4 minute read
Falling into Marketing
by Michele Rempel
Ah, the back-to-school season. Even for people without school aged children or school staff members, the fall season signals a return to some sort of “normalcy.” Travel is often scaled back, and people get back to their normal living and purchasing patterns. Of course, this season also begins the inevitable countdown to the official (drum roll, please) Holiday Season (sorry!).
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The last couple of back-to-school seasons have been weird to say the least. Many businesses weren’t sure how to handle their marketing campaigns and messaging – for good reason.
Understanding that this season may also be unusual in many markets, let’s look at how we can make our marketing for the upcoming season the most effective yet! Here are some ideas to consider:
Take stock of your current online footprint:
This is a great time to evaluate your marketing channels, business listings and marketing plans for the remainder of the year. The pandemic brought big shifts in the channels where consumers spend their time, and what you’ve done in the past may not be as effective going forward. Video is getting more engagement thanks to Facebook/Instagram
Reels and TikTok. Businesses that never considered video are now seeing surprising and even significant results. If you aren’t using video, is this the season to start? Have a conversation with your staff and leadership and collect video ideas that you could try. Identify resources that might help you with editing, scheduling and monitoring.
How are your business listings on places such as Google My Business? Do you have any recent reviews? Is it up to date on your services and/or products? Have you uploaded any photos lately or added any posts? Do you respond to reviews quickly and appropriately? Do you have someone assigned to responding quickly to incoming messages on social media? If you don’t, you could be missing out on opportunities.
In addition to your business listings, take a look at your website. As a franchisee, you may not have a lot of control over the content, but it’s still a good idea to evaluate it for accuracy and have a conversation with corporate if it needs attention or if you have ideas for improvement or a great story from your own franchise.
Take advantage of the great Autumn “themes” for content:
Of course, the back-to-school season is also the back-to-sports season, kicking off basketball, American football and hockey.
However, the fall also includes many “awareness” days, weeks or months, such as the Hispanic Heritage month, Domestic Violence Awareness month and Breast Cancer Awareness month. Check with your team this year and talk about causes that have become more relevant to your business, staff or typical customers over the past several months. Consider giving back and creating a cause-based campaign that involves your team and maybe even some customers. Don’t forget video!
Gratitude is always in season
Talking about and expressing gratitude during the leadup to Thanksgiving is natural, but there’s never a bad time to express your gratitude for your community, customers and team – especially after the last two years! For many businesses, the fact that they are still operating is a reason to rejoice. It’s time to take a deep breath, consult with your team and determine the best ways to extend your thanks through the content on your marketing channels. Is there a way to honor loyal customers and/or team members? Can you highlight some vendors who have made sure that you had what you needed to stay operational?
This autumn may still be a little “weird”, depending on the course that the pandemic takes as the weather gets cooler. Maybe it’s time to try something new like video, analyze your online listings and information and head into the major holiday season expressing your thanks for remaining in business.
