Having a hard time finding new clients in August of 2024?

Why Your Small Business Isn’t Consistently Appealing to a New Audience (And How to Fix It)

• Acknowledge the Challenge:

  • August can be a challenging month for many small businesses. With vacations, back-to-school preparations, and summer distractions, it’s easy to see why lead generation might slow down.

  • However, if your business consistently struggles to attract new audiences, it’s a sign that something deeper needs addressing.

  • The answer is NOT devaluing your business and slashing prices; that will present a new problem in the future.

1. Your Content Isn’t Speaking to Your Target Audience

• Program: Lack of Audience Understanding:

  • Businesses often create content that doesn’t resonate with their target audience

  • “It’s worked in the past, it should work again”
    Not necessarily true, when lead generation is slow, this may be a time to reassess your analytics, send our questionnaires to gain more information about what your clients now need.

  • Example: A wedding photographer | Secured and shot a wedding for a client. Your marketing strategies worked for that client, but since you’ve already secured that client and provided them with the service, they’re not going to be calling you in the future for another wedding.

• Solution: Conduct Audience Research:

  • Encourage businesses to revisit their customer personas. Suggest using surveys, social listening, and analytics to understand current audience needs and preferences better.

• August Tip: Tailor your content to the seasonal mindset. Think about what your audience is dealing with in August (e.g., back-to-school stress, end-of-summer blues) and create content that addresses these issues.

2. Inconsistent Branding and Messaging

• Brand Confusion:

  • If your brand’s message is unclear or constantly changing, it’s hard for new audiences to understand what you offer. Reassess if you’re being clear in what you are offering.

• Solution: Refine Your Brand Identity:

  • Suggest revisiting brand guidelines, ensuring that everything from the logo to the tone of voice is consistent across all platforms.

• August Tip: Use this quieter time to audit your branding and messaging. Make sure it’s aligned across your website, social media, and any other customer touchpoints.

3. Your Social Media Strategy Is Stale

• Repetitive Content:

  • Posting the same type of content repeatedly can lead to audience fatigue. If people see the same thing over and over, they’ll start to tune out.

• Solution: Refresh Your Social Media Content:

  • Experiment with new content formats, like short videos, behind-the-scenes stories, or interactive polls.

• August Tip: Leverage August’s slower pace to test new social media strategies. Host a summer-themed giveaway or challenge to re-engage your audience and attract new followers.

4. You're Not Leveraging Data to Guide Your Efforts

• Ignoring Analytics:

  • Many small businesses aren’t using the data at their disposal to inform their marketing strategies. Without analyzing what’s working and what’s not, businesses can’t effectively appeal to new audiences.

  • Don’t believe me? Ask your fellow Small business owners when’s the last time that they’ve checked their analytics.

• Solution: Use Data-Driven Insights:

  • Regularly review social media and website analytics to identify trends, successful content, and areas for improvement.

• August Tip: Review your performance from the first half of the year. What content brought in the most engagement? Use these insights to plan your next steps.

5. You're Not Adapting to Seasonal Trends

• Overlooking Seasonal Relevance:

  • Businesses often overlook the importance of adapting their marketing strategies to seasonal trends, which can make their content feel out of touch. I’ve shared that same struggle with my own business because there are some season’s that I didn’t want to entertain.

• Solution: Align with Seasonal Events:

  • Creating campaigns or promotions that tie into seasonal events, holidays, or even current trends.

• August Tip: Embrace the seasonal lull by offering summer-specific promotions or back-to-school specials to attract new customers who are in a buying mindset.

Take this time to Reset and Relearn

This isn’t the end all be all for your business. Use this slow time to assess what you’ve done, what was successful, and how you can improve moving forward. Check your competition, understand your analytics, and reinvest in your business. You’ve got this!

Need help understanding your analytics, contact us today!