Now that the holiday rush has breezed past us, many businesses are entering a slow period. While slow periods can be frustrating from a bottom-line perspective, they’re a great chance to do general upkeep on your website and get a head start on your next marketing strategy. From SEO management and overall website experience to email marketing and competitor research, here are five things to upkeep when your business is slow.
Website SEO
A slower business season means fewer visitors to your website, which means now is a great time to work on search engine optimization (SEO). From adding keywords to articles to interlinking existing blog posts and more, working on your website during the slow period can be a great way to prime your business for the busy season.
By working to improve your site’s position on Google, you’re preparing for the busy season in advance. Since SEO takes time to work, what better time to sow the seeds that bring you to the front page of Google than when your site is slower? That way, once your business picks up, your site will already be in a prime position to entice new customers, rather than working on SEO during a busy spike only to wait for results.
Website User Experience
Similarly to SEO work, a latent period in your business is a perfect time to work on your website’s user experience. Now is the time to work on bug reports, figure out the best way to guide users through your homepage and online store, if applicable, and experiment with layout changes. You want to avoid changing during high-volume seasons, meaning you can take your time and poke around with your site when things are slow. Work on making dropdown menus more intuitive, add call-to-action lines on every page and ensure your contact form is up-to-date and easy to find.
During a slow period, you can also reach out to your customers to find out how your website works and what they struggled with. Not only is this a great way to drive engagement with your clients across social media and email, but it also shows potential customers that you care about their experience and are willing to listen to feedback. In addition, taking the time to improve website issues can signal that you value your customers and their knowledge and can enhance overall trust in your company.
Email Journeys
No, we don’t mean checking your unread emails, finally. Email journeys walk your customers through every stage of their purchase journey, from advertising products to them to tracking down abandoned carts and offering return deals to previous customers. When you have fewer orders and clients, perfecting your company’s email journeys can be a big step toward securing more sales.
One way to update your email journeys includes personalizing different email categories. For example, allow customers to opt-in on certain features, like user-generated content (UGC) updates, product releases, deals, and more. By enabling customers to choose their email journey, you give them control over how many emails they receive from your business, meaning fewer unsubscribed customers. You can also send out email surveys to learn more about your customers’ preferences.
Competitor Research
Once business slows down, it’s time to check out the competition. Whether you’re wondering how your top competitor is doing during the slow season or are looking to muscle in on a new niche, paying attention to how your competitors are doing is a great way to find new directions for your company. Is your competitor doubling down on their social media campaign, or are they updating their eCommerce platform instead? Are they reaching new niches, or is their business plan laser-focused on one topic? By getting a feel for your competition, you can better understand where your company could expand and what areas you should focus on.
Of course, you should spend only some of your energy following your competition. After all, growing your business comes down to more than mimicry, but looking at other businesses to learn from their marketing strategies (or marketing mistakes) never hurts.
Market Research
Similarly to competitor research, just because business has slowed down doesn’t mean you should neglect market research. On the contrary, now is a great time to plan your next marketing angle and determine the market’s direction in the coming months.
From customer preferences to innovations in your field, taking the time to track the latest trends is a great way to spend your time during a slow season. Not only does this give you time to plan your marketing strategies, but it can also inspire you to branch off into new niches or zero in on innovative strategies you may have yet to think of.
No matter what you decide to focus on during a slow period, a lull in clients is far from a bad thing when running a business. While an unexpected dropoff may signal problems, if you find yourself in a typically slow period, maintaining and developing your business’s website, SEO, and marketing strategies are all great ways to spend your time. Just because your customers have slowed down doesn’t mean you need to. Instead, spending this time working on your business and marketing plans will return dividends during the busy season and save you stress once things pick up again.
If you’re looking to craft a great marketing strategy, upgrade your social media presence, or revitalize your website, we can help. At Planted Marketing, we offer expert social media marketing skills and years of experience to help grow your small- or mid-size business. If you’re interested in finding out more, contact us today to learn more about our small business deals.
Planted Marketing is a full-service digital marketing agency for small to mid-size business owners. Our custom packages and wide range of services allow us to grow with you at each stage of your business. If you want to learn more, send us a message!
