It’s been a long, cold winter but spring is finally here! Time to kick things off with the start of tourism and travel season. Here are 10 ways you can get your marketing in a position to steer some spring traffic to your business.
- Honour Groups with Discounts
Use your social media profiles to create flash discounts for different groups in your community. For instance, people making last-minute purchases for Mother’s or Father’s Day or a promotion on new spring merchandise. These discounts are available only on a certain day or for a few hours to drive action. By conditioning customers to turn to your social media profiles for these flash sales or discounts, you will be giving them an incentive to follow you closely. These ideas to drive more business can also be used at the last-minute to balance out a lackluster month.
Another great sales tool for chamber members is the FanSaves platform. You can create Public deals or Exclusive deals for chamber members only. These deals can be online only or in-store and can be anything from a flash sale to one that is on-going. They also make great social media posts to drive customers to your business.
2. Create a Spring Photo Contest
Host a photo contest on Facebook. Ask people to share pictures of themselves either enjoying your product or service or doing something synonymous with your business. For instance, an ice cream shop could run a contest for messiest face while eating ice cream or pets who love ice cream. Or if you run a beauty salon, you could host a discounted or free makeover for someone who wants to upload a picture of themselves and share why they need one. Just make sure you get the rights to use the pictures in any promotions you decide to do later.
3. Add Something a Little Extra Special
Create something especially springy in your offerings or products. It could be a spring make-over workshop or discounts on several bundled services, a spring dish or cocktail, a special spring tasting, or you can help entertain kids with an activity like colouring or a scavenger hunt while their parents shop.
4. Offer a Spring Pairing with Another Business
Spring is a great time to try new things. The warmer weather makes people want to get outside and enjoying themselves and that’s the perfect time to partner with another business to offer an exchange for services or a beneficial discount to customers of both. For instance, a spice shop could invite in the chef of a restaurant in town to create a summer grill class and then give discounts to come experience the spring menu at the restaurant. Or a gym could partner with a masseuse to offer massage discounts to its gym patrons and vice versa.
5. Create a Spring Bucket List
Create a spring bucket list of adventures in your town. Give it a special hashtag and encourage people to post pictures using the hashtag. Provide a discount, sticker, t-shirt or whatever special designation appropriate to people who check off several (or more) of the activities.
Pop into the chamber to pick up our Carleton Place Bucket List!
6. Transform your Social Media
Transform your social media page with a spring theme. For instance, encourage people to upload or send you their spring pictures of snow melt, returning migratory birds, sunsets, favourite activities, spring picnic, etc. You could host a new theme every week!
7. Host a Spring Appreciation Event
There’s no better time to thank customers (and potential customers) than with a spring BBQ, live local music, or any other gathering that will bring in a crowd. Send invites to your current customers and ask them and their friends to join you as you want to thank them for their patronage. If you make a big production out of it, others will be drawn to your location too.
8. Go Live on Facebook
Are you doing your own exploring this spring or are you meeting all sorts of exciting people at your business? Want to showcase some of that? Go live on Facebook with a quick tour of where you are or an interview of who you’re with. Why not showcase your storefront on a particularly gorgeous spring day?
9. Where in Town am I?
Host a fun social media event by going somewhere and taking a picture or shooting a video and then asking people where you are. Let them guess and then offer prizes to the winners.
10. Create a Fun Little Gift
Create a funny button, magnet or bumper sticker with your businesses branding and hand them out to customers. Your brand may be seen in a whole new light and in all sorts of interesting places.