Smart small business marketing strategies for the fall

Visit any retail store right now, and the ads are all focused on back-to-school promotions and fall specials indicating the off-ramp for summer has started. While fall doesn’t officially begin until mid-September, the savviest businesses have already started their fall marketing campaigns and are planning holiday campaigns and specials. 

Whether you’re team summer until September or ready for everything pumpkin spice, these smart marketing strategies can help you lead your small business into a strong fall season. 

Refresh your website

Most marketers agree that your website needs a refresh at least every three months and following a seasonal schedule makes sense. However, this doesn’t mean you need to spend thousands of dollars on a new design or switch platforms. 

What’s included in a website refresh? 

Focusing on swapping out your photos, rotating or rewriting headlines with strong keywords, and doing a complete check of all your links will suffice. You want your visitors to know that your content is fresh and Google to understand that your website is current. It might be time to consider adding a blog to your business website to attract more visitors from organic search results. Just make sure to launch with at least five to six posts and plan to keep the publishing consistent. 

A website refresh is another opportunity to ensure your content aligns with your ideal customer as well. For example, if your goal is to bring more customers back to your retail space this fall and your website is geared mainly toward e-commerce, you’ll need to consider highlighting the benefits of shopping in person instead. 

Or, if you want to focus on building loyalty over the next several months, incorporating a customer rewards section should be high on your priority list. 

Create a content calendar

The most successful businesses have a content marketing strategy that includes multiple channels such as social media, website, blog, press releases, radio, text message marketing, etc.). Keeping all of that content cohesive and complementary is difficult without a plan. 

Create a content calendar that helps you schedule it all in one place and keep assignments among team members organized. A calendar will also help you plan for photography and video needs, as well. 

If the content marketing concept is new to you, click here for a resource on how to develop a content marketing strategy. 

Don’t underestimate the power of email marketing

In the days of competing and ever-changing algorithms, having access to someone’s email inbox is marketing gold. If you’re not already using email marketing consistently to reach current and potential customers, this fall is a great time to start. 

To build trust, begin by consistently sending valuable information to your email list without a strong sales pitch. Once you’ve proved your messages are valuable and worthy of the open, slowly begin to incorporate data to help your customers make a purchase, either online or via a visit to your location. 

Don’t get hung up on the best days to send emails or other metrics that shift dramatically from industry to industry. Instead, aim to improve your metrics with every email you send by testing subject lines, preview text, and your call to action. 

Evaluate your budget and return on investment

With more than half of the calendar year over, it’s time to check on your marketing budget and assess what you’ve spent, your return on investment, and what you have left to spend in 2021. 

Some businesses make the mistake of focusing on expenditures without evaluating the return on investment. Instead of simply noting that you’re at 70% of your social media budget, take the time to calculate your cost per lead from your social media ads so far this year. You may find that if the return is meager, the remaining 30% could be used toward another medium with better returns instead. 

You might also find that with some degree of remote business operations, budget lines have become muddied and might allow for a few budget revisions and category overlap. 

Regardless of which marketing tactics you choose, keep your focus on the customer and meeting their needs. When you effectively communicate what you have to offer and why it matters, it will be easy for customers to find you and keep coming back to support you.