Spring is in the air. And with it comes a whole host of exciting Spring marketing ideas that your business can capitalize on. To get some fun ideas for Spring marketing campaigns, take a look at the tips from marketing experts below.
Spring Marketing Campaigns and Tips
Do Some Spring Cleaning
Ivana Taylor, publisher of DIY Marketers says, “Springtime marketing makes me think about Spring cleaning. This is a great time to get rid of all the products and services that haven’t been as profitable as you’d like. Maybe you have too much inventory of something — create an insanely irresistible offer to free yourself of all that baggage and focus on more profitable offers.”
Add Vibrancy to Your Campaigns
Gary Shouldis of 3Bug Media says, “Spring is the perfect time for marketing, as people are full of energy and enthusiasm after a long winter. Your messaging should match the season with vibrant colors and a theme of renewal and revitalization.”
Run Facebook Contests Around Holidays
Shouldis also suggests, “There are some great holidays in the Spring that are perfect for marketing opportunities. (Easter, March 27; Mothers Day, May 8; Earth Day, April 22). One of our most effective marketing activities in the Spring is running Facebook contests around these holidays. We usually will match a prize to match the holiday and it’s a great way to connect with your customers, introduce your brand to new people and to build your email list.
You can run simple contests like a “Guess how many jelly beans are in the jar” photo in your Facebook timeline or run a contest where your fans participate like uploading images of their Spring garden or asking a question like, “What does Mothers Day mean to you?” The point is to tap into the time of year and to re-engage with your customers and to take advantage of the awakening that happens after a long winter.”
Focus on the Theme of Renewal
Shawn Hessigner, executive editor of Small Business Trends says, “Focus on a new look for your website, a new feature, perhaps a new product offering to go along with the spirit of renewal.”
Work Tax Season into Your Marketing
Sujan Patel says, “Spring time = Tax time. My top tip is to incorporate tax theme into your marketing strategy for the Spring. That could be as simple as reference that it’s tax season or as complex as having specific deals/offers.”
Offer Specific Tax Incentives
Megan Totka, blogger and marketing director of ChamberofCommerce.com says, “March and April are an ideal time for your customers to use some of their tax refund to pay for your products or services. Incentivize them by offering a coupon good for the weeks around the 15th to allow adequate time to use their refund. If they have a lag time before receiving their refund that extends beyond the weeks of your promotion, tell them to bring in proof that taxes have been filed and let them buy the product at the discounted price.”
Bring People Together
Deborah Shane says, “Spring is a time of renewal, hope, energy and positivity and should be the tone and vibe of your Springtime small business marketing. Bringing people together in person should be one of your goals through meet ups, workshops, industry events, local events, sales, promotions.”
Do Some Local Cleanup
Shane says, “Create a marketing effort related to the annual celebration of Earth Day that takes place on April 22. Go local and sponsor a road cleanup project or a tree planting event, and invite the community to join in. “
Thank People
Chaitra Dutt, CMO of Meylah says, “Send 100 thank-you’s via email, card or social media. Build a list and thank them for a specific reason. This helps you to reengage with people who want to pay attention to you and your company. Kindness always wins!”
Work an Upcoming Spring Movie into Your Promotions
Karen Smith of Highwire Marketing explains, “Usually the studios start releasing their movie works about a year out. That gives marketers plenty of time to work on a campaign. I use YouTube as a resource for the movie trailers. Most of them are released there.”
Promote Less Popular Holidays
Smith says, “I also use the national holiday calendar to find upcoming popular days of the year to blend what I want to promote with a fun theme that will have traction. i.e. for my Mexico resort, I like to promote National Margarita Day and National Tequila Day. Another great one is National Hammock Day. Our resort has rooms that come with hammocks. For social media, we use these days to remind our followers that the resort is the perfect place to unwind, relax and enjoy a margarita on the beach. Very subliminal and effective. That way when someone wants to book a vacation, they are already thinking about our resort.”
