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All of us look ahead to taking a dip within the pool in the course of the summer season when the solar is shining, however the inevitable dip in gross sales from June to August can depart enterprise house owners in a bind.
According to one 2023 study, two-thirds of B2B companies expertise a gross sales hunch over the summer season, and of the companies affected, practically 75% reported a drop in gross sales of 20% or extra. Additionally, one in 5 claimed dips of 40% or extra.
If you're in one of many industries that anticipate a summer sales slump, there are methods to confront it head-on and stroll out of August victorious. These three ways have been examined by my crew over time and have resulted in us reaching $100 million in annual income.
Associated: 3 Great Ways to Beat the Summer Slowdown and Get More Clients
1. Mail postcards each week; they obtain 600% extra income per lead
I've constructed my enterprise on the pure indisputable fact that direct mail marketing works. Postcards might not appear as attractive as a flashy social media advert, however they depart an enduring impression nonetheless. People can maintain a tangible card of their fingers and put it aside for a wet day. Analysis reveals junk mail has an average engagement rate of 95% and is interacted with at the very least 4 occasions at house.
However the efficacy of postcards actually is not any shock attributable to rising digital fatigue. One study that surveyed 10,250 shoppers discovered that 49% stated they spend an excessive amount of time on-line and need to cut back that point.
The very nature of junk mail forces a person to cease and take time to learn the commercial. This provides you an even bigger alternative to hook your prospect and shut a sale. Enterprise house owners even have way more concentrating on choices with junk mail than digital commercials, so the marketing campaign will likely be more practical and ship higher outcomes.
Sixty-five p.c of households with incomes of $100,000 or extra made a purchase order previously 30 days due to junk mail promoting, research shows. So not solely do prospects pay extra consideration to mailers, however in addition they usually tend to buy a services or products from you because of this.
My firm mails 232,000 postcards per week completely selling our personal services and products like clockwork. Final yr, we analyzed 114,373 leads that transformed to gross sales in 2023 and located that we obtain 600% extra income per lead from postcards than digital adverts. Particularly, $229.41 in income for each postcard lead versus $37.09 in income per lead from pay-per-click. You could obtain extra leads from different advertising channels, however they will not be as top quality as those you get from mailers.
2. Improve your advertising finances within the 4-6 weeks main as much as summer season to have extra leads within the pipeline
My simplest advertising precept is to market like crazy — market greater than you assume is sane. The rationale for it's because the quantity of effort you set into your advertising will decide your outcomes. The extra you make investments into your promoting, the extra income you will generate.
So proper earlier than summer season begins, about 4-6 weeks earlier than, enhance your advertising finances to extend leads. Whether or not meaning you mail 1000's of extra postcards, create extra video commercials for Instagram or YouTube, or rent one other gross sales skilled to do outbound telephone calls, textual content messages and follow-ups, simply give it 1,000%. We rent 5 highschool college students on summer season break to assist make extra telephone calls to previous prospects and prospects each summer season.
Even when you do not have the extra cash to do that, give you low-cost or no-cost methods to achieve out to prospects extra and unfold consciousness of your model. This might be public relations, extra posts on social media, e mail blasts or larger telephone name quotas for gross sales reps if enterprise is slower they usually have extra free time.
By the point summer season is in full swing, it is best to have a great deal of results in pursue and much more gross sales to shut. It will get you thru the lull till October comes together with the traditional movement of purchases.
3. Re-ignite previous prospects and outdated leads with new presents and retargeting
Acquiring new results in get you thru the summer season hunch is vital, however do not forget about different alternatives to extend income, like bringing again prospects for a second purchase and revisiting outdated leads that by no means bought from you.
For the contacts who've been sitting in your CRM for years and have nonetheless by no means purchased a service or product, create an inventory and ship them a particular provide within the mail to encourage a response. These mailings could be automated via a direct mail API connection. Whether or not you utilize SalesForce, Zoho or different CRM platform, an API connection that automates these mailings will prevent money and time.
Do not assume these old contacts are a waste of assets. I've had prospects in my database that did not reply to our postcards and emails for years after which they lastly made the choice to achieve out and begin advertising providers with us. I am glad we by no means gave up!
For the purchasers who have not purchased something shortly, section them into separate lists, akin to: have not purchased in a single month, six months or a yr. Then, add them to particular e mail funnels and mail them postcards with an unique low cost code solely out there to present prospects. If you're an ecommerce enterprise, do one other advertising marketing campaign that targets individuals who abandoned their online shopping carts. A QR code on the mailer will make it simple for them to hop again into your web site and full the acquisition.
Associated: How to Boost Your Business With Direct Mail Automation and Retargeting — a Detailed Beginner's Guide
In addition to implementing all of those ways, it's also possible to use the additional time in the course of the summer season slowdown to plan out the advertising for the remainder of the yr. The final quarter, very similar to a soccer recreation, is at all times probably the most intense, so make investments some consideration on the way to finish the yr robust. With all that additional money coming in, you could simply find yourself rewarding your self with a margarita poolside.
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