January can be a notoriously tough time for businesses, as consumers tend to tighten their purse strings in the wake of Christmas and New Year’s. Almost no industry is safe from the dreaded January slump, but rather than fearing its arrival, there are steps you can take to ensure your customers come back once business picks up again.
Our customer engagement guide will help put you back in touch with your target market after the post-Christmas period.
Have a post-holiday clearance.
Got plenty of stock left over after Christmas, or just want to drum up some extra business in February? A sale is a great way to make a comeback after the January slump. Facilitating a positive customer experience is vital for re-engagement – and who doesn’t love a bargain?
Create a sense of urgency and encourage shoppers to treat themselves by putting a time limit on your sale. This will infuse some much-needed energy into the slow post-Christmas period, preventing it from dragging on any longer than necessary.
Make sure your customers are aware of your clearance sale by promoting it on the following platforms:
- Email direct marketing
- Social media
- Paid social ads
Resolution Reminders.
Hitting the gym in early January is a famous cliché, but there’s something to be said for jumping on the New Year’s resolution bandwagon. Gym owners and personal trainers aren’t the only ones who can take advantage of our culture’s obsession with reinvention – to ride the wave of New Year’s aspirations, make self-improvement a part of your early new year marketing strategy.
Regardless of the product or service you provide, almost anything can be sold as a tool for personal development. Pepper your content with phrases like ‘fresh start’ and ‘new beginnings’ to link your campaign with the New-Year-New-Me mentality.
Helping your customers stick to their resolutions can also re-establish a connection with your brand. The importance of New Year’s aspirations tend to fade as the months start to fly by, so be sure to make the most of this opportunity while you can.
RELATED: eBook: The SMB’s guide to Christmas marketing.
Need some pointers to suit your industry?
Here are some examples of how businesses from different industries can tailor their re-engagement methods:
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Mechanics.To get customers back into your car repair shop, consider creating a marketing campaign focused on the importance of vehicle safety after all those Christmas and New Year’s road trips. |
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Finance.If there’s a time of year that’s known for being tough on budgets, it’s typically after Christmas. The financial services industry can portray themselves as a valuable source of support and advice during this period of financial struggles. |
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Trades.To re-engage with customers, tradies could take play off the New Year’s resolutions approach by encouraging customers to get those odd jobs they keep putting off, out of the way. |
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Landscape and Gardening.Even if there’s not much work to be done over Summer, keep posting on social media to remind customers of your existence. When your customers finally get around to tidying up their overgrown garden after Christmas and New Year’s, you’ll be the first person they think of. |
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Home Maintenance.If you run a home maintenance business, you can help your customers sustain that fresh New Year feeling by cleaning up their house for them. |
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Health and Beauty.Encouraging customers to review all the products and services they bought from your business over Christmas can be an effective re-engagement technique for health and beauty brands. |
We hope these re-engagement techniques help you get back into the swing of things after the January slump. If you’d like to talk about ways digital marketing can strengthen your re-engagement strategy, particularly via SEM (search engine marketing) and Digital Display (banner ads), our team of digital marketing experts can help. Find out more here, or if you’d us to call you back, click here.
