Our topic this month for our newsletter and blogs is “How to survive in a lean market.” It’s an election year, and the economy is characteristically lean. Hence, we’re going to cover how to survive as a business in these times.
Our previous article covered the vital necessity of retaining and strengthening marketing in a down economy. Part of strengthening that marketing is to market like a department store boss!
How Do Department Stores Do It?
We all witness how department stores market throughout the year.
Any department store will promote their sales like crazy in the days and weeks before Black Friday. Advertising is all over the radio, on television, on video, and on the web.
When Black Friday happens and everyone thinks it should be over…it isn’t! Companies and communities then promote “Small Business Saturday.”
In the last couple of decades, the Monday following Black Friday has been labeled “Cyber Monday.” This tradition came about to channel retail business online and cause customers to seek out further deals there.
Next, the stores face the time between Black Friday and Christmas. They then take measures to ensure that business remains brisk, marketing and advertising all kinds of sales and deals to be had leading up to Christmas Day.
The time after Christmas is anything but neglected, as now come the “after Christmas sales” to offload all the inventory stocked up before Christmas. It’s also an effort to keep revenue from crashing after Christmas.
We are approaching the new year and no store wants sales to take a significant downturn now that January has arrived. So, they will promote something like “January is time to change the sheets” and create a “white sale”—a store tradition going back 140 years.
Next comes February, and, of course, February brings Valentine’s Day. There won’t be a department store that doesn’t have all kinds of Valentine’s Day promotions.
By March, we’re coming into Spring, the offers and sales of which carry us through March and April.
What do we have in May? Mother’s Day. In June, we have Father’s Day. We also have the approach of summer, which will bring its own series of campaigns for swimwear, summer attire and supplies.
In August, stores gear up for all the back-to-school deals. In September, we arrive in Fall, which will bring many other types of campaigns.
October is Halloween…and we’re back to November and Black Friday the following month. The whole cycle begins all over again!
Now It’s Your Turn
That’s the way the department stores ensure that they have steady revenue throughout the whole year. If you run a small business (or any business), you can learn a great deal from department stores.
You can divvy up the year as they do and come up with different reasons for selling or offering bargains all year long. You can create reasons for purchasing that pertain to your specific industry.
The idea that a company or industry has to have a down period at any time is false. Any market downturn, especially one that regularly happens, is created.
So market like a department store boss! They always have a reason to cause people to buy or which brings customers into the store at any time of the year. You should, too!
To learn more, sign up at SELLability.com.
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