Advertising activity in the off-season: to be or not to be
Off-season advertising is not just about maintaining sales during slow periods. It's about enhancing customer experience, attracting top talent, and fostering a positive corporate culture. Discover how off-season advertising can boost your business performance.
Marketing activities are often perceived as something that can be easily paused—like during off-peak seasons or recessions. Indeed, it's simple to hit the pause button on advertising campaigns, but restarting can be a huge challenge. It takes a lot of effort and isn’t typically very effective.
Think of advertising activity as an engine that constantly needs fuel to maintain momentum. Continuous off-season advertising efforts offer many long-term benefits for businesses, and the ultimate cost savings are beyond dispute.
Should there be an advertising pause during the off?
From a business owner's perspective, off-season advertising campaigns may seem economically unviable. But is this really the case? Our experience at Choice OMG has demonstrated that off-season advertising activity is just as necessary as it is at more optimal times.
"Off-season" doesn't mean there won't be any sales at all. Yes, you’ll experience peak seasonality within specific periods, especially for seasonal goods like winter tires. But these products can be purchased throughout the year. The key factor in deciding whether to advertise or not during the off-season is the profitability of the investment, and not the seasonality.
In other words, attracting potential customers during downtimes is possible, and even lucrative. Off-season advertising activities aim to help businesses remain competitive and maintain recognition in their industry. Moreover, off-season advertising activities have several other advantages, so keep reading.
Off-season advertising creates a positive customer experience
Analyzing marketing activities during the off-season can provide valuable insights into consumer behavior, which can be used to optimize campaigns during the peak season and generally improve your marketing strategy. This allows you to maintain a connection with your audience and build awareness among existing customers, while also attracting new ones.
Want to increase the likelihood of success during the peak season? Your off-season marketing activity strategy is your secret weapon.
It reinforces memory: a plus for you, a minus for competitors
Even if you've managed to hook your customers, without continuous advertising activities, they can easily disengage. Unless you're Apple, which has one of the most powerfully developed brands, you’ll need to work continuously to maintain a connection. Creating such recognition requires two things: being consistently visible and staying engaged with your audience.
Don't wait for the peak season. Off-season advertising activity provides a valuable return—time to interact with your audience so you can highlight your advantages over your competitors. When the time comes to convert your leads (read "high season"), people will already know about you, priming them for a higher conversion rate. And by the way, some consumers prefer to buy certain products in the off-season, which means there may be a potential market for you to capture.
How to Optimize Marketing Activities in the Off-Season
We've addressed the myth about the viability of a complete absence of advertising in the off-season. But what about your budget? Should it be reduced? Increased? How should it be allocated?
In terms of paid promotion, there is no definitive answer to these questions, but we recommend looking closely at the most relevant ROI (return on advertising investment) indicator to see how it affects sales. It’s important not only to look at sales through paid channels but also to analyze other online and offline visits or calls.
Based on Choice OMG's experience, during the off-season, it’s necessary to maintain the most measurable campaigns and also to review specific categories of goods or services. This review will help you launch more effective marketing activities in the off-season.
The off-season can be a challenging time for businesses as they may face a decline in sales. However, it's not all bad! In fact, it's an excellent opportunity to focus on the long-term marketing game, not only gaining an advantage over competitors but also boosting sales and profits in the next peak season. Off-season advertising is your direct investment in a successful season.