Avoiding the Summer Marketing Slump

There was a time when marketing seemed to grind to a halt during the summer months. This is not true anymore. Even though summer is a popular time for your prospects to hit the beach, there are plenty of marketing activities and programs you can tackle to keep the momentum going over July and August.

Webinars
A lot of companies are hesitant to run webinars in the summer. Because fewer people are working, companies worry that the webinar will not be well attended. While it is true that there will be many people out on any given week of the summer, for those in the office, the summer tends to be less hectic. That means they have more time to catch up on watching webinars and doing their due diligence and research. It also means you can avoid competing with the September webinar crush when every company is jumping full steam into fall. And, even if the attendees for the live event are a bit light, the recorded version will live on and can be used for future marketing campaigns.

Website Refresh
Is the messaging on your site a bit stale? Have you been meaning to spark up the images or give the site a facelift? Summer is a great time to work on getting your website into fighting shape for the second half of the year.

Content Overhaul
Have you been promoting the same tired, old case studies for too long? Is your whitepaper not quite as groundbreaking as it once was? It could be time for some new content. And sometimes it can just be a matter of taking that old whitepaper and turning it into an ebook to freshen it up or updating your datasheets with new content and screenshots.

Social Media and Blogs
Even when people are on vacation, they are still online. And what better time to catch up on your favorite blogs or actually click through some of those interesting Tweets or LinkedIn posts for more information than when you have a little downtime? The summer is a great time to make sure you are promoting your best content and spreading your latest news far and wide through all of your social media channels.

Customer upsell
You have been reaching out to customers all year with your email promotions and newsletters. But have you run a campaign exclusively for customers that encourages them to upgrade to a newer and better version of your product? The summer can be a great time to offer customers special promotions and discounts. And, in this slower season, it can be a good time for your professional services team to provide them with the support they need to get up and running with the latest version of your product.

Channel Partners
Do your partners have the materials they need? Is the partner portal up to date with the latest pricing and product information or has it gotten a bit dusty in there? Shake it out and make sure your partners have what they need to sell your products in the second half of the year. It can also be a great time to offer partner training sessions, whether online or in-person, to make sure they have the latest product information and messaging.

Year-end Planning
And finally, don’t lose the chance to get your second-half plan in shape. Make sure you are ready to hit the ground running in September. The fall is a busy time for tradeshows, networking events and other end-of-the-year demand generation activities. The summer is a good time to revisit your plan and finalize all of the details.

Whatever marketing programs you decide to focus on, don’t miss the chance to make the most of the summer months.