If you live in a cold weather state like me, then you have been experiencing bouts of cold snowy weather followed by brief moments of warm weather that makes spring feel around the corner. While we wait for the birds to return north and buds to form on trees, it is time to start thinking about how to position your business for spring advertising and clientele.
Seasonal advertising for baseball
The end of March kicks off the MLB season with 162 games over six months to reach fans. The seasonality of baseball offers a uniqueness and competitive edge over other professional sport teams with the majority of the season having limited to no competition from other sporting events. This allows businesses to advertise to just one fan base versus splitting their efforts over multiple fan bases.
With Opening Day a few short weeks away, baseball fans will be online searching for their favorite team gear to wear, what bar to go to for pre and post-game food and beverages, and home theatre equipment to watch the games at home. Try using a targeted email blast or social media to help position your bar as the go to place for game watches or pre and post-game gatherings. Creating special food menus and drink specials will help give your bar an edge over other area bars. If you run a non-sport related business show your support of your local MLB team by promoting your business as the place where local fans shop. Create fun giveaways or promotions around game day or offer a discount to fans who bring their game day ticket in after a win.
Expand your reach to gardening and landscaping enthusiasts
While we wait to put away the snow blowers and snow shovels, it is time to get in front of gardening and landscaping enthusiasts. Historically this category consisted of older households, but in 2018 there was an increase in the younger demographic, according to the National Garden Survey, with 18 to 34-year-olds occupying 29% of all gardening households. The survey also reported seeing a record spend of $47.8 billion on lawn and garden retail sales with nearly $100 increase in household spend over the previous year.
With the increase in DIY gardeners, businesses who sell yard tools, shrubbery, and seeds have a larger audience to reach. Make sure to brand your business as the knowledge experts in garden and lawn care who can answer consumers questions to help them become a green thumb extraordinaire. Creating an atmosphere of trust and expertise will help keep consumers coming back for their gardening and lawn care needs.
Not everyone likes to or has time to play in the dirt to produce their own veggies or beautify their lands with flowers and plants. If you are on the service side for lawn care and landscaping, make sure to get in front of consumers as they are online searching for landscaping ideas and services with targeted display ads. Keep your website up-to-date with content of your services and cool projects your business has taken on to help your business show up in online searches, as well as to showcase your talent.
Use local SEO to optimize your HVAC business
Soon, hopefully, we will be turning off the heat and opening the windows for the spring breeze to flow in. Not long afterwards, people will be turning on their air conditioner to keep their homes cool from the summer heat. Marketing for HVAC services has become a competitive landscape, which can be seen by the high cost-per-click on Pay Per Click campaigns.
How can a small business owner spend their small budget to capture market share? By focusing on their website and Local SEO. A quick loading website with relevant content and keywords can do wonders when showing up in an online search. With the increase in mobile users it is important to make sure your website has a mobile friendly design. Remember, users are quick to leave websites that take time to load or are not user friendly for searching for products or information. Make sure you start your advertising campaign well in advance of the busy season to start creating awareness with consumers and to edge out the competition.
Winter may still be upon us, but spring fever is in the air. Soon we will be cheering on our favorite baseball team, designing our garden layout and deciding what new shrubberies and flowers we want to plant around the yard, and preparing homes to switch from heat to AC. Now is the perfect time to start reaching your target audience for spring entertainment, cleaning, and planning.