Clean Up Your Web Presence
Debra Mastaler of Alliance-Link says, “Keep an eye on your backlinks as often as you check rankings, be proactive in removing links that may harm you. Clean up misspellings and grammar on your pages. Use image captions that include your target keywords.”
Take Advantage of the Great Weather
Ann Smarty of MyBlogU says, “Talking about good weather, inspiration, a fresh new start of anything, traveling, etc. People seem to be more enthusiastic to plan something in Spring: So I usually gear my content strategy to that.”
Partner with Relevant Businesses
Rohan Ayyar of E2M explains, “Spring is a good time for restaurants, florists and travel businesses. See if you can partner with brands in any of these areas and build some extra brand awareness and reach for yourself.”
Go Against the Pricing Trends
Ayyar says, “Historically, prices of goods go up across the board in Springtime (driven by economic building blocks such as fuel and housing). Buck the trend by offering deals and discounts on your product during this time.”
Host a Fun Contest
Rachel Strella of Strella Social Media says, “Don’t be afraid to have fun! How about a fresh contest? People love to win stuff – and even if they can’t win something – they want to participate and guess! I once had over 8,000 comments on a ‘guess how many marshmallows are in this jar’ game. Could you do something similar for your own business? If nothing else, perhaps jelly bean count?”
Try Out New Things
Evan Carmichael says, “Spring is a time to clean out the old and bring in the new. Assign small budgets and blocks of time to try three new marketing initiatives. Some ideas would be to form creative alliances, start a YouTube channel, launch a media campaign, reach out to influencers, bring on a marketing intern, redesign your website, create a Facebook ad initiative, work on improving your website conversions, and improve your customer service and experience. The key is to test, test, test. Prove to yourself that it works and is worth investing more time and money into.”
Honor Mothers
Karin Kraska of Forlight Marketing says, “The week of Mothers Day: Hand flowers out to the mothers who frequent your establishment, or send flowers or a card to your clients who are mothers. This goes a long way towards creating a deep loyalty with your customers. (Hey, Father’s day is in the Spring too … you can do something similar for them!)”
Sponsor a Local Sports Team
Kraska says, “Lots of sports teams re-start their season in the Spring. If your ideal client is a busy mother shuttling her kids from one game to another or a running enthusiast, sponsoring a team or an event might be a good Spring marketing strategy for your business.”
Host an Outdoor Event
Kraska adds, “With the first days of Spring weather, people come out in droves. They want to start spending time outside and will look for outdoor events to enjoy with friends and family. Why not create an event that will attract members from your community? If you’re a retail store, could you organize a sidewalk sale with other shops on your block. Or, if you are a bike shop or similar outdoor goods retailer, you could partner with your local yoga studio, running store, chiropractor, physical therapist, massage therapist and create an outdoor event where people from the community can meet you and get a taste of your products and services.”
Choose Spring Topics that Make the Most Sense
Ramon Ray, editor of Smart Hustle Magazine says, “When doing Spring marketing, you should never stretch into an area that doesn’t make sense for your business. Instead, choose the topics that can merge with and compliment your business. For example, it probably wouldn’t make sense for a local laundromat to focus its marketing on Spring gardening. However, Spring cleaning promotions and specials offered to those who are cleaning out their closets would work perfectly.”
Butterfly Photo via Shutterstock
Aira Bongco
It’s a perfect time for contests. It would even up the game by providing spring-related or refreshing prizes.
Thanks for featuring me!
Good ideas! I especially like the one regarding spring cleaning of your online presence which seems to be so important these days.
I need to do some springer cleaning during the Easter! 😉 Get rid of papers, scan and doc. stuff, write down my goal to reach within 100 days in my freedom journal, etc.
Annie – Great ideas. Many of them are applicable not just during Spring, but all year round. I definitely like the idea of tying marketing activities around specific events and holidays such as Easter, Mother’s Day, etc.
Thanks for including me – great ideas here 🙂
VIPIN SAINI
Great Tips. Thank you for sharing 🙂