How To Prepare Your Business for the Summer Holidays

Summertime can be challenging for small businesses. With fewer people out and about (and more gone on vacation), foot traffic is generally slower, website visits are more infrequent, and connecting with new leads is more difficult.

Asker A Ahmed, Director of iProcess Global Research explains, “Even though it seems like summer would be a busy time for small businesses, mindful marketing is more important during the warmer months than you might think. Online shopping isn’t always top of mind when people are out exploring and taking advantage of the sunshine.”

Thankfully, you can still grow your business and maintain it while taking some time for yourself at the same time. Take advantage of these six tips to keep your business goals on track this summer, stay on top of the market, and still be able to enjoy the sunshine.

1. Use Technology to Your Advantage

Technology is a great tool to keep your business connected anytime, especially in the summer. Get your online tools synched with your phone, tablet, and laptop. Making things portable lets you do what you want and plan accordingly.

Derek Flanzraich, Founder and CEO of Ness tells us, “Technology provides affordable solutions to businesses of all sizes, enabling growth and success.”

Remember to forward your business phone to your cell phone and connect your work email to your electronics for easy access. Consider organizing staff schedules and tasks in advance by scheduling emails in advance. Finally, take advantage of time-tracking apps and tools, along with productivity tools like to-do lists and calendars, that one can use to deal with this kind of situation. By organizing your business and employees, you’ll be able to free up some extra time for yourself.

2. Create Summer Campaigns

It’s a common organizational habit to look at your business forecast for the coming seasons. Based on what you’ve learned from previous years, you should create summer campaigns and discounted deals to attract more foot traffic. Holiday marketing is a great way to stay in touch with your customers by running sales and promotions. There are many holidays to take advantage of during the summer, including Memorial Day, Father’s Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day.

Christy Pyrz, Chief Marketing Officer of Paradigm Peptides explains, “Summer is known for sales, and for a good reason: Customers are looking for great deals. If it makes sense for your brand, consider creating a promotion calendar, including discounts, special offers, coupons, gifts, or bundles.”

If you don’t already have a loyalty program, start one and consider giving double credit on certain days of the week. The more you experiment and strategize with summer sales, the more historical data you’ll have to draw from in order to determine what works for your store. Be sure to work ahead of schedule as you plan your summer marketing efforts. Doing so won’t delay your marketing efforts, and your offers will be promoted on time.

3. Plan and Schedule Social Media Content

You can keep your audience thinking about your business during the summer through social media, email campaigns, and advertisements.

Drew Sherman, VP of Marketing at RPM says, “Social media is a powerful platform for connecting directly with an audience to build brand awareness and brand loyalty for small businesses focused on community and individual customers.”

Even better, social media serves as an effective lead generation platform. Creating content and resources that add value to your prospects and customers will cultivate your brand affinity. Preparation is key, whether you are handling your social media yourself or hiring an agency to do so. Planning two to three months ahead will save a lot of time and keep things organized. Utilizing a well-planned, organized social media calendar template is essential. You can use social media calendars to plan your upcoming posts for all your social channels based on the time and date they will be published.

4. Build Your Lists

It is always important to be managing and growing your business CRM (customer relationship management) list throughout the year, but there is a ton of opportunity to do more of it in the summer months. Email marketing has proven to be an effective tool for moving prospects and loyal customers down your sales funnel in all industries.

John Berry, CEO and Managing Partner at Berry Law says, “Email marketing has been around for decades and remains one of the most effective marketing methods today. It is an excellent way to stay in touch with your customers and prospects and drive sales.”

Furthermore, email marketing is highly effective and cost-effective, with studies indicating that email marketing can be up to 40 times more effective than social media in terms of ROI (Return on Investment) and cost-effectiveness.

5. Host Events

Find or create events related to your business to benefit your customers, such as social media contests, live social media events, or even in-person events!

“As the summer brings more downtime for customers, now is the perfect time to either host or participate in local events,” says Dominique Zimmermann, CEO & Head Designer at Bombshell Sportswear. “You can take advantage of this opportunity to entertain current customers and attract new ones.”

If you want to connect more with your customers in the physical world, we recommend partnering with another local business for your own summer event or participating in local fairs, festivals, and sporting events.

6. Hire Interns

Internships serve the employer and the employed, and they’re also useful to build a local community. Getting smart, motivated people to work for your company over the summer can give you an advantage. Still, to manage an internship well, you must have a plan in place.

Christian Kjaer, CEO of ElleVet Sciences explains, “One of the benefits of hiring a summer intern is that they bring new ideas to the table. Since they are still learning and growing, they can see things from different perspectives, which may help them solve problems innovatively.”

Young workers like interns need guidance, so make sure you’re ready to give it. For instance, having an intern spruce up your social media marketing means having a policy for social media, a process for reviewing their posts, and a plan for assessing their performance.

7. Collect Feedback and Suggestions From Your Customers

Photo Source: Adobe Stock

You can take advantage of the summer slowdown by talking to your customers. Call them, email them, or start a conversation on social media. The insights and ideas you gain could help you fuel growth both now and throughout the busy season.

Jack Carrere, CEO of Prokeep suggests, “While your competitors are putting their feet up this summer, get busy laying the groundwork for your next successful season.”

Consider asking your customers why they chose your company and whether one factor set your business apart from the competition. You can also ask whether your company or product met expectations, how you can improve, and for any notable strengths or weaknesses.

8. Make Time for Self-Care

Last, but not least, schedule a vacation for yourself. As a business owner or manager, it’s harder to make time to care for yourself because your to-do list never ends. There is no doubt that you feel the pressure to be everywhere, do everything, and meet every deadline, but it is also vital to prioritize looking after yourself. Without your health and wellness, there will be no business, so be sure to carve out some much-needed time for self-care.

Andrew Mavis, CEO of 98Strong elaborates, “Being a hands-on business owner or manager means you sometimes forget the value of self-care. Self-care is the foundation of your business, too. If you don’t care for your health, your efforts will be wasted.”

While getting ready to take time off will require initial planning, it is manageable and doable. Having time away will help you re-energize and come back with a clear mindset and fresh ideas.

The Bottom Line

Slow summer sales are common for many small businesses. But even though revenue may be down, there are ways to take advantage of this time. During the summer, the best way to keep your business growing is to work.

Richard Li, Co-Founder of July, a brand leading the design for the best carry on luggage suggests, “While it’s tempting to succumb to the long siesta during summer, this is the time you must elevate your business momentum for development.”

These strategies form a way to have your business grow during the summer period as you prepare for a brilliant finish.

McClatchy newsroom and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.