However, when things wind down a bit in business, it may feel like your pipeline has dried up. If that’s the case, here are some strategies you can deploy to work on drumming up new inquiries and leads.

Networking

If you normally don’t have time to attend networking events throughout the week, here’s your chance to start filling your calendar with these opportunities! Check your local Chamber of Commerce’s website as well as the websites of other local business and networking groups that may be hosting events in the upcoming months. Even if you make a goal to attend one networking event per month, that leads you closer to making new connections that can result in potential clients or referral sources.

Cold Email

Although many people view cold emailing and outreach in a negative light, it can be extremely beneficial when done correctly. If your ideal clients or customers aren’t reaching out to you, why not reach out to them first? Start by researching organizations that you would like to work with and identify potential problems they may have that you could provide solutions for.

Make it a goal to reach out to at least one ideal client per day, as that could lead to connecting with 20 or more ideal clients throughout the span of one month. Be sure to customize each email that you send, as it’s obvious when an email is simply copied and pasted. Most importantly, don’t forget to follow up!

Webinars

It may seem like webinars are more of a marketing opportunity, but they’re also great for generating sales. Hosting a webinar on a relevant topic that you can educate your audience on will demonstrate the value that you provide and the expertise that you have. Attendees can potentially turn into future leads, as what they learn in the webinar may influence them to reach out about your products or services. Webinars can certainly be a lot of work to put together, market, and host, so start small by offering just one webinar a year and increasing the cadence as your schedule and confidence allow. You can host these individually or bring in a guest expert who has a similar audience as you and may offer products or services that are complementary to yours.

Maintaining Consistency with Your Marketing Year-Round

Hiring a Marketing Agency

Although you may have more time to cross off the items on your marketing to-do list, it’s easy to lose that momentum and capability as business ramps up again. Hiring a marketing agency is the perfect solution to ensuring your organization maintains its consistency in its online presence throughout the year.

Reach out to us for a free consultation to learn how we can execute your marketing strategy for you and support you in a variety of ways.